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thomas davison

An obsession with racism that left vulnerable girls at the mercy of sex predatorsBy Mohammed Shafiq
PUBLISHED: 23:51, 9 May 2012 | UPDATED: 08:06, 10 May 2012

As nine men are sentenced to a total of 77 years for running a child-sex ring, Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, accuses the Pakistani community of failing to challenge the abuse and urges police to not be frightened in addressing the issue

Mohammed Shafiq: 'There should be no silence in addressing the issue of race'
Adherence to the truth is one of the greatest weapons in the service of a democratic, civilised society. No great moral purpose can long be served by cover-up, denial, obfuscation and lies, especially where the lives of the most vulnerable citizens are concerned.

But, sadly, some of those in authority do not appear to recognise the importance of that principle � as shown by their reluctance to face up to the problem of predatory gangs of Pakistani men sexually abusing white girls.

Over recent years, there has been mounting evidence of this vile phenomenon, where groups of British Pakistanis deliberately target defenceless girls, often from care homes, by plying them with alcohol and gifts before systematically abusing them.

Yet too often, the authorities who should be protecting the young, like the police, social services and the courts, have failed to act against these predators because of hyper-sensitivity about race.

In the wake of the 1999 Macpherson report into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, such organisations have become terrified of accusations of institutionalised racism, so they are paralysed when it comes to tackling sex crimes perpetrated by Pakistani criminal gangs.

As a Pakistani myself and the father of three daughters, I have been disturbed by the attitude of our civic bodies. Serious crime should be dealt with robustly, regardless of the ethnic identity of the perpetrators.

My community rightly complains when there is racism in employment or when our community is attacked by the English Defence League (EDL), but we are reluctant to confront the evil of grooming.

Sexual assaults against white girls by Pakistani men should not be ignored or treated more leniently than similar offences perpetrated by criminals from other backgrounds. To do so is not just an affront to justice, it also does a terrible disservice to British Pakistanis � as if we cannot be held to the same standards as the rest of society.

Concern: Police guard the entrance to the court where the Rochdale sex gang was facing trial. Since the Macpherson report, there have been concerns that the police and courts are terrified of accusations of racism
Tragically, in speaking out against these men (who, it must be said, represent a very small minority element of our society), I have found that not all members of my community agree with me.

While the vast majority certainly do, as evidenced by the deluge of text messages and emails I have received in support of my work to highlight the problem of predator gangs, some community leaders appear to think it would be better if the whole issue were swept under the carpet.

They claim that by highlighting the scandal, I am doing the dirty work of Right-wing extremists such as the BNP �helping to taint Pakistanis with the smear of criminality.

But this is nonsense. The damage has been done by the criminal activity of the gangs themselves.

The truth is that we will win far more respect by challenging abuse, rather than colluding with its cover-up.

This conflict within the community has been brought to a head this week by a crown court trial in which a nine-strong gang of men from Rochdale, mainly of Pakistani origin, were convicted of a range of serious offences, ranging from assault to paedophilic activity, against 47 white girls.
Of course, many Muslims will be aghast and revolted by the behaviour of these men. But the fact that Muslims are disproportionately represented among the perpetrators of this particular crime means inescapably that a cultural Muslim issue is involved. If this is not acknowledged, this terrible pattern of abuse will simply continue. And those who shriek �racist� or �Islamophobe� at all who point this out in order to stifle proper debate thus make themselves also complicit in these outrages.
Then there was Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, who disgracefully tried to yoke concern about the community implications of this crime to the BNP prejudice against all Asians. Vaz huffed and puffed that it was quite wrong to stigmatise an entire community because of a few men in this case who deserved to be prosecuted. Well first of all, it is clear from the evidence in this trial that this problem goes far beyond the nine men who were convicted yesterday. These girls report being passed around dozens if not hundreds of men, all apparently from the same community, but whom the police have failed to identify. " THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN LOOKING"

The police maintain doggedly that this has nothing to do with race. What a red herring. Of course it doesn�t! This is about religion and culture - an unwesternised Islamic culture which holds that non-Muslims are trash and women are worthless. And so white girls are worthless trash. Which is itself of course a race issue.

And second, this absurd argument is used time and again to stifle all discussion about ethnic or religious minority issues. No-one is saying that all Pakistanis or all Muslim men are guilty of this kind of abuse. Indeed, how could the expressed concern possibly �stigmatise an entire community� when the chief crown prosecutor in the north west Nazir Afzal, who took the rare step of reinstating the prosecution of two of the perpetrators thus overturning the previous disgraceful decision to drop it, is himself of Pakistani origin although British born?

A Muslim community disproportionately involved in criminal behaviour targeted at non-Islamic people but which refuses to acknowledge any communal responsibility and claims instead to be the victim of a conspiracy; a society that refuses to acknowledge the religious and cultural wellspring of that behaviour and which condemns instead those who express concern about its consequences; where have we heard all this before? Whether in response to threats to life and liberty from within or without, Britain is still sleepwalking off the edge of a cliff.

Yesterday, the gang received jail sentences totalling 77 years, with the ringleader given a term of 19 years.

Rochdale grooming gang: There has been increasing evidence of this vile phenomenon, where defenceless white girls are deliberately targeted by groups of British Pakistanis
While the result of the trial has been a victory for justice, the sad fact is that it took far too long to bring the criminals to court, thanks to the feebleness of the authorities.

