It probably seemed like
the most innocent of ideas to the newly arrived teacher from England,
still settling into life in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. She asked her
class of six and seven-year-olds to dress up and name a teddy bear, and
keep a diary of his outings. She hoped it would provide material for
projects for the rest of the year. And it might have, except for the
name the children chose for their bear: Muhammad.
Now Gillian Gibbons,
54, is spending her second night in a Sudanese prison, accused of
insulting Islam's Prophet. She faces a public lashing or up to six
months in prison if found guilty on charges of blasphemy. And Unity High
School — one of a number of exclusive British-run schools in the
Sudanese capital — has been closed as staff fear reprisals from
Islamic extremists. Robert Boulos, the school's director, said the
incident had been blown out of all proportion, but added that the school
would remain closed until January to let ill feelings blow over.
"This was a
completely innocent mistake," he said in an office decorated with
sepia photographs dating back to the school's colonial heyday.
"Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."
Police raided the
school, where Gibbons also lives, on Sunday.
"We tried to
reason with them but we felt they were coming under strong pressure from
Islamic courts," said Boulus. "There were men with big beards
asking where she was and saying they wanted to kill her."
A similar angry crowd
had gathered by the time she arrived at the Khartoum police station
where she is being held.
Unity, founded early in
the last century, is one of several British schools run along Christian
lines in an overwhelmingly Muslim country. Its high brick walls shut out
the dust of everyday Sudanese life, transporting the visitor into the
shady courtyard of an Oxbridge college or English private school. Many
of its pupils come from well-to-do Sudanese families keen for their
children to get the best education that money can buy. But Sudan is
ruled by religious conservatives. Sharia law was introduced in 1991;
alcohol is banned and women must wear headscarves. Convicted criminals
are routinely flogged or executed.
The bizarre turn of
events that led to the teacher's arrest began in September, soon after
she arrived in the country, according to colleagues who have rallied in
her support. Her young class was due to study the behavior and habitat
of bears, so she suggested that pupils bring in a teddy bear to serve as
a case study. A seven-year-old girl brought in her favorite cuddly toy
and the rest of the class was invited to name him. After considering the
names Hassan and Abdullah, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of
Muhammad — the first name of the most popular boy in the class.
"No parents or
teachers complained because they knew she had no bad intention,"
said Boulos. Until last week. Parents from another class raised concerns
with the school. Then Sudan's feared police came calling at the weekend.
Gibbons' colleagues said they feared a disgruntled member of staff may
be using the issue to cause trouble.
Bishop Ezikiel Kondo,
chairman of the school council, said: "The thing may be very
simple, but they just may make it bigger. It's a kind of
blackmail." Khartoum has exploded with anger at accusations of
blasphemy in the past. Last year angry demonstrators denounced cartoons
of the Prophet that appeared in Danish newspapers. And there have been
protests at the actions of Zoe's Ark, a French charity accused of trying
to smuggle children out of neighboring Chad.
Now everyone is waiting
to see whether religious leaders or politicians will take their
supporters onto the streets this time. Most parents arriving at the
school gates were supportive of the British teacher. One mother, whose
seven-year-old son was in Gibbons' class, said her family had not been
offended by the name. "Our Prophet Muhammad tells us to be
forgiving," she said. "So she should be released. She didn't
mean any of this at all."
