The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities have published a letter to Imam Qari Asim on the Lady of Heaven Protests withdrawing his appointment as Independent Adviser and ending his roles with the Government with immediate effect.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities said.
We write now because we have no option but to withdraw the appointment and end your roles with Government with immediate effect.
Your recent support for a campaign to limit free expression – a campaign that has itself encouraged communal tensions – means it is no longer appropriate for you to continue your work with Government in roles designed to promote community harmony.
You have encouraged an ongoing campaign to prevent cinemas from screening the film “Lady of
Heaven”, a clear effort to restrict artistic expression, and the campaign you have supported
has led to street protests which have fomented religious hatred.
You wrote on Facebook on 6 June that “We have been working with many brothers and
Imams across the country to liaise with the cinemas….Some Imams have taken a view to
protest and others are in dialogue with the cinemas trying to resolve the situation”.
Resolving the situation, as you made clear, meant canceling screenings. You wrote that “in
some places we have been successful and those cinemas will no longer be showing the
movie”.
Your support for further action was made clear. You advertised “a protest [that] has been
organized in Leeds” and provided details of its timing and location.
This clear involvement in a campaign to limit free expression is incompatible with the role of
a government adviser. You will have no doubt seen reports of the scenes outside different cinema venues. These included deeply disturbing videos of sectarian chanting and anti-Shia hatred. As you know,
anti-Shia hatred is a long-standing and very serious issue, which must be challenged at
every opportunity as part of a wider effort to combat anti-Muslim hatred. We were
disappointed to see that you failed to condemn some of the protests complicit in these
behaviors.
Your actions are incompatible with the role of a government adviser on anti-Muslim hatred.
This country is proud of its democratic values and freedoms, which include tolerance,
freedom of expression, and community.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Imam Qari Asim