Because "Islamophobe" is shorthand for "Bad Person", it can sometimes silence legitimate debate – which is what the mayor of the London borough of Tower Hamlets seems to have tried to do to the BBC.
Lutfur Rahman is Britain's first directly elected Asian mayor. On 22 May, he seeks re-election. He says he aspires to the highest standards of transparency and probity and that he welcomes scrutiny.
Two weeks ago, on Panorama, we scrutinised the way he's run this most diverse of boroughs. Instead of welcoming this, the mayor employed a major City law firm and a PR company at huge public expense to try to get the programme stopped.
[A COMMENT] Every time you say something critical about Islam you are automatically branded anti Islamic. Obviously Islam can't take criticism, unlike Christianity where we pan it and make comedies about it, when was the last comedy did you see or hear about Mohammed?
Muslim should remember they live in a society where we can criticize religion or maybe they should go back and live in Bangladesh and Somalia or do they want sharia law in western countries where they live? [The Independent] Read more
