The former acting head of a Birmingham Trojan Horse-linked school accused of professional misconduct claims key witnesses fabricated allegations against him because he is a Muslim.
Teaching staff, government officials and parents have all given evidence in the last week against Jahangir Akbar, who is accused of agreeing the inclusion of an undue amount of religious influence in the education of pupils at Oldknow Academy in Small Heath.
The school was one of five in Birmingham plunged into special measures by Ofsted last year as part of an investigation into claims of a plot by hardline Sunni Muslims to take control of governing bodies, oust staff and Islamise the curriculum.
Mr Akbar is one of 11 teachers accused of professional misconduct by the National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL).
Giving evidence for the first time as part of the hearing being held in Bournville, he claimed many staff had lied about allegations about him as they disliked him.
He said others “held a grudge” against him after the school’s former non-Muslim head Bhupinder Kondal resigned in January 2014, claiming she had been undermined by a group trying to Islamise the secular academy.
He accused teacher Simrarjit Hughes of “spreading rumours” about him because she was the niece of Ms Kondal. And he claimed one member of staff, granted anonymity and referred to as Witness D, lied that he had said “good, I’m glad” when told a pupil at the school was being bullied.
At today’s hearing, Mr Akbar said: “I never glorified the bullying, I accept I did say the parent had contributed to it.”
He also accused the Education Funding Agency (EFA) - the statutory body tasked with holding schools to account - of being discriminatory.
A dozen EFA inspectors were sent into the school as part of the government’s investigation into a letter, supposedly penned by conspirators, detailing the so-called Trojan Horse plot.
“I do believe the EFA was politically motivated or driven by a political pressure during the inspection,” Mr Akbar aid. “I felt its report did not reflect what Oldknow did on a day to day basis.”
He criticised investigators who carried out a separate internal probe into his conduct.
He added: “I felt that the investigation officer had taken a biased and discriminatory approach.
“I felt they weren’t neutral and they were discriminating against me because of my faith.”
He said that when Ms Kondal “walked out” in January 2014, he personally stepped in to reduce the number of Islamic assemblies. He said the assemblies, which he personally delivered every Thursday, were “inter-faith” and content included aspects of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.
Mr Akbar told the panel: “My father has exposed me to a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds, religions and cultures.
“My academic career was successful as I had the ability to respect and understand people from all walks of life.
“The world has changed phenomenally in the last 10 years.
“To tackle intolerance we need to engage the kids at a young age, at primary level, so they understand and respect others.”
Christopher Gillespie, representing the NCTL, said: “You have just given us an impassioned speech about your beliefs in diversity and bringing people together but we have heard evidence this week of a very divided school with people accusing you of bullying and introducing an increased amount of Islam in the school, are these people all wrong?”
Mr Akbar responded: “Yes I would say they’re wrong.”
Mr Akbar was being cross-examined on his witness statement - a public document that the media was not granted access to during today’s hearing by the time the Birmingham Mail went to press.
Meanwhile Mr Gillespie invited the panel to find four of the allegations Mr Akbar faces to be found unproven. They included reducing the amount of music and art in the curriculum and segregating boys and girls.
The hearing continues.