Sikh Victim of Racial Attack Incorrectly Identified as Muslim on Flagship Radio Show

The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) has made a complaint to the BBC following misleading comments made by a guest on BBC Radio 2.

On 19th January, Jeremy Vine interviewed members of the Jewish and Muslim communities following the Paris terror attacks.

He asked a guest: “Are Muslims in Britain under pressure now?” to which the responder talked of attacks on mosques and Muslims adding:

“This year, you know a man…..was stabbed in Tesco as someone shouted white power at the height of the Charlie Hebdo……tragedy.”

In a complaint to the BBC the NSO clarified the victim of the racial attack in Tesco was in fact a 24 year old Sikh man, not Muslim as the guest implied.

The NSO added: “Sikhs continue to be victims of hatred following Islamic terror attacks. This is nothing new – the first person to be killed in retribution of 9/11 was a Sikh; the first place to be attacked after the 7/7 London bombings was a gurdwara (Sikh Temple) in Kent. In America a ‘white supremacist’ gunman went on a rampage in Wisconsin and murdered six people in 2012, injuring many others including a policeman. There have been a number of violent attacks on Sikhs in Britain post 9/11.

It is routine for Sikhs in Britain to be referred to as ‘Bin Laden’ or ‘Taliban’. The Sikh turban and beard, has been conflated with the attire of Islamic extremists. Although the community faces growing prejudice and an inevitable backlash, the government has done little to reassure British Sikhs following the Paris attacks. It is therefore, critically important that the BBC present accurate facts to its audience. We request you urgently make a correction on air so the public is clear the victim was Sikh not Muslim.”

The NSO is waiting for the BBC to formally respond to its complaint.