Complaint
The programme included an interview with a former public prosecutor who is a Muslim, prompted by renewed concerns about so-called Asian grooming gangs following interventions by Elon Musk. The presenter put to him the point that Hindu and Sikh organisations had objected to the term “A²õ¾±²¹²Ô†in this context as being imprecise and had advocated the use of “men of Pakistani heritage†instead. In his response the former prosecutor referred to a report by Sikh Women’s Aid (SWA) on abuse of women in the Sikh community and said he had been invited to write a foreword for the report because SWA had been unable to find a Sikh man willing to do so. A representative of the Network of Sikh Organisations disputed the accuracy of the former prosecutor’s account, particularly in respect of the alleged unwillingness of Sikh men to be associated with the report and SWA’s motives in contacting the former prosecutor, and provided extracts from a document by Sikh Women’s Alliance (SWA is now called) in support of his complaint.  The ECU considered the complaint against the standards for accuracy set out in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
In relation to the willingness or otherwise of Sikh men to be associated with the report, the management of Radio 4 had already acknowledged in correspondence that the report, which had been in the public domain for some time, included prefaces by Sikh men (although this was not known to the programme team at the time) and subsequently agreed with the ECU that a statement to that effect should have been posted on the Corrections and Clarifications page of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ website. This aspect of the complaint was upheld. In relation to SWA’s motives, the ECU noted that the organisation’s recollection of its contact with the former prosecutor differed from his, but considered both parties were speaking in good faith and judged that the programme had been entitled to place reliance on the former prosecutor’s recollection. This aspect of the complaint was not upheld.
Partly upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of Radio 4 and discussed with the programme team.