An all-male group (see above) called ‘British Muslim Youth’ has called for a boycott of a major UK police force, threatening to boycott any Muslim organisation that does not comply with its new edict. “We accept that we have made mistakes,” a police spokesman immediately grovelled, before claiming they are working “urgently to resolve this matter.”
The group insists that Muslims in Rotherham, North England, have been “demonized” and “scapegoated” and “our women” have been “attacked” since the publication of the Alexis Jay Report last year, which exposed the industrial scale rape of non-Muslim girls in the town.
In August 2014, the Jay Report concluded that 1400 vulnerable, underage girls were groomed, drugged, abducted, assaulted, and violently raped over a period of more that ten years by scores of Muslim men in the town. The scandal had been allowed to go on for so long because of a “culture of fear” and accusations of “racism.”
The group, formally known as the Rotherham Muslim Youth – which aims to “promote the real teachings of Islam” and claim to speak for millions of Muslims – said that since the publication of the report, “the Muslim community has time and again condemned the wholesale Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) that was brought to light”, appearing to concede that the mass rapes were hardly condemned before the report brought them to national attention.
“However despite [our condemnation] we, the entire Muslim community, have been tarred with the same brush. There is a perception in the minds of many ordinary people that all Muslims are now potential child abusers, or that they have been involved in some sort of a cover up,” they write.
The cover up, however, was largely on the part of the police and council, who were afraid of offending the “Muslim community” and initiating things like boycotts.
“In turn our women have been threatened with rape, children attacked, Mosques vandalized… The marginalisation and dehumanisation of the Muslim community has been in full swing.”
“Islamaphobia is at unprecedented levels in Rotherham,” claims the declaration, sighting figures from the discredited grievance organisation Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), which alleges that there have been two “islamophobic” attacks a month in the past year in the town.
South Yorkshire Police, they claim, “have peddled a pernicious lie that: historically they failed to act of allegations of CSE, because they were afraid of being branded ‘racist,’” which is precisely what multiple reports have concluded, adding: “This is a grotesque re-writing of history; something that we will no longer sit back and allow to take seed.”
“We, the Muslim community of Rotherham, have voted for all Muslim organisations and institutions (whether religious or secular), which claim to represent Muslims in Rotherham, to cut all lines of engagement and communication with South Yorkshire Police,” concludes the declaration.
Adding: “Any Muslim groups or institutions in Rotherham that do not adhere to this policy of disengagement will also be boycotted by the Muslim community.”
They say crimes will still be reported, but explain: “For example if the police wish to come to a Mosque to deliver a talk or provide Muslim groups with some sort of training, this is the sort of stuff that will no longer take place.”
To end the boycott, they demand South Yorkshire Police “listen to our concerns and treat us as equal partners pursuing shared goals” and “own up to their failures.”
Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin, commander for Rotherham’s Local Policing Unit, told The Independent: “We are aware that there have been increased tensions in Rotherham since the publication of the Jay Report last year.
“We have not had any formal approach from British Muslim Youth to address the issues raised in their meeting yesterday, which is disappointing because we are in regular contact with representatives from the Muslim community to discuss issues affecting Rotherham.
“I am making efforts to speak to the group urgently to resolve this matter, as disengagement potentially puts the community at risk if an individual or a section of society feels they cannot speak to police about issues that concern them.”
Adding: “We accept that we have made mistakes in the past but we are absolutely committed to identifying those who commit this despicable crime and bringing them before the courts.
“One of our most high-profile investigations, Operation Clover, will be in court again in December where eight individuals will face numerous charges of child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
“This investigation, and many others, remains ongoing as we continue our efforts to tackle this crime and bring offenders to justice.”