Braverman's comments against British-Pakistani men 'racist': Pakistan

Pakistan has reacted strongly to British home secretary Suella Braverman’s comments against British-Pakistani men as "racist" "discriminatory" and “xenophobic”.

Braverman, during a recent interview, had said that British-Pakistani men are part of grooming gangs and that they “pursue, drug, rape, and harm vulnerable English girls”.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Wednesday (6) termed Braverman’s remarks as a “misleading picture signalling the intent to target and treat British-Pakistanis differently”.

"Braverman fails to take note of the systemic racism and ghettoisation of communities and omits to recognise the tremendous cultural, economic, and political contributions that British-Pakistanis continue to make in British society," Baloch was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Speaking about plans to tackle child abuse during her interview with Sky News, Braverman singled out British-Pakistani men saying they “hold cultural values at odds with British values”.

“What's clear is that what we've seen is a practice whereby vulnerable White English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes in challenging circumstances, are being pursued and raped, drugged, and harmed by gangs of British-Pakistani men who work in child abuse rings or networks,” she said.

Braverman pointed to the inaction by the authorities and organisations when it comes to tackling this issue by saying, "We've seen institutions, social workers, state agencies, cops, and social workers turn a blind eye to this-out of political correctness and out of fear of being called racist. There are many perpetrators running wild and behaving in this way, and it is now time for authorities to track these perpetrators down without fear or favour and bring them to justice."

Baloch said these comments are highly discriminatory and signals the intent to target and treat British Pakistanis differently.

"We find these remarks as dangerous, discriminatory, and xenophobic. In making these uncalled-for remarks, the home secretary has erroneously branded the criminal behaviour of some individuals as a representation of the entire community," she said.

(With inputs from agencies)