The row over a teacher’s use of an offensive cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad is being exploited by parties on both sides, and by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, according to politicians and religious leaders who have appealed for calm. For a second day, a small group of protesters gathered outside Batley grammar school in West Yorkshire on Friday, with more members of the media than public in attendance after the school announced it would be closed and pupils would be taught remotely. Sayeeda Warsi, the former Conservative cabinet minister, told the BBC: “Unfortunately, this matter has been hijacked by extremists on both sides to kind of create this culture war. What we’re forgetting is the most important party in all of this, which is the kids and their learning.” Lady Warsi said she had been in contact with parents at the school, and added: “It’s obvious that many pupils were left distressed because of what happened.” The Islamic Human Rights Commission, a London-based advocacy group, asked Williamson to retract his statements, saying that he “effectively accuses concerned parents of violence against the school and making threats”. “Neither of these claims seems substantiated by video footage of the parents’ protest outside the school,” the IHRC said. “These claims firstly distract from the core issue – what appears to be a deliberate racist and humiliating provocation by a teacher against Muslim pupils. Secondly, they demonise Muslim parents, students and the community in general.” Williamson made headlines after adding his name to comments issued by the Department for Education, saying: “It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers ... the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.” Some of the demonstrators insisted they would continue to protest until the school’s religious studies teacher responsible for showing the cartoon to a Year 9 class was sacked. Both the school and the teacher have apologised to parents, with the teacher being suspended since the controversy emerged on Thursday. The protests have passed off peacefully on both days, with no arrests made or fines issued by West Yorkshire police in attendance. Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, gave an implied rebuke to Williamson when she praised the school’s reaction to the protests and said the wellbeing of pupils was paramount. “I welcome the school’s swift response to this and now appeal to everyone to work together and calm the situation,” Green said. “There can be no excuse for intimidation of teachers. The most important thing now is that conversations between the school, parents and the local community proceed in a constructive manner. The wellbeing and education of children must be put first following the disruption of the pandemic. “I’m pleased conversations are taking place so in future teaching of these subjects can be done in a respectful manner.” Qari Asim, imam at Makkah Mosque in Leeds and chair of the mosques and imams national advisory board, called for the protests to end while discussions were ongoing with the school. “We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia in all of this,” he said. Tracy Brabin, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, said: “Those who seek to fan the flames of this incident will only provoke hate and division in our community and I would encourage all involved to work together and calm the situation.” Messages from parents shared with the Guardian suggest the image displayed in the religious studies lesson on Monday included a cartoon showing the prophet wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb. Muslim leaders said if that was the case, it took the issue beyond a theological discussion about the prohibition of depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, and into the realms of Islamophobia by equating Islam with terrorism. Parents of children in the class said that the teacher did explain the context of the cartoon and the controversy it caused, as well as the subsequent violent attacks on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine. The Muslim Council of Britain said: “Reports suggest the image shown to students was one that depicted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) wearing a turban with a bomb in it – an extremely offensive image that plays into the Islamophobic trope of Muslims and/or Islam being synonymous with terrorism, and Muslims having a unique penchant for violence. “According to parents at the school, the cartoons created a hostile atmosphere and led to Islamophobic discourse and language. We all want our schools to be inclusive spaces that foster a productive learning environment – an increase in Islamophobic discourse within a school setting cannot be deemed as acceptable.” Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The school and member of staff concerned have apologised for the use of the resource in question, and the school is initiating an independent formal investigation. It should now be allowed to follow this process without a running commentary in the media, on social media, and outside the school gates.”