MCB slams 'deeply unfair' BBC report

Monday, 22 August 2005 12:00 AM

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has attacked a BBC Panorama broadcast as "deeply unfair" and exhibiting a pro-Israeli bias.

Last night's broadcast, entitled A Question Of Leadership, suggested the MCB is "in denial" about extremist views among its members.

It claimed the organisation, which represents around 400 mosques and other Islamic groups, was not making good on its assertion that it would tackle extremism "head on" in the wake of the July 7th bombings.

The programme, by John Ware, quotes Mehbood Kantharia, a member of the MCB's central working committee between 1997 and 2004, as saying the MCB was unwilling to accept the reality of the situation and therefore unable to deal with the issue in hand.

"It is my personal view that because they are in a state of denial they cannot become real, you know, sort of like, forthright, really forthright about wanting to do something about the kind of extremism that prevails," he told Panorama.

But the MCB has rounded on these criticisms.

"We have spoken with ... Mehboob Kantharia who is shown at the outset of the programme as implying that the MCB leadership are in a 'state of denial' about extremism. Kantharia has informed us that his remarks on the matter did not mention the MCB at all and were not referring to the MCB. Yet Ware's programme presents the comments as such," the MCB said in its response to the programme.

The BBC replies that Mr Kantharia later said that while he had not mentioned the MCB specifically, his comments could have been interpreted as applying to individuals within it.

"I think the MCB is overreacting in this matter," he added.

The BBC programme also claimed to have unearthed evidence that groups affiliated to the MCB were promoting anti-Semitic views, as well as the belief that Islam is a superior ideology to British values and the Jews and Christians are conspiring to undermine Islam.

In response, the MCB noted: "The Muslim Council of Britain strongly abhors any form of racism, including anti-Semitism.

"Islam as a faith is famously colour-blind and was revealed to bring peoples of all nations together in worship of the One True God.

It adds that if the remarks quoted are correct that it "would condemn them completely". But given its earlier questioning of Mr Kantharia's quotes, the MCB withholds that condemnation until it has "verification that these were indeed uttered".

Panorama editor Mike Robinson, responded that the programme examined questions "being raised by the Muslim community itself".

He added that the BBC "rejects completely any allegation of institutional or programme bias" and he was "confident" the programme would be "a timely contribution to the present debate".

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