Lord Indarjit Singh — a prominent Sikh peer in the House of Lords — has quit BBC’s radio segment titled 'Thought For The Day', because of censorship on Sikh teachings, which BBC fears "might offend Muslims".

The Sikh Lord accused the BBC of "prejudice and intolerance" in the way it handled a script referring to Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom for fear of "Islamophobia". Lord Indarjit Singh is the Director of Network of Sikh Organizations.

Lord Indarjit Singh’s statement: "I am reluctantly leaving Thought For The Day' because I can no longer accept prejudiced and intolerant attempts by the BBC to silence key Sikh teachings on tolerance, freedom of belief and the need for us all to make ours a more cohesive and responsible society."

"I believe that both Guru Nanak and Jesus Christ who boldly raised social concerns whilst stressing tolerance and respect, would not be allowed near [BBC’s] 'Thought For The Day' today," Lord Inderjit said.

The script in question dates back to November 2018 and focussed on the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, who the peer wanted to highlight as having given his life defending those of a different religion to his own against a Mughal Emperor's policy of forced conversion.

Lord Indarjit Singh: "I am reluctantly leaving Thought For The Day' because I can no longer accept prejudiced and intolerant attempts by the BBC to silence key Sikh teachings on tolerance …"The [Guru Tegh Bahadur's] martyrdom occupies a similar position in Sikh teachings to Easter in Christianity… It was akin to telling a Christian they should not talk about Easter for fear of offending Jews."

Singh's script on the martyrdom had been agreed by the producer of the day but the senior producer "arbitrarily and without consultation" declared she would not allow the script to be broadcast because it "might offend Muslims," even though it contained no criticism of Islam.

"The martyrdom occupies a similar position in Sikh teachings to Easter in Christianity… It was akin to telling a Christian they should not talk about Easter for fear of offending Jews," says Lord Inderjit, while adding that those responsible for the slot have sought to bury historical fact by such actions.

Singh stood his ground and said he would rather the slot was left empty than have Sikh teachings "insulted" in this way. The producer in question reluctantly agreed for the talk to go ahead. However, the peer alleges that his treatment by the broadcaster took a turn for the worse from then on. "I was not forgiven, and the number of slots given to me was further curtailed. The pressure became worse," he added.

A BBC spokesperson disagreed with the allegations.