Christian radio presenter disciplined for appealing to freedom of expression
Reverend Masih presents a weekly Christian radio show for Asians on AWAZ Radio. AWAZ FM is a community Radio Station that is licenced by OFCOM to serve the entire Asian Community (Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others).Reverend Masih hosts a 'talk show' on Saturday mornings and responds to questions from listeners.
A Muslim academic known as Dr. Zakir Naik is well known in the Asian community for his critical comments about Christianity; he has said that Jesus was not the only person who was ‘the way, the truth and the life’ but that every prophet was in their own way the way, the truth and the life. One morning, a number of callers phoned into the programme and asked questions about Dr Naik’s comments on Christianity. Reverend Masih answered them in moderate and temporate terms and proclaimed Gospel Truth. For many Muslims living in the United Kingdom, this might have been their only and first opportunity to hear about the Christian faith.
Some Muslim listeners, however, were offended by what Reverend Masih had said and a complaint was made to the radio station. Management staff asked the radio presenter to offer an apology for any offence which had been caused. The presenters were also asked to go to the mosque to apologise. After reading out the apology Reverend Masih added the words “We live in a free country and everybody has the right to express his/her opinion...” Subsequent to this, Reverend Masih was removed from his radio 'talk show'.
Papers have been filed at the Employment Tribunal and lawyers at the Christian Legal Centre are supporting Reverend Masih as he seeks an answer for the way he was treated. A formal complaint will be made to Ofcom that AWAZ FM is breaching the terms of its licence.