Counter-extremism campaigner Maajid Nawaz has spoken of his amazement and shame at the “drag” in institutions including the police, the BBC, and politics in responding to the Telford child sexual exploitation scandal, accusing those at the top of society of being paralysed by fear of accusations of racism.
Speaking on Sky News panel-programme The Pledge, Nawaz explained the situation and common characteristics shared by the majority of abusers in grooming gangs in the UK. He also took aim at the establishment figures who had attempted to brush the scandals under the carpet, remarking: “A tragedy that has been going on up and down the country and unfortunately the police and local councils have been complicit in covering up this scandal.
“Time and time again, they have found that British Pakistani and Bangladeshi south-Asian Muslim men, like me, have been involved in grooming underage white girls and targeting them in what I would describe as racially-motivated sexual assault.
“For fear of racism — the local politicians for fear of losing votes and police for fear of being sacked by those politicians — have been hiding this situation. Of course, this led to a national inquiry — we know that because the conclusions of that inquiry were the same.”
Explaining that Telford could turn out to be worse than the infamous Rochdale and Rotherham child rape gang scandals, Nawaz quoted Superintendent Tom Harding who said this week: “What I would say is sexual offending across Telford and Wrekin is virtually identically proportionate to the break-down of society, so it is not one particular section over others and we will tackle it wherever it is.”
Rejecting that view, Nawaz said Harding was failing to point out this unique form of abuse, saying: “The grooming of underage white girls by gangs of men… it was found in our research that 84 per cent of those involved… were ‘South Asian’; to be specific they were Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim men.”
Although those convicted for this kind of group abuse of young girls were 84 per cent South Asian, Nawaz pointed out South Asian males made up just two per cent of the British population, and so were grossly over-represented in the crime statistics.
Explaining why South Asian males like himself were being increasingly stereotyped as rapists across Europe, Nawaz said with clear regret it was because there is a “disproportionate rate of offending by either Muslim migrants or Muslims born and raised in Europe against white girls”.
Explaining the “patriarchal and misogynist attitudes towards women” in Muslim-majority countries, the Quilliam anti-extremism think-tank boss said: “Fundamentalist interpretations of Islam believe as long as you have the consent of the father there is no pre-puberty limit on marrying a girl. They refer to the prophet having married a nine or 11-year old depending on the age of reference. These attitudes must be challenged, and they must be addressed.”
Introducing the segment, the LBC’s Nick Ferarri said Telford had joined the “list of shame” of towns where children were groomed and raped by paedophile gangs. Remarking on a common theme running through those convicted in these gangs, Ferarri read out a list of names to the obvious discomfort of his fellow panellists, stating:
“…but as I read the names of those convicted, something struck me. In Telford, they included Azhar Ali Mehmood, and Mubarek Ali, and Ahdel Ali. In a similar case in Rotherham, Raswan Razaq, Adil Hussain, and Zafran Ramzan were among the guilty. To Rochdale now — Mohammad Amin, Abdul Aziz, and Mohammed Sajid among others who were convicted. And now to Oxford, where is was Anjum Doghar, Kamar Jamil, and Zeeshan Ahmed ending up behind bars.
“A very broad reckoning of the guilty shows around 80 per cent to be men of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin… why do they appear to view white girls as objects to be traded, or even disposed of? And what is their community doing about it?”