Sikh barrister does solid and informative job invokes first objection to the Humphris Kumbaya Flagrancy.
Who: Jasvir Singh
What: Sikh
Where: Director of City Sikhs Network
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AI transcript of the Radio 4 broadcast
The SecondThought Report (podcast script)
Welcome to the SecondThought for the day podcast. In this episode we dissect a Radio Four Thought For The Day (TftD) to expose all in it that is not factful or reasonable. Please visit secondthoughtfortheday.com for more on what we do and why.
You can also find there a transcript of the broadcast we’re about to review and a link to the original BBC audio. As well as show notes and all the other podcasts we’ve done.
This is the SecondThought review of the BBC’s TftD broadcast from 14 April 2025, which was by Jasvir Singh. A Sikh barrister and activist. It’s worth noting that we’ve been keeping score and this, among a week’s worth of TftD in mid April 2025 contained the lowest number of crimes against accuracy.
For a flavour of the broadcast, here’s his opening.
SINGH: The last few days have seen the world’s economies being shaken, with many worried that globalisation is at grave risk and that the rules-based international order is all but over. But a country flexing its fiscal muscle isn’t a new phenomenon.
Throughout history, strong economies have exerted their control and influence, at the expense of others.
Jasvir Singh does a solid job and, as noted, there are very few logical flaws. There is, though, a notable bias introduced by omission when Singh describes the persecution Sikhs by the Mughal Empire.
SINGH: In the late 17th century, the Mughal Empire was at its peak as the wealthiest power in the world.… Some of its population were targeted with deeply unfair taxes. Sikhs, in particular, came under direct attack.
These statements are undeniably true. It is not the whole truth. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, was on a ruthless mission to extinguish all religion that was not Islam. Resistance was punished, Hindu temples were demolished and turned into mosques, higher taxes were charged to all non-Muslims and the emperor persecuted anyone who refused to submit to Islamic law.
Yes the Sikhs came under direct attack but they were not alone.
Guru Tegh Bahadur, the victim of an Aurangzeb beheading to which Singh makes reference, was the predecessor of the guru selected by Jasvir as the focus of his broadcast. He is remembered as a man who fought for religious freedom. He championed liberation from fear and dependence. He taught that strength should be gained through truth, worship, sacrifice and knowledge. Tegh Bahadur was a loud voice of rebellion.
Aurangzeb was on something of an arc of how he wielded his power. Initially he was more motivated by piety but that gave way to expansionist ambitions. By the time of the story Singh recounts, Aurangzeb was more sensitive to threats to his power than he was to non-Muslims. Threats like the one posed by Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Tegh Bahadur publicly refused to submit to Islamic law.
It was not the Sikhism, it was the loud and rebellious voice that resulted in the Emperor’s direct attack on Guru Tegh Bahadur’s neck.
This instance of bias is not in the league of the logical transgressions or overt deceit we’ve seen from David Walker or Angela Tilby but it is needless bias nonetheless.
Singh is also guilty of breaching what I think we should call the Humphrys Kumbaya Flagrancy. Jon Humphrys is a respected Welsh broadcaster in the UK and is among that exceptional band of journalists who have presented Today. Today is a three-hour radio news programme, broadcast each weekday from 6 am. There is a shorter, 7am version on Saturdays. It has often been credited with setting the political agenda for the country each morning. It is a news colossus and a sanctuary for objectivity and reason. Jon has been publicly critical of the routine three-minute pulpit interruption that Today suffers at the hands of TftD.
When expanding an allegation he once made that TftD was boring, Humphrys set out a platitude pattern to which he particularly objected.
Jon said, “Dear god, we’ve got to cut a really fascinating programme short because we’re now going to hear somebody tell us that Jesus was really nice, and the world could be a better place….”
Further to a little tweaking, we’ve developed it into this:
There is something in the news today that is emblematic of a terrible thing in the world.
We revere some deity, individual, notion or behaviour.
If only everyone in the world revered this deity, individual, notion or behaviour, there would be fewer terrible things in the world.
Examples of this Kumbaya banality are commonplace in TftD broadcasts. Perhaps they are included precisely because the presenters know Jon dislikes them so much. I wouldn’t put it past Giles Fraser. It’s a lovely thought, but does seem unlikely.
Moreover, these platitudes never constitute reflection from a faith perspective on an issue or a person in the news. It’s typically just half-hearted flag waving for the faith affiliation in question. It seems that flagrant use of the Humphrys kumbaya platitude is a crutch. If the presenter can’t come up with a pertinent and informative reflection on the news, they simply regurgitate some version of the platitude. Hence, our coining, for future deployment when appropriate, of the Humphrys Kumbaya Flagrancy.
We, then, have a new category of error to add to those of fact and reason. With no small amount of glee, we get to add deviation. In this case, deviation from the content parameters provide by the BBC for TdfD.
Back to the example at hand. Jasvir Singh said:
SINGH: Guru Gobind Singh Ji stood up to the challenge of a strong economic and military power, while remaining bound by a rules-based order of the Khalsa over three centuries ago. He remains an inspirational figure to many.
If we have the moral conviction to know what is just and right today — and focus on the global picture —there’s no reason why we can’t emerge from our current tumultuous period even stronger and more confident.`
This is a classic example of the Humphrys Kumbaya Flagrancy.
From what we learned when looking into this world of gurus and emperors, it seems also that Jasvir may have sold the Sikh story a little short. He describes that to be Sikh is to fight (not just metaphorically) for everyone’s belief, and how it is not about protecting one group above all others.
It seems there is something in Sikhism that is mandatory about taking action (personal, individual action) to prevent injustice and inequality. This doesn’t obviate the Kumbaya breach but it puts that breach in light considerably more favourable than routinely glimmers on the work of many regular Christian presenters of TftD.
Thank you for listening. If you’d like to learn more about what we do and why, or to read show notes, find transcripts, or listen to any of the other podcasts we’ve not yet put out on the main feed, please visit secondthoughtfortheday.com.
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