The headteacher of a school in England has been criticized by angry parents after they allegedly changed the lyrics of a Christmas carol to be "more inclusive", Fox News has reported.
According to a report by Christian organization Christian Concern, headteacher Zakia Khatun, who runs the Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, told her pupils not to sing the word 'Lord' in the Christmas carol 'Away In A Manger', so as to not discourage pupils of other beliefs to join in.
According to a recent report in British newspaper The Daily Mail, the lyrics "Jesus the Savior" in the carol 'Love Shone Down' were also replaced with "Jesus the baby", while the words "new king born today" in the carol 'Come And Join The Celebration' were replaced with "a baby born today".
One mother told The Mail: "If he was just a baby boy named Jesus, there wouldn't be a celebration in the first place. He is our Lord and Saviour and King of all Kings – that's the whole point. It is also a tradition – it is taking away the traditions of the country."
She added: "We live in a multicultural society, so we should respect other beliefs but unfortunately Christianity is not getting respect. Ms. Khatun doesn't want the people who don't have the same beliefs to feel excluded, yet it's OK to exclude Christians."
A spokesperson for the school told The Mail: "We are a community school serving children from a range of faith backgrounds. In the past, not all were able to come together to celebrate Christmas, so we have worked hard with our local church to ensure the celebrations this year are accessible to all our children to participate in, together, as one."
Whitehall is a multicultural state school with 485 pupils, rated 'Good' by Ofsted inspectors.
