Have you seen the exposé of Mo Ansar on Harry’s Place? It’s like seeing, in print, something you already knew, but don’t exactly know how you knew it. Ah so.
The BBC’s tame Muslim spokesman, willing to appear on the BBC at the slightest opportunity - The Big Questions, Sunday Morning Live, anything to do with Islam, he’s there with his little crocheted skull cap and his same dress, same scarf thing and, according to “Sheikh Ya Bhatti”, black eyeliner.
He claims he’s a moderate one minute, a scholar the next, a lecturer, a marriage guidance councillor, you name it, he’s it. Only he isn’t.
Why, only the other day he was opining on the Lib Dems’ deselection of Maajid Nawaz. (He is for the deselection) Oh, maybe not, he now says he only called for "1. Full investigation by LibDems 2. Apology from Nawaz 3. Whatever sanction LibDems see fit".
His opinion was aired at great length on radio 4 last week and quotes from it actually made the headlines on several of their news bulletins. A comment on H/P reminded me of this. I had heard it myself, but when I tried to pin it down in the form of a link there was no trace; at least the BBC search engine showed nothing.
His opinion, which the BBC took seriously enough to promote, somewhat uncritically I’d say, concerned the threat from British Islamist Jihadis returning from Syria, and as another H/P commenter observed “If he is in touch with such people how could the BBC ignore that?” “With ease” was my first reaction. They have form.
Of course Ansar is such a bullshitter he probably isn’t in touch with them at all, merely bigging himself up by jumping aboard a passing bandwagon, as is his wont.
The BBC won't drop him. Nicky Campbell won't drop him. He meets a need of theirs.
ReplyDeleteJust doing a little search of BBC website, this is how they've introduced him recently:
"Mohammad Ansar, a broadcaster and social commentator as well as theologian"
"prominent British Muslim Mo Ansar"
"British Muslim commentator Mohammed Ansar"