RECENT election results in France and Greece indicate that in periods of economic problems and austerity, the extreme right often flourishes. Hitler’s Nazi party rose to power through the ballot against a backdrop of hyperinflation in the aftermath of the First World War.
In the UK, however, the fascistic British National Party was practically wiped out in the local council elections last week. But its fortunes were revived when eight men of Pakistani origin and one Afghan asylum seeker were handed lengthy prison sentences for raping nearly 50 white girls under the age of 16 over a period of several years. The BNP was provided ammunition for its anti-immigrant campaign by these convictions. Indeed, during the trial, two barristers withdrew from the defence due to threats.
The details that emerged from the trial have shocked all Britain. The fact that most of the girls were in care homes, but were unsupervised, is a sad reminder that so many young people without parents have been virtually written off by society. The police refused to take up the case when it was first reported to them by one of the victims nearly four years ago. Had not an alert teacher noticed that a pregnant student was being picked up regularly by Asian men, the case might not have been brought to trial at all.
However, none of this should excuse the criminals: many of them were married and had children of their own. One of them, Abdul Rauf, is 59 and has five children. Incidentally, he once taught Islamic studies at the local mosque. Ironically, the Chief Crown Prosecutor in the case, Nazir Afzal, is also of Pakistani origin. Many Pakistanis have protested that one case should not be used to tar their entire community.
When Jack Straw, the ex-Labour secretary and MP for Derby, remarked last year that Asian men were involved in grooming young white girls, he was widely condemned for launching a racist attack on an entire group. However, the fact is that out of 68 men recently convicted for the on-street (as against online) grooming of young girls, 59 have been of Pakistani origin. Understandably, this case has caused a debate on the touchy subject of race. Normally a minefield in politically correct Britain, many liberals have expressed their concern about the huge cultural differences between British-Pakistanis and the host community. To explain the motives of the nine criminals involved in the Rochdale case, Allison Pearson wrote in the Daily Telegraph:
“Their own daughters and young female relatives must not be violated or they will lose their market value, so why not take out your sexual frustration on the despised native slappers [slang expression for women of dubious morals] instead? It’s as simple as that.”
The Times reported that for the Rochdale gang, “conduct unthinkable with Muslim girls is acceptable with ‘corrupted’ white girls”. According to the daily, they showed no shame in court. One told the jury: “You white people train them in sex and drinking, so when they come to us they’re fully trained.”
Mohammed Shafiq, founder of the Ramadhan Foundation, has been vocal in his condemnation of this disgusting crime that has further lowered the image of the Pakistani community. Speaking to the media, he said:
“Asian girls are not available to them and so they look to Western girls as they think they’re easy. They see them as tarts who are there to be used.”
The common refrain here is that Pakistani men, unable to date women from their own community because of social and religious taboos, prey on young, vulnerable white girls who are in care homes without parents. The fact is that for many conservative Muslim men, the sight of white girls dressed in what they see as provocative outfits is an indication of their availability. They lack the sophistication to understand that in a permissive society, young girls often experiment with revealing dresses, not to attract men, but because they want to be trendy and cool. For the same reason, they occasionally get drunk and out of control.
Muslim parents in the West are desperate to keep their own kids from adopting such a lifestyle. In an attempt to insulate them from what they see as decadent Western values, they are strict with their children at home. Daughters are subject to special vigilance. But these same kids see a different lifestyle around them every day, and understandably, they are torn between conflicting values.
While other communities have adapted to local culture, Muslims tend to cling to their own traditions while despising the permissive society in which they live. This is especially true of the Pakistani community in Britain: descended largely from the villages around Mirpur, a small rural district in Azad Kashmir, they were originally poorly educated and socially conservative.
Most immigrant groups tend to get absorbed in the host community after three generations as marriages with locals and the mainstream cultural pull dilute minority values. This has largely not happened with the Pakistani community as most of them either marry within their extended families, or return to Pakistan to find a bride or a groom. Often, forced marriages are arranged, and girls who resist are made victims of honour killings. Frequent marriages with first cousins have caused the birth of a disproportionate number of deformed children in this community.
All these differences have made assimilation more difficult. Apart from these social tensions, the Pakistani community is also seen as harbouring many radicals who plot against Britain. And it is a fact that in the vast majority of terror plots carried out or detected in time, Pakistan has figured prominently in one way or another. Understandably, Pakistanis in the UK are under scrutiny and under pressure as never before.
With all these issues fraying relations between Pakistanis and their hosts in the UK, the last thing the community needs is the perception that it also has many sexual predators in its midst. The Rochdale case has focused a spotlight on the hypocrisy rampant among many Pakistanis: while claiming the moral high ground, they also exploit vulnerable young girls.