Oxford University accused of racism

Academic was accused of "outrageous racism"

A student has accused Oxford University of racism after he failed an exam.

Nadeem Ahmed, 31, was studying for a Masters Degree in Mediaeval Arabic Philosophy but was asked to leave the course after he was told he had failed an exam in Arabic.

He is now suing the university for racial discrimination.

Mr Ahmed's barrister Karen Monaghan told Reading County Court on Monday that her client was an experienced Arabic language student.

Allegation backed

While he had failed, a fellow female white student with no experience of the language had passed, Ms Monaghan said.

It is also alleged that the course tutor Dr Friedrich Zimmermann insulted Mr Ahmed, calling him dyslexic and questioning his use of basic English.

Mr Ahmed's tutor, Oxford academic Tom Paulin, backed his claim of racial discrimination against the university, Ms Monaghan told the court.

Ms Monaghan said that the exam had broken the university's own rules because there was no proper marking, no set pass mark, no invigilation and no copies of the papers made before they were returned to the students.

Ms Monaghan also told the court that Mr Ahmed had failed the exam while fellow students Rahim Pirani and Jane Clark had both passed. She said there was no pass mark for the exam and Mr Ahmed was given no clear reason for his failure.

'Outrageous racism'

Having been told he had failed the exam, Mr Ahmed, who is of Indian/Pakistani origin, complained about the results and lack of proper supervision and marking.

After that, Dr Zimmermann increasingly victimised Mr Ahmed, Ms Monaghan alleged.

"The faculty of Oriental studies then effectively closed ranks and far from easing the situation, made it much worse," she told the court.

Ms Monaghan also said Dr Zimmermann had displayed "coarse and outrageous racism" towards Mr Ahmed.

He had questioned if Mr Ahmed was dyslexic and said "that he compounded the impression of him being an uneducated person".

The case continues.