From article

A West Yorkshire school in England is at the center of a controversy after four students were suspended for mishandling a Quran, which belonged to one of the students. The book was “slightly damaged” with “no malicious intent.” However, the school contacted the police, the Islamic Center, and others to address the matter. Reportedly based on an unintentional act, the punishment raises free speech concerns.

The incident at Wakefield’s Kettlethorpe High School reportedly involved an accidental damaging of the Quran.

Independent councillor for Wakefield East, Akef Akbar, called a meeting to discuss the incident as the school moved to suspend the four students involved. The Quran reportedly has a tiny tear and a smudge of dirt on some pages.

While Akbar reportedly claimed it was kicked around the school premises, the school denied that rumor.

Head teacher Mr Griffiths issued a statement:

“We would like to reassure all our community that the holy book remains fully intact and that our initial enquiries indicate there was no malicious intent by those involved. However, we have made it very clear that their actions did not treat the Quran with the respect it should have, so those involved have been suspended and we will be working with them to ensure they understand why their actions were unacceptable.

This morning, we met with our local Muslim community leaders, local councillors and police to share all the information we currently know, the action taken and the immediate steps we have taken to reinforce the values and behaviour we expect from every member of this school community to ensure that all religions are respected.” I entirely agreed with the school that an intervention was warranted. Students should be told that the handling of religious texts must be done with respect on school grounds given the importance of Bibles, Qurans, Torahs, and other works to members of the community. Part of learning about citizenship is to learn about civility and respect.

However, I am concerned about the suspension as opposed to a discussion with the students and their parents. These students are allowed to bring religious books to school and an accidental or non-malicious act should not trigger such sanctions. While students should be asked to show greater concern for the religious beliefs of others on school grounds, this action enforces a higher degree of care often demanded from the religion.

Students should have a protected right to bring a religious book to school regardless of whether they believe in its teachings. Moreover, a non-intentional act of dropping or damaging such a book should be a matter for a warning or admonition, not a suspension. The action suggests that any student who drops a Quran would face a suspension of their education.

It seems unlikely that the mere dropping of a Bible would produce a similar response. However, even so, it would also raise concern over the enforcement of religious mores in a public school. While some may be offended by the lack of care for the book, this is reportedly the property of one of the suspended students.

While these students would have a viable constitutional claim in the United States, they likely have no such claim in the United Kingdom where free speech is in a virtual free fall. A man was convicted for sending a tweet while drunk referring to dead soldiers. Another was arrested for an anti-police teeshirt. Another was arrested for calling the Irish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “leprechaun.” Yet another was arrested for singing “Kung Fu Fighting.” A teenager was arrested for protesting outside of a Scientology center with a sign calling the religion a “cult.” Recently we discussed the arrest of a woman who was praying to herself near an abortion clinic. English courts have seen criminalized “toxic ideologies” as part of this crackdown on free speech.

A couple was previously prosecuted for burning a Quran and posting the videotape in Great Britain. That would be a protected act in the United States.

This incident appears accidental involving a Quran that is the property of a student, not the school. Even in Great Britain, there should be some limitation on the level of sanctions in such a case. Otherwise, the school risks crossing the line from enforcing civility to enforcing religiosity.

https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/11/four-students-suspended-after-a-quran-is-slightly-damaged-by-accident/