By Joseph Vavrus
The removal of journalist Fazeer Mohammed from his position as a TV host for the State-owned Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) has led to charges from activists and journalism groups that he was fired for his Muslim faith, the Trinidad Express reports.
During an interview last week, he argued with Trinidad and Tobago’s foreign minister about the role of women in Islam and how that affected Mohammed’s view of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Express explains. The journalist was removed from his positions at CNMG two days later.
According to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, the CEO of the Islamic Broadcasting Network said the firing is part of “blatant religious discrimination” against Muslims by the government, and several Muslim groups have organized protests against CNMG. The president of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers, Wesley Gibbings, said Mohammed was “politically victimized” for his independence, and the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago called his replacement “clearly aligned with the government.”
Persad-Bissessar has said that Mohammed was reassigned as part of cost-cutting restructuring at CNMG, not fired, Caribbean360 adds.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
