THE INDEPENDENT: Angry Sikhs besiege Asian Network over Muslim's 'joke'
The BBC's Asian Network was at the centre of a fresh race row last night after Sikhs accused the digital radio station of being insensitive towards their religion.
BBC bosses were forced to remove a show by the popular Muslim presenter Adil Ray from their website after the morning show DJ received threats from angry Sikh listeners who accused him of denigrating an important religious symbol.
The Birmingham-based network, which was set up eight years ago after the BBC's then director general Greg Dyke described his own organisation as "hideously white", has strongly denied the accusations or any suggestion that Ray meant to mock Sikhism.
But the anger from the Sikh community has nonetheless raised fresh questions over whether the digital network is serving its Asian listeners. Earlier this year, the BBC Trust told the network that it needed to attract more listeners after its audience fell from half a million to 405,000 in a year.
The complaints revolve around a show broadcast on Thursday 6 August in which Ray discussed the cancellation of a Punjabi music concert in Canada where police had banned a number of Sikhs who refused to remove their "kirpan" dagger – one of five ceremonial symbols that baptised Sikhs are expected to wear at all times.
A number of listeners believed that Ray had been disparaging about whether Sikhs really needed to carry their kirpans and began making complaints and threats against him. >>> Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, August 20, 2009
