British Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been condemned by his colleagues, human rights campaigners and the Twitterati at large for his recent post about “Asian pedophiles.”
A whole gang of men in Huddersfield that raped and abused young girls were convicted last Friday of over 120 offenses against 15 victims, who worked up the courage to come forward. Javid tweeted a few days later, causing a storm of reactions:
“Attempts by authorities and now it seems the government to attribute these crimes to one ethnic group does nothing to support these vulnerable women in the way of social services, mental health services or the resources needed by the police to bring all sexual predators to justice,” Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, stressed in response, as cited by the Guardian, adding that it stands to reason that the government’s efforts to resolve the issue of “vulnerable women and girls” being “repeatedly ignored” are not sufficient.
Labour MP David Lammy also appeared to take particular note of the “Asian” part of Javid’s tweet, summing up that pinning the blame on some particular group does no service whatsoever to the victims of “this evil:”
“By singling out ‘Asians’ he not only panders to the far right but increases the risk of violence and abuse against minorities across the country,” he remarked.
Many users joined in the politicians’ fury, bringing up the “Asian” origin of Javid himself.
Accusations of racism also came in abundance, with people noting that claims in the opposite direction never happen. Many remarked that such comments were inadmissible for a senior official.
Some, however, voiced support for Javid’s remarks, saying the opposite approach “creates the climate” where “this filth can commit their crimes.”
Many got carried away, moving on to ponder the global scale of the problem, misogyny and sexism issues, since “white police officers let this continue for thirty years, through several successive governments, with impunity.”
Some brought in 20th-century Tory “white pedophiles,” Jimmy Savile and Ted Heath, who “were never convicted:”
Many reiterated that such crimes have indeed no ethnicity whatsoever, while some mentioned 114 pedophile files Theresa May “filed under 'dirt'”, which are reportedly connected with the Tory government.
“No-go areas” in London, where it appears there aren’t any, was also central in Twitter exchanges:
“This tweet is irresponsible, dangerous and divisive. It is unbelievable that it is a genuine tweet from a serving home secretary, who was previously communities secretary,” Shoaib Khan, a human rights lawyer was cited by The Guardian.
“Not only does it show just how tone-deaf the home secretary is to British society, but it is factually incorrect. In particular, the perpetuation of the myth that ‘no-go areas’ exist in this country is particularly irresponsible and misleading,” he added.