British Home Secretary Suella Braverman
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman's statement that British-Pakistani men are part of grooming gangs that "pursue, drug, rape, and harm vulnerable English girls" has attracted criticism from authorities in Pakistan.
Ms Braverman told Sky News in an interview last week that groups of men, almost all British-Pakistanis, are involved in the sexual abuse of children and young women.
She said, "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."
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Mentioning the inaction from the responsible authorities and organisations, Ms Braverman added, "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."
Responding to Ms Braverman's remarks, Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that they painted a "highly misleading picture, signalling the intent to target and treat British Pakistanis differently".
She 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," Baloch said at a press conference.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday vowed to do whatever it takes as he condemned the political correctness that has prevented action against "vile" criminals behind the sexual abuse of children and young women and launched a new taskforce to go after such gangs.
Mr. Sunak told reporters: "All forms of child sexual exploitation carried out by whoever are horrific and wrong."
(With inputs from agencies)