A council equality chief who became involved in a controversy over school rules and discrimination over a four-year-old Muslim girl wearing a headscarf in school has resigned from his cabinet post after being criticised by the Government’s integration tsar.
Cllr Waseem Zaffar, Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for transparency, openness and equality, faced accusations of impropriety after the little girl was asked by teachers at St Clare’s Catholic Primary School to remove her headscarf so as to comply with school uniform.
Zaffar was related to the pupil but did not make that public, the Birmingham Mail said.
Zaffar was accused of trying to force the school to allow the little girl to wear a headscarf and of misusing his position to intimidate a headteacher into changing the school uniform policy.
Zaffar’s resignation comes after a government official reportedly told the council his actions were unfair.
