- Sunday, March 02, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
British home secretary Suella Braverman, who is not new to controversy, courted a fresh one on Sunday (2) when saying in a television interview that British-Pakistani men are part of grooming gangs that “pursue, drug, rape and harm vulnerable English girls”. Her remark has been criticised by Pakistani authorities.
Braverman, who is an Indian-origin leader, told this on ‘Sophy Ridge on Sunday’ programme on Sky News, adding that British-Pakistani men are involved in child abuse rings or networks.
Home Secretary @SuellaBraverman says 'vulnerable white girls are being targeted by British Pakistani grooming gangs', and people have been 'turning a blind eye out of political correctness'.#Ridge https://t.co/ZoMhCmTrtv
? Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/vO2KSs6vEX
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) April 2, 2023
“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.”
Braverman also spoke about alleged inaction from responsible authorities, 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 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.”
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch reacted to Braverman’s statements saying they were “misleading” and signalled an “intent to target and treat British Pakistanis differently”.
She also said the British home secretary had “erroneously branded the criminal behaviour of some individuals as a representation of the entire community”.
“She (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,” the Pakistani diplomat said at a press conference.
On Monday, British prime minister Rishi Sunak condemned the political correctness that has hindered action against “vile” criminals behind sexual abuse of children and young women and started a new taskforce to go after them.
