Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) has launched an internal review after a row broke out about a message sent to staff during Diwali.
Diwali is one of the most important festivals within Hinduism and signifies the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance". This year, the festival took place on October 24.
An email sent that morning, from ‘EmbRACE Manchester’ to MFT employees, made reference to the 'insidious growth of Hindu right wing nationalist ideology'. EmbRACE is described by the trust as a ‘grassroots collaboration’, including several members of staff and healthcare staff from outside the organisation, with the aim of making the NHS a fair and inclusive place to work for all.
Titled ‘Happy Diwali’, the message started: “We would like to wish a very Happy Diwali to all who are celebrating today.” Later in the email, it stated: “It’s particularly important to pause and reflect on recent events and how we bring back peace and harmony to our communities.”
It continued: “Worsening political and religious polarisation in India has unfortunately seeped into diaspora communities across the world. Muslims and Hindus have lived together harmoniously in East Leicester and Birmingham for decades, however unease among residents has been growing in recent months culminating in violent clashes in September fuelled by social media misinformation.
“The history behind the tensions is long and complex, however the emergence and insidious growth of Hindu right wing nationalist ideology in India (spreading to UK/USA) should not be ignored. The vast majority of Hindus do not share these xenophobic views and we must not hesitate to stand up and unite with our Muslim neighbours and colleagues at this worrying time.
“Both Muslim and Hindu communities face the harms of overt and structural racism. Violent divisions between these communities feed racist narratives, and divided communities are less able to effectively advocate for anti-racism.
“Let's find a way of stamping out these dangerous voices, healing the rift and bringing back harmony to our communities.” The email ended: “May this Diwali bring universal compassion, the inner joy of peace and love, and the awareness of oneness to all”.
One anonymous Hindu member of staff contacted the Manchester Evening News and slammed the message as “hurtful”, while several people directed tweets at the MFT account, voicing their anger. One user, called @_Big_Vin_ wrote: "I am absolutely outraged and disgusted by the message sent by the Embrace team.
"As a very senior colleague I am saddened by the failure of a service under your leadership to meet the level of standards expected. This matter will be escalated to the appropriate channels."
EmbRACE recalled the email and apologised. In an email sent around 15 hours after the initial one, an EmbRACE spokesman wrote: “It has come to our attention that this email has caused offence amongst several of our colleagues.
“Although that was absolutely not our intention, we acknowledge and accept the impact this email has had. We are devastated that we may have upset our colleagues on an auspicious day of celebration. Please accept our sincere apologies.”
MFT described the content of the original email as ‘inapproprpiate and issued a public apology on Twitter. The trust also distanced itself from EmbRACE’s communications team and confirmed that an internal review has been launched.
@MFTnhs tweeted: “We have been made aware of an email distributed to some members of our staff, by EmbRACE, titled 'Happy Diwali', and understand it has caused upset amongst some staff by inappropriately referencing religious tension in the wider environment. We would like to make clear that EmbRACE is a grass roots collaboration of staff which operates entirely separately from official MFT communication channels.
“The Trust certainly does not approve of the inappropriate contents of this week's Diwali message and has launched an internal review. In this context we wish to stress that this particular EmbRACE email was in no way issued with the endorsement of MFT.”
The tweet continued: “Finally we wish to stress that MFT continuously strives to be an inclusive employer and celebrates all faiths and religions in a positive way. We work closely with our staff to recognise key festivals and encourage staff to highlight and promote any such celebrations that may be important to them.
“Please be assured that the Trust has taken this matter very seriously and been swift to act. Once again we apologise for the upset this incident has caused some colleagues.”
MFT has since told the M.E.N that the original email was actually composed by a Hindu member of staff. A trust spokesman said: “EmbRACE is a grassroots collaboration including several of our staff, along with healthcare staff from outside of our organisation.
"They operate entirely separately from official MFT communication channels. The message which they circulated last week raised concerns with a number of Trust staff, so we immediately contacted EmbRACE.
"The message was recalled and they sent an apology. One of the authors of the EmbRACE communication is themselves Hindu, and the group are extremely upset about the distress which has been caused. We will be having an internal review and we are continuing to provide both support and the offer of discussions to our staff who have expressed their concerns.”
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