A West Yorkshire nursery school has banned books with pigs in them from the classroom.
Sixty per cent of the school’s pupils are of Pakistani or Indian origin and 99% of these pupils are Muslims.
Mrs Harris said in a statement: “Recently I have been aware of an occasion where young Muslim children in class were read stories about pigs.
“We try to be sensitive to the fact that for Muslims talk of pigs is offensive.”
This is not censorship, Mrs Harris hastens to add: the books are still (at the moment) in the school library.
Next up: banning books with cows in them from classes with Hindi children, banning books with men in them from classes with feminist children, banning books with cars in them from classes with environmentalist children, and banning books with words in them from classes with children from cultures with strong oral storytelling traditions.
Wilbur wept.
Apparently Yorkshire Muslims are not all that thrilled with the decision, either.
Last night Yorkshire Muslims condemned the move as “nonsense”, as their holy book, the Koran, permits followers of Islam to talk or read about pigs as long as they do not eat their meat.
Bradford magistrate Bary Malik, an Ahmadiyya Muslim, said: “Every day Muslims recite passages from the Koran.
“As the Koran mentions pig, Muslims must say that word. All the Koran says you should not do is eat pork, but there is no harm in using the word or reading it.
“This school has gone too far – what will they do next, ban the word cow because Hindus believe the cow is sacred?
“In this world there are many extremists who do not like Jews or Muslims – does that mean that we should ban the words Jews or Muslim out of respect for their views?
“Really it shows a lack of religious understanding. It’s nonsense.”
The principle still says she’s just trying to show respect for her students.