Dangerous precedent set: National Council of Muslims
Birju Dattani has stepped down as the head of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
“I remain a steadfast believer in the Commission’s work, mandate, and its importance to our democracy,” he wrote in an Aug. 12 LinkedIn post announcing his decision.
Dattani was placed on leave before his new role officially began after special interest groups objected to comments he made criticizing Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories using an alias he did not initially disclose during the application process.
Dattani would have been the first racialized person and the first Muslim to head the commission.
The National Council of Muslims released a statement expressing disappointment “that yet another racialized minority has had to go through national attacks” based on unfounded allegations of hate.
The council emphasized that the federal government has set a “dangerous precedent,” allowing it “to drag every appointee through the mud as long as they’re brown or Muslim.”
Independent Jewish Voices Canada described calls for Dattani’s firing as “thinly veiled politically-motivated efforts to shield Israel—a state currently carrying out a genocide in Gaza—from political action and criticism.”
Your job. Your mission. Your news.
With your support, the sector you're building gets the journalism it deserves, and you get a tax receipt.
