Islamabad: The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday condemned Suella Braverman, the British Home Secretary, for making “discriminatory and xenophobic” remarks about Pakistani men and warned of the dire consequences of such remarks.
As she singled out British Pakistani men over worries about grooming gangs and accused authorities of turning a “blind eye” to signs of abuse involving young people, the British minister has been accused of peddling extreme far-right lies about Pakistanis. In a recent interview with Sky News, the UK minister claimed that one of the biggest scandals in British history was the “systematic and institutional failure to safeguard the welfare of children when it comes to sexual abuse.”
“What’s clear is that what we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British-Pakistani men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks,” she had stated.
Braverman’s comments, tantamount to racist and bigoted generalisation of Pakistanis, have been condemned widely and she has been urged to apologise to Pakistanis for putting their lives in danger and for increasing the threat of racist attacks on them after her unfounded allegations.
Responding to the discriminatory remarks, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch — in today’s press briefing — warned that such comments would give “rise to dangerous trends”.
Braverman had also been warned by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) that sexual predators do not just come from “one background” and that a focus solely on race could create new “blind spots” when tackling child abuse.
The NSPCC had criticised the UK home secretary and expressed its shock at her hatred towards Pakistanis and for singling out Pakistanis.
During the briefing, Baloch also expressed concerns at the alarming rise in violence against Muslims in India.
“On this Ram Navami, anti-Muslim violence was reported in at least eight states of India as extremist outfits organised public rallies to celebrate the festival,” she revealed.
The FO spokesperson mentioned that a number of mosques and other Muslim-owned buildings were attacked. A seminary was burned down in the Nalanda district of Bihar, resulting, inter alia, in the burning of around 4,500 books, including the Holy Quran.
“The terrifying rise in Islamophobic and hateful acts against Muslims in India is a consequence of the pursuit of a majoritarian Hindutva agenda and anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric rife in Indian politics,” she said.
Baloch welcomed the statement of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressing its concern on rising anti-Muslim incidents in India and urge India to take firm action against the extremists for fomenting communal violence and hatred against Muslims.
“India must take demonstrable steps to curb the rising tide of Islamophobia, to provide protection to Muslims for practising their faith and account those responsible for such hateful acts.
“We reiterate our concerns about the safety and well-being of Kashmiri leaders and human rights defenders who are under incarceration in prisons across Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoJK) and India.
