The journalist Ash Sarkar has won an apology and substantial damages from right-wing columnist Julie Burchill after the latter said her worship of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the “worship of a paedophile.”
Burchill, who is a Sunday Telegraph columnist and describes herself as Christian Zionist, made the comments during a Twitter spat and also tweeted racist and misogynist comments regarding Ms Sarkar’s appearance and her sex life.
She also ‘liked’ other posts on Facebook and Twitter about Sarkar which were offensive, including one which called for her to kill herself and another which speculated whether she had been a victim of FGM.
Burchill’s hate campaign subsequently led to messages that were sent by others to Ms Sarkar which were described as “abhorrent.”
Sarkar employed Zillur Rahman of Rahman Lowe Solicitors and Mark Henderson of Doughty Street Chambers to pursue a libel and harassment case against Burchill who has now undertaken not to engage in harassment of Ms Sarkar or contact her again.
Following the settlement, Burchill published the following statement on Twitter and Facebook:
“On 13th December 2020 I made statements concerning Ash Sarkar in response to her comment on an article by my friend Rod Liddle. I alleged that Ms Sarkar worshipped the Prophet Muhammad, that she worshipped a paedophile (referring to the Prophet Muhammad), that she was an Islamist, and that she was a hypocrite (the allegations).
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“Although it was not my intention, I accept that my statements were defamatory of Ms Sarkar and caused her very substantial distress. I wish to make clear on the record that I do not believe, have never believed and never intended to make any allegation that Ms Sarkar is a promoter, supporter and/or sympathiser of Islamists or fundamentalist terrorism or to suggest that Ms Sarkar condones paedophilia in any way. I also now understand that it is blasphemy for a Muslim to worship Prophet Muhammad and I had no basis for stating that Ms Sarkar does so. I accept that there is no truth in any of these allegations, and I recognise that such comments play into Islamophobic tropes and did so in this case.
“I also accept that I was wrong to continue to tweet to and about her after that date. I should not have sent these tweets, some of which included racist and misogynist comments regarding Ms Sarkar’s appearance and her sex life. I was also wrong to have ‘liked’ other posts on Facebook and Twitter about her which were offensive, including one which called for her to kill herself, and another which speculated whether she had been a victim of FGM. I regret that I did not pay much attention to them at the time. On reflection, I accept that these ‘liked’ posts included callous and degrading comments about Ms Sarkar and I should not have liked them. I can confirm that I have deleted all my posts and tweets and likes about Ms Sarkar.
“I have also now seen messages that were sent to Ms Sarkar following my posts about her which are abhorrent, and I wish to make clear that I do not condone any such messages. I did not know when I published my posts that Ms Sarkar had previously received death threats and other violent threats and abuse, some of which emanated from a far-right conspiracy theory circulated about Ms Sarkar during summer 2020, of which I had not been aware.
“I deeply regret having reacted in the way I did. I accept that I should have behaved better. On reflection, I accept that I misjudged the situation, and made statements that simply are not true, which I now want to put right. I also wish to make clear that I accept that Ms Sarkar did not call for my publisher to break ties with me and bears no responsibility for this.
“I unreservedly and unconditionally apologise for the hurtful and unacceptable statements I made to and about Ms Sarkar, particularly those concerning her religion and Prophet Muhammad. I have undertaken not to repeat the allegations or any similar allegations about her, undertaken not to engage in any course of conduct amounting to harassment of Ms Sarkar, and undertaken not to contact her directly other than for legal reasons.
“I have also agreed to pay substantial damages to Ms Sarkar for the distress I caused and her legal costs.”
‘Victory for minority communities’
Julie Burchill is a national newspaper columnist at the Sunday Telegraph and Spectator and a published author. She has maintained a high profile in the mainstream media for several decades.
Ash Sarkar is a journalist and political activist. She is a senior editor at Novara Media and is of Asian (Bangladeshi) heritage and is Muslim.
Commenting on the conclusion of her case, Sarkar said: “I’m relieved that the Sunday Telegraph columnist Julie Burchill has apologised for claims made about me last December which she admits were defamatory and play into Islamophobic tropes. We should expect a writer at a national newspaper to uphold a basic commitment to honesty. But Burchill subjected me to days of relentless harassment and abuse (including making the absurd and false claim that I worship a paedophile) all because I’m Muslim.
“We should not accept women of colour being hounded out of public life simply for expressing themselves. This outcome is a victory for anyone who believes that people shouldn’t have to face abuse, harassment or smears just because they are part of a minority community.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to Zillur Rahman, the team at Rahman Lowe and Mark Henderson for their support and professionalism. All too often legal recourse is out of reach for those without wealth, so I am beyond grateful to them for taking on my case.”
Zillur Rahman, her solicitor, added: “I am delighted for Ash, it really is a resounding victory. As a Muslim myself, this case meant more because of the grossly offensive comment made concerning Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), who is dear to all Muslims.
“This case really does highlight the dangers of people thinking that the law does not apply to them on social media – the costs could be severe. It shows that words have consequences. We nevertheless welcome Julie’s approach in making a prompt concession of the claim, and her fulsome apology which starts to make amends for the harm done.”
The original defamatory allegations were published by Burchill on December 13, 2020, but Burchill continued to post about and towards Ms Sarkar for many days during the Christmas period.
The spat erupted over an an article in The Spectator by Rod Liddle wherein he stated that the one thing stopping him from becoming a teacher was “I could not remotely conceive of not trying to shag the kids.”
Many expressed shock and concern about Mr Liddle’s article after it came to light. Ms Sarkar tweeted on December 13, 2020:
“Saw these screenshots pop up on TL, and thought they must be a parody. I checked and it turns out that yes, Rod Liddle really did write an article 8 years ago saying that he didn’t become a teacher because he “could not remotely conceive of not trying to shag the kids”
Burchill responded: “But Ash … I don’t WORSHIP a paedophile. If Aisha was 9, YOU do. Lecturer, lecture thyself!”
Later, Burchill took to Facebook to rally support by encouraging friends and followers to “wade in on Twitter” against “the Islamists.” The next day, Burchill posted to her Facebook followers asking them to send a message to “the nonces” on Twitter, again referring to Ms Sarkar.
Ms Sarkar realised upon receipt of the allegations that Ms Burchill had first targeted her 6 days before the defamatory statements described above, when she tweeted about Ms Sarkar:
“Did you start beingshitin bed or did your co-religionists threaten you? Genuinely interested!”
Following Burchill’s comments a book publisher ditched the prominent right-wing journalist.
Burchill’s book on cancel culture, Welcome to the Woke Trials, had been due to be published by Little, Brown in April. But Little, Brown said her comments were “not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint” and “crossed a line with regard to race and religion.”
