A dispute between the Oldham Council leader and the leader The Oldham Group has broken out online over discussion of a potential new cemetery.
Council leader Arooj Shah and Cllr Kamran Ghafoor have criticised one another in videos shared online while disputing a proposal to build a Muslim cemetery in the borough.
The disagreement between the pair has broken out weeks before Oldhamers head to the polls to vote in the local elections on May 7.
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In a video shared on TikTok earlier this month by The Oldham Group, Cllr Ghafoor said 19 Muslim Labour councillors voted against a proposal to build a Muslim cemetery he brought forward when he was a Conservative councillor in 2023.
The motion was voted down, with Cllr Shah saying at the time the proposal "caused a considerable amount of tension in the community" with some people worried there was not enough burial capacity, which she said was untrue.
In the video filmed at a cemetery, Cllr Ghafoor says: "We, The Oldham Group, want a standalone Muslim cemetery here in Oldham.
"The reason is because we have a 60,000 Muslim population in Oldham which is growing on a day-by-day basis."
Cllr Ghafoor added that it was "unbelievable" that Muslim Labour councillors voted the motion from 2023 down and that if The Oldham Group come to power, they would look to create a Muslim-only cemetery.
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In a video responding to this, Cllr Shah slammed Cllr Ghafoor saying claims he made in the video were "designed to cause fear", adding that the council had confirmed burial capacity in the borough for the next seven years.
She also criticised Cllr Ghafoor for using a cemetery to film a political video, saying it "should never be turned into a setting for political messaging".
When contacted, Cllr Chafoor said: "I would like to be clear that this is not a 'spat', but a clear difference in policy. The Oldham Group has made a firm policy choice to support the creation of a standalone Muslim cemetery. In contrast, the Labour Party has chosen not to support this.
"I have recently joined TikTok, where I am setting out a series of pledges to the people of Oldham. This commitment is one of eight key pledges we have made. It is our view that Cllr Shah and the Labour Party are increasingly out of touch with the people of Oldham, and are unwilling to listen to or act upon their wishes on this issue."
Cllr Shah declined to provide a further comment.
The Oldham Liberal Democrats declined to comment, while the Oldham Conservatives did not respond when approached for comment.
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