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Israr Khan, Government School Inspector

Christmas Grinch comes back as a Government school inspector

By Judi McLeod

Monday, October 2, 2006

In Birmingham England, the Grinch who stole Christmas is back in the land of Dickens's a Christmas Carol.

The last time the Grinch was at Washwood Heath Secondary School, he sent children watching a rehearsal for a Christmas pageant out of the school in tears.

One would think that the quintessential "Mr. Grinch", who made children cry at Christmas, would have been sent packing after a strong lecture. But Muslim teacher Israr Khan is now a Government schools inspector.

Imagine your little elf or plum fairy that practiced for weeks to sing in his or her school's Christmas concert, being screamed at by their Math teacher in mid-song.

That's precisely what happened in the Christmas season of 1996.

Washwood Health Secondary boasts a student population representative of all ethnicities and goes out of its way to honour them all. The children were singing not Holy Night, but Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas when the Grinch came out of hiding to throw a temper tantrum.

Jumping out of his seat, Khan yelled, "Who is your God? Why are you saying Jesus Christ? God is not your God--it is allah!"

The outburst proved too traumatic for the youngsters, who did not expect their Math teacher to create such an ugly scene.

Khan was upset that some of the boys and the girls in the choir were Muslims and were saying that Jesus was their God by singing along with the carols. When he started shouting at some of the younger students watching and listening to the carols, "Everybody started clapping and shouting, "allah" according to one witness.

It would seem that Khan does not reserve his temper for Christmas. Oxy Malik, an 18-year-old pupil at the school said that Mr. Khan, who was then arranging a school pilgrimage to Mecca, is "very religious. Ever since he's been here he's been preaching Islam to us when he should be teaching us Maths." (I.S.I.C. Bulletin, February/March 1997).

When word of the Birmingham Christmas Grinch leaked out, school authorities asked Khan to work from home pending an investigation that ultimately brought no disciplinary action.

In time Khan left Washwood Heath Secondary to become headmaster of an Islamic school, where he told The Muslim News, "all praise be to allah, the results have been very good. We are currently independent but may in the future seek government funding. Undoubtedly such results will help us."

Parents whose children were sent home crying in the Christmas season of 1996, hardly expected to hear that Khan had been made a Government schools inspector.

"Israr Khan's Ofsted appointment was described by a former colleague as `absolutely astonishing'. (www.thisislondon.co.uk, Sept. 30, 2006).

"It has been claimed that Washwood Heath school was then a `hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism'. Rashid Raud--the airline terror bomb suspect whose extradition is currently being sought from Pakistan--was a pupil there at that time."

It was only a year after leaving Washwood Heath school when Khan was the founding father of the Independent Islamic Hamd House Preparatory School in Small Heath, Birmingham, where he took up the duties as head master.

Earlier this year, he was appointed as a governor of anderton Park Primary School, in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.

according to www.thisislondon.co.uk, "a former Washwood Heath colleague laughed openly when told of Mr. Khan's role as an Ofsted inspector where he has the responsibility for passing or failing schools.

He said: "Given the man's history, it's absolutely astonishing. It's just the cheek of the man that he's been able to reach that position. He always was an extremely clever man."

Meanwhile, another Christmas is coming and the Grinch is now a Government school inspector.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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