LONDON: Religious leaders, community groups, professional forums and activists have come together in an unprecedented condemnation of Home Secretary Sylla Broerman’s racist, Islamophobic, irresponsible and divisive rhetoric on child sexual exploitation, linking it to Pakistanis.
The Home Secretary’s racist and inflammatory comments from a series of interviews last week have been labeled “inflammatory and divisive rhetoric which is sensational and contradicts the evidence of her own department”.
Pakistani organizations British Nigerians, British Indians, British Bengalis and others have joined in condemning the Home Secretary, arguing that the Home Secretary’s rhetoric ignores the impact that “the public sector under the present government And cuts to community services fall on young people. Increasing their vulnerability.”
The British Pakistan Foundation (BPF) has called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to distance himself from Braverman’s extremist rhetoric and apologize to British Pakistanis.
The Muslim Women’s Network and others who have seen evidence of and worked with Asian victims of grooming have commented: “The Home Secretary’s approach to demonizing a whole community and giving credence to a far-right narrative is all about CSE. It undermines the need to protect victims. Criminals will be brought to justice.”
While community organizations across England, Wales and Scotland denounced the Home Secretary’s actions as “an act of collective punishment for the reprehensible actions of a few”, senior leaders from the world of finance and business criticized the Prime Minister for the Home Secretary. Demanded to withdraw his remarks. Arguing that failure to do so would be seen as “a government under your leadership that has encouraged and normalized prejudice against British Pakistanis”.
The British Pakistan Foundation, in a letter to Prime Minister Sunak, said its 18,000-strong members want action from the prime minister.
The BPF letter said: “We are writing to you to express our deep concern and dismay at the recent comments of the Home Secretary and not to speak against you. These comments include the so-called “grooming gangs”. I have identified only the inclusion of British Pakistani men and the upholding of cultural values diametrically opposed to “British values”.
“A report commissioned by the Home Office in 2020, entitled “Characteristics of group-based child sexual abuse in the community”, concluded that the majority of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are white and It was further noted that profile cases, caste-related and such insults, while somewhat prevalent, could not be proven. The NSPCC chief executive warned that further strengthening of such narratives can create ‘new blind spots that prevent victims from being identified.” Further, the National Policing Leadership on Child Sexual Exploitation emphasized that ‘child abusers come from all parts of our society. And sadly, most of the abuse happens in the home’.
“These findings are supported by the conviction last week of 21 men of both sexes and of “white” British descent, who sexually abused children over a decade in Walsall.
The letter added: “Recent examples of violence rooted in racial narratives include riots outside a hotel in Knowsley (February 2023), a firebomb attack on an immigration center in Dover (November 2022), murders in Christchurch, New Zealand. Common ones include (March 2019), an attack on a crowd near Finsbury Park Mosque (January 2018) and the murder of an innocent 81-year-old man in Rotherham (August 2015). Trying to portray the men and insisting that the community is complicit in their actions is reprehensible. Therefore, we demand that you urgently clarify the Home Secretary’s claims and We also call for your immediate engagement with the British Pakistani community and others on this matter to ensure that the Home Secretary’s irresponsible words, and your Led by the government, prejudice targeting British Pakistanis is not seen as encouraging and normalizing.
Dozens of leading Muslim organizations have also written to the prime minister demanding an apology – or risk losing confidence in the community altogether.
The joint letter said the community was shocked by the Home Secretary’s recent comments in which he described British Pakistani men as having “cultural values that are diametrically opposed to British values that view women as demeaning and illegitimate.” are and who adopt a decrepit and frankly hideous style. The way they behave.”
The letter to the Prime Minister said: “These remarks and others were made by the Home Secretary without warning and were not limited to child sexual exploitation (CSE) offenders but instead stereotyped was done and the entire community was targeted. We heartily condemn all those who are guilty of CSE and stand with the victims of child abuse. It is a shame for everyone in our country that 1 in 10 children are victims of sexual abuse and 5 million children are sexually abused every year. However, the Home Secretary’s approach to demonizing whole communities and giving credence to far-right narratives Undermines the need to ensure that all victims of CSE are protected and that all perpetrators are brought to justice.
“The Home Secretary’s words are the latest in a long line of comments by her and others targeting communities with little regard for the real-life consequences that come from such comments by politicians. To Ministers Hate crime is on the rise in the UK, with recent high-profile attacks in Dover and Knowsley following inflammatory language from A far-right terrorist in Land wrote “For Rotherham” on his ammunition before killing 51 people in a mosque. False rumors of “grooming” in Barrow in 2020 right-wing Asians in the town. The Home Secretary’s comments encourage the possibility of more such attacks.
“The Home Secretary’s approach is one of collective punishment for the reprehensible actions of a few. We therefore call on you to distance yourself from the Home Secretary’s claims which are clearly unsubstantiated and to We ask you to withdraw his remarks. We also ask you to end your government’s policy of alienation from British Muslims and ensure that the Home Secretary’s irresponsible words are followed by a government you lead. Don’t be seen as another example of, encouraging and normalizing bigotry targeting your fellow British citizens.
The joint letter was written by the Muslim Women’s Network. Muslim Council of Wales; British Muslim Heritage Centre; Islamic Society of Great Britain; Burying the Council of Mosques; Rochdale Council of Mosques; Liverpool Regional Mosque Network; West London Islamic Centre; London Muslim Forum; Cheadle Mosque; Ilford Islamic Centre; Federation of Scholars; Manchester Muslim Community; Woking Muslim Welfare Association; Zakaria Jama Masjid Bolton; Brent Muslim Braille Council; own right; Finsbury Mosque; Al-Madinah Mosque Barking; Masjid Anwar Blackburn; East End Islamic Center; Bilal Mosque; Anjuman Islamia Newham; Jamia Masjid Khazra Burial; The Worthing Mosque;
Muslim Council of Britain; Muslim Council of Scotland; Council of Muslim Organizations of Sri Lanka; Federation of Student Islamic Societies; Muslim Council of Southampton; Lancashire Council of Mosques; Shah Jahan Mosque Woking; Bristol Muslim Strategic Leadership Group; Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust; Pakistan Community Center London; Union of Muslim Organizations; Walsall Federation of Muslim Organizations Leicester Muslim Engagement and Development; Rushmore Muslim Association; Bait Muhammad Academy Blackburn; Quwat al-Islam Rotherham; Community Muslim Forum; Brent Central Mosque; Safe Islamic Portal; Newham Muslim Forum; Masjid Kooba; Al Habib Mosque; Masjid Tawheed Manwar Park; and Southampton Medina Mosque.
