The BBC has received over 100 complaints over its treatment of the Muslim religious festival Ramadan in a recent episode.
During Ramadan, which fell between 2 September and 30 September this year, Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset.
According to Digitalspy, on 11 September, an Eastenders episode featured Muslim character Masood Ahmed, played by Nitin Ganatra, eating chapatti beyond his food store during daylight hours.
When confronted by Jane Beale, the character played by Laurie Brett, Masood said he was a ‘bad person’ and then explained how difficult he found it to fast because his job required him to sell food all day.
The BBC has released a statement defending the scene.
It said: "We would like to assure viewers it was not our intention to insult Muslim or Islamic values.
"Within shows such as EastEnders we try to treat our characters as individuals with their own sets of behaviours and opinions, regardless of their religion, race or sexuality and, as in real life, they do not always strictly follow all the laws, traditions and customs of their religions.
"The Masoods have already proven to be popular with viewers, and we have in general been delighted by the response to them. However, they are a group of just four characters and should not be seen to represent the entire British-Asian or British Muslim experience.
"Although Masood is a practising Muslim, he has his own fallibilities as a human being. Our intention was never to focus primarily on the religion, but on the character's ability to meet the standards he aspires to in life."
