Members of the Muslim community say they are facing ‘unprecedented and unacceptable’ racism in Rochdale – and are calling on all parts of society to take a stand against Islamophobia.
A group of local leaders have come together to speak out about the rise in violence and discrimination they say Asian people have been subjected to following the town’s grooming scandal.
They say the ‘excessive’ focus on the ethnicity and religion of non-white sex offenders has led to the ‘stigmatisation’ of their community – meaning that Islamophobia is now an ‘acceptable norm’.
The group, a coalition of local leaders under the name of Rochdale Muslim Community, say they now want to work with people in the town to eradicate the hatred.
In a statement passed to the M.E.N., they said: “It has become evident to anyone that follows events in the media that Islam is being portrayed negatively and that Muslims living in Britain are bearing the brunt of discrimination and violence.
“There is little doubt that this has resulted in not only the community feeling vilified but could potentially breakdown social cohesion within society. Irresponsible comments from senior local and national politicians are aiding the negative portrayal of the Muslim community.
“Time and time again some politicians and the media have attempted to equate issues such as grooming and the Muslim community as being one and the same.
“It is only natural that this sort of misinformation will stigmatise the whole of the Muslim community. This has meant that casual xenophobia towards Muslims has now become an acceptable norm.”
Their stand comes after a group of Asian taxi drivers went on strike in Heywood after their boss revealed his firm, Car 2000, would supply a white cabbie on demand. The drivers described how their cars had regularly been attacked or vandalised following the town’s grooming scandal.
In 2012, nine men from Rochdale were jailed for grooming girls and sharing them around the north west for sex.
But the coalition of the town’s Muslims said, while the paedophile gang was often refereed to as ‘Asian’, the ethnicity and religion of sex offenders such as Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall and former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith has never been mentioned – even though they too used positions of trust to abuse young children.
The group’s statement added: “Unfortunately, we are now facing a situation where a disdain of the Muslim community is something which is deemed acceptable.
“We do not wish to go back to a situation where discrimination against minorities becomes the norm. We believe that all segments of society have a duty to stand up against Islamophobia in all of its guises no matter how subtle or apparent.
“We intend to double our efforts in order to alleviate the misconceptions that have been manufactured by irresponsible speech, not only by far-right but mainstream politicians and the media.
“Part of our action plan will be to educate the wider society about the Islamic belief to help overcome stereotypes against Islam.”
Signatories to the statement include Mazhar Khan, from Manchester Muslim Forum, local businessman Kasim Javed, Saaqib Ali, from Project Madinah, and Tayab Nabi and Kamran Khaldi – both of the Rochdale Association of Private Hire Drivers (RAPHD).
Manchester Evening News, 18 November 2014
Here is the full text of the statement:
Over the last few weeks, it has become apparent the discriminatory and violent conditions that sections of our Muslim community in the borough of Rochdale are living under. From racist attitudes to violence, this situation is both unprecedented and totally unacceptable. In light of this, we would like to make the following points:
1. It has become evident to anyone that follows events on the media that Islam is being portrayed negatively and that Muslims living in Britain are bearing the brunt of discrimination and violence. There is little doubt that this has resulted in not only the community feeling vilified but could potentially breakdown social cohesion within society.
2. Irresponsible comments from senior local and national politicians are aiding the negative portrayal of the Muslim community. Time and time again some politicians and the media have attempted to equate issues such as grooming and the Muslim community as one and the same. It is only natural that this sort of misinformation will stigmatise the whole of the Muslim Community. This has meant that casual xenophobia towards Muslims has now become an acceptable norm.
3. It must be noted, that the prevalence of criminality in society such as sexual grooming and drug abuse is due to a wider societal problem. According to the NSPCC nearly a quarter (24.1%) of young adults experienced sexual abuse (including contact and non-contact), by an adult or a peer during childhood.
Nazir Afzal, Crown Prosecution Service’s lead to child sexual abuse and violence against women and girls, explains that “We have come across cases all over the country and the ethnicity of the perpetrators varies depending on where you are … It is not the abusers’ race that defines them. It is their attitude to women that defines them.”
Moreover, the recent Ann Coffey report found that the systematic grooming of boys and girls has become a social norm in some parts of Greater Manchester fuelled by explicit music videos and quasi-pornographic selfies.
4. The excessive focus on the ethnicity and religion of non-white sexual abuse perpetrators has led to the stigmatization of the Muslim community. Whereas the ethnicity and religious affiliation of individuals such as Jimmy Saville, Cyril Smith (former MP of Rochdale), Stuart Hall, Max Clifford etc none of whom were Muslim or Asian have been ignored by the wider media, even though they have used their position of responsibility and power to carry out abuse against vulnerable women, girls and boys lasting decades. This inconsistency is indicative of the bigoted political and media profiling that has resulted in the stigmatisation of the Muslim community.
5. Unfortunately, we are now facing a situation where a disdain of the Muslim community is something which is deemed acceptable. We do not wish to go back to a situation where discrimination against minorities becomes the norm. We believe that all segments of society have a duty to stand up against Islamophobia in all of its guises no matter how subtle or apparent. We intend to double our efforts in order to alleviate the misconceptions that have been manufactured by irresponsible speech, not only by far-right but mainstream politicians and the media. Part of our action plan will be to educate the wider society about the Islamic belief to help overcome stereotypes against Islam.
Update: See “Members of the Muslim community speak out regarding discrimination and violence”, Rochdale Online, 19 November 2014