A charity which appeared in an ITV documentary about racism and extremism has been criticised by the Charity Commission.
In February last year an Exposure documentary, carried out by documentary company Hardcash, filmed a speaker at a camp for students, run by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK, a religious education charity, telling students that Christians seek to “destroy Hindu history” and that Islam is “the worst religion in the world”.
The Commission opened an investigation into the charity, and found comments made at its event to be “particularly objectionable and anti-Islamic”.
It said trustees had failed to follow their own procedures and had not properly screened speakers. As a result it found that “the trustees had failed to comply with their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law”.
However the Commission also found that there was “insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the views expressed by the speaker were endemic or systematic in the charity and its activities”.
The Commission said the charity had offered its full cooperation in the inquiry.
“The trustees cooperated with the inquiry and have responded appropriately in respect of actions taken in response to the programme and the commission’s concerns reporting the matter to the commission as a serious incident,” its report said. “After they were notified by Hardcash of the intention to air the documentary, the trustees acted promptly to review policies and procedures and set in motion their own review of events.
“The Commission considers that implementation by the trustees of the reviewed policies will reduce the risk of a similar instances occurring."
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