Not only were the police too slow in compiling evidence, but the Crown Prosecution Service initially even refused to take action against the gang.

Yesterday, Rochdale Social Services admitted to failings that �had led to children being put back into the hands of their abusers�.
SACK THEM ALL NOW.

The fact is that the vulnerable girl victims were badly let down by a system obsessed with the doctrine of political correctness, where anxieties about racism trump common-sense and compassion. It is no use pretending � as too many politicians, police officers and community leaders do � that the grooming of white girls by Pakistani men is not a serious issue in our society, especially in the old industrial heartlands of the North and Midlands where there have been high levels of immigration from the sub-continent in recent years.

Guilt: The men, all but one originally from Pakistan, were convicted of luring girls into sex with drink, drugs, fast food and free taxi rides over a number of years
The figures are startling.

Out of 77 recent convictions for grooming, rape and other predatory sex crimes, no fewer than 67 involved Pakistani men. An analysis of five police investigations into these activities showed that 94 per cent of the perpetrators were Asian.

I don�t always agree with the language of Ann Cryer, the outspoken former Labour MP for Keighley, who has long campaigned on this issue, but she is absolutely right when she says there is a �scandal� in our midst and that the authorities have been �petrified of being called racist�.

Criticism: Some community leaders believe that by highlighting this scandal, I'm undertaking the work of Right-wing extremists such as the BNP
We have to face facts. The increasing number of sex crimes is proving to be a real difficulty for the British Pakistani community which will not be resolved by silence or accusations of racism.

The reality is that there is a small minority of Pakistani men who think white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused with impunity.

Part of the problem is related to the fact that they should not have extra-marital sex with Pakistani girls inside their own tightly-knit communities.

Not only would such behaviour be quickly uncovered via the local grapevine and their close family networks, but it would also offend their own twisted code of honour.

So, instead, they turn to vulnerable Western girls, whom they regard as more easily available because of greater social freedoms.
Indeed, as the Rochdale gang case shows, many of these men view white girls with moral contempt, treating them as nothing more than toys to be passed around.

There are two possible responses to this moral crisis.

One is to be open about it, and to demand that this small minority of Pakistani men cease their involvement in such repugnant criminality.

CEASE THEIR INVOLVEMENT MY AUNT FANNY, FIND THEM AND DEPORT THEM.

Judging from the messages I have received, that is exactly what most British Pakistanis want. Preying on white girls runs completely counter to the tenets of our faith, which requires believers to treat women with respect.

I am sick of hearing how this goes counter to their faith, so does blowing up people and terrorism but they still do it because they think we are there to be used and killed whenever they want until they rule us and we are stupid enough to swallow all the rubbish about their gentle religion.

Denial: Labour MP Keith Vaz has warned that any attempt to look at the ethnic dimension of such attacks may result in a whole community being stigmatised
The irony is that any Pakistani man who has committed a vicious act of misogyny against vulnerable white girls and is treated leniently because of the colour of his skin is benefiting from another form of racism.

We should reject this as strongly as we reject the putrid propaganda of the BNP.

The other response is the policy of the denial.

This insidious game was being played yesterday by Keith Vaz, the Chairman of the Commons Select Committee.

The Labour MP argued that he �did not believe it is a race issue�, adding that any attempt to look at the ethnic dimension of such attacks could �stigmatise a whole community�.

Can�t he see that it is the sex gangsters themselves who are stigmatising the British Pakistani community?

They have brought shame on us, and their actions have to be stopped, not covered up.

Mr Vaz�s assertion that we can run away from reality is a recipe for disaster.

It implies that the Pakistani community should be treated differently to other sectors of society; that respect for racial solidarity is more important than the rights of vulnerable white girls; that the fashionable belief in ethnic minority victimhood cannot be challenged.

Yet it is precisely this attitude that has so inhibited the authorities, while encouraging gangs of sex attackers to think they can escape with impunity.

If we are to demonstrate our genuine commitment to morality and racial equality, we have to stand up to the predators � and demand that the authorities do the same.

Mr Shafiq- you have spoken eloquently about a problem that is specific to "your community". "Your" community. And therein lies the problem. "Your" community is seen to have a separate identity and culture to that of the rest of the Uk. It does not seek to integrate, it is a largely misogynistic community alien to the Uk that wishes to have its own schools, laws, languages and retain and perpetuate its own identity within the Uk. The whole farce has been perpetrated by the race relations industry and is a sorry mess. All Uk citizens should speak fluent English, attend courses on British culture (not the Citizenship test or should it be called the How To get Benefits Test!!!) and be encouraged to integrate or get out and take your friends and family with you.

As for Vaz, he and his ilk should be deported along with all those people who should not be here nor want to be part of our culture, Mr shariq is doing a fire fighting exercise as he knows this has been going on for many years and hopes you will forget about it.
We will forget about it when all these people and their families and friends are deported otherwise they will reap what sow quicker than they think.

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

No wonder Uk muslims want Sharia law.
If this was the case these men would get off scott free and the abused and raped women would be the guilty party.
This then is the mindset of Islam.
Women are treated like dirt whether they are muslim or kaffir.
We need to treat Islam as unacceptable in the UK and deport all adherents of this horrible 'religion'.
Pakistani men are the dregs of humanity and the evil perpertrated via Islam renders them a serious threat at all levels in the UK>