Blaming Pak-Britons for sex offences: FO terms UK home secretary’s remarks xenophobic

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday reacted strongly to unwarranted remarks by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman in which she blamed Pakistani-British men for most of the sex offences in Britain, saying these remarks were “dangerous, xenophobic and discriminatory”.

Suella Braverman had told the media that “[British-Pakistani men] see women in a demeaned, illegitimate way, and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach to the way we behave”.

“We find these remarks as dangerous, discriminatory, and xenophobic. Her statement paints a highly misleading picture, signaling the intent to target and treat British Pakistanis differently. In making these uncalled-for remarks, the Home Secretary has erroneously branded criminal behaviour of some individuals as representation of the entire community,” said the spokeswoman at the Foreign Office when the matter was raised at the weekly media briefing.

Braverman spoke at a time when the British media reported a case in which a dozen white British men had been arrested for similar crimes. There has been an outcry inside Britain as well, where people have strongly criticised the British Home Secretary for her outlandish remarks.

“She fails to take note of the systemic racism and ghettoization of communities and omits to recognise the tremendous cultural, economic and political contributions that British Pakistanis continue to make in the British society,” added the spokeswoman.

To another query on Pakistan’s position on the Ukraine war and whether Pakistan was selling weapons to Ukraine, the spokeswoman responded: “We find these reports as baseless. Pakistan has maintained a consistent, principled and nonpartisan position on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Any defence-related exports by Pakistan are accompanied by strict requirements of end user certificates,” she said.

The spokeswoman expressed her deep concern at what she said was an alarming rise in violence against Muslims in today’s 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. A number of mosques and other Muslim-owned buildings were attacked. A seminary was burnt down in Nalanda district of Bihar, resulting, inter alia, in burning of around 4,500 books, including the Holy Quran,” she said.

She pointed to the terrifying rise in Islamophobic and hateful acts against Muslims in India, which was a consequence of the pursuit of a majoritarian Hindutva agenda and anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric rife in Indian politics.

“We welcome the statement of 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 the Muslims. India must take demonstrable steps to curb the rising tide of Islamophobia, to provide protection to the Muslims for practicing their faith and account those responsible for such hateful acts,” she insisted.

In this regard, Pakistan welcomed the statement of UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor and endorsed by Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clément Nyaletsossi Voule.

“We endorse her statement that India must be held accountable where it violates human rights obligations. We also urge India to bring an end to suppression of journalists and human rights defenders and to its policy of stifling freedom of expression and assembly in the occupied territory,” added the spokeswoman.

Pakistan also condemned the unfortunate incident in Jerusalem, in the strongest possible terms, which saw the brutal attack by Israeli occupation forces beating Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Qibli prayer hall in the Al Aqsa Mosque Tuesday night.

“The continuing pattern of such oppressive and escalatory actions on the part of Israel in the holy month of Ramazan in recent years not only violates the religious freedom of Palestinian people, but also hurts the religious sentiments of Muslims around the world. Pakistan calls on the international community to fulfill its responsibility in taking immediate action to end such inhumane acts of violence against unarmed and innocent civilians that have been particularly ascendant this year and which are detrimental to regional peace and stability,” she said.