|
London: A British
minister has hit out at the "small minority" of Pakistani men who
view white girls as "fair game" for sexual abuse.
Baroness Warsi, who is a British cabinet minister of
Pakistani-origin, has called on mosques to act following the
Rochdale grooming gang scandal, Daily Mail reported.
Nine Muslim men, mainly of Pakistani-origin, were found guilty
last week of plying girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs so
that they could "pass them around" and use them for sex. They were
found guilty of raping and abusing up to 47 girls.
After the trial, the Greater Manchester police sought to play down
suggestions of any racial element to the case.
In comments following the Rochdale grooming scandal, Warsi, who is
the Conservative Party co-chairman, said that race was a factor.
She has urged Muslim leaders to address the issue and ensure that
men who regarded white women as "third class citizens" were
isolated by their communities.
Having grown up in a Pakistani community in Yorkshire, Warsi told
a daily: "There is a small minority of Pakistani men who believe
that white girls are fair game. And we have to be prepared to say
that. You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it
first."
"This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and
white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out
against," she asserted.
Warsi decided to speak out after her father, an immigrant from
Pakistani Punjab, told her she should be "out there condemning it
as loudly as you could".
"In mosque after mosque, this should be raised as an issue so that
anybody remotely involved should start to feel that the community
is turning on them," she said.
"Communities have a responsibility to stand up and say, 'This is
wrong, this will not be tolerated'," said Warsi.
|
Comments
|
Quick links