LONDON, Jan 7 : Several Indian diaspora groups in the UK have voiced strong objections to the use of the term “Asian” in connection with a historic child sexual abuse scandal impacting various regions in England, which primarily involves gangs of men of Pakistani descent.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his record on Monday, asserting that during his tenure as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013, he reopened such cases and initiated the first prosecution of an “Asian grooming gang” in Rochdale, located in north-west England.
The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) responded to Starmer’s comments, reminding that their charity first raised concerns about the vague terminology used in relation to the broader South Asian community in connection with this issue back in 2012.
“It is disheartening that the Prime Minister continues to use the ambiguous term ‘Asian’ when referencing grooming gangs,” the NSO said in a statement.
“One of the major issues surrounding this situation has been the reluctance to openly address the ethnicity or religion of the majority of offenders. This hesitance has, in some cases, further harmed the victims,” they emphasized, advocating for “greater accuracy in reporting.”
“This is a matter of significant public concern and criminal activity that has also affected our communities,” the charity added.
Sikh Federation UK expressed similar sentiments, cautioning against the usage of generic terms for the sake of political correctness.
“By persistently using the misleading term ‘Asian grooming gangs,’ politicians reveal their prioritization of electoral concerns over genuine solutions to the troubling upbringing combined with a religious philosophy advocating forced religious conversion, which has gone unaddressed for decades,” it stated on X.
Some British Hindu organizations have likewise raised concerns about political correctness among UK authorities, claiming it fails to adequately support the victims of these crimes.
“In an effort to avoid accusations of racism or Islamophobia, the authorities have chosen the term ‘Asian’ to label these gangs and, regrettably, some have buried their heads in the sand, hoping the issue will merely fade away,” remarked the community organization Insight UK.
This discussion gained renewed attention as UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that her department is planning to introduce stricter measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, mandating organizations and institutions to report incidents of child sexual abuse.
During her statement in Parliament, the minister referenced official reports from a decade ago, which highlighted that “1,400 children had been sexually exploited, raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked across towns, abducted, beaten, and threatened with firearms.”
“Girls as young as 11 were victims of rape. Reports from ten years ago identified a failure to address the actions of gangs with Pakistani heritage and a ‘widespread perception’ that authorities should ‘downplay the ethnic dimensions’ out of fear of being perceived as racist,” Cooper noted.
The issue has come into sharper focus again after Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the UK government’s management of the scandal on his X platform, igniting a war of words with the Starmer-led administration. Meanwhile, the Opposition Conservatives are leveraging the issue to attack the Labour government while also highlighting the Tory failures during their tenure. (PTI)
