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Mohammed Shafiq
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Muslim leader slams police
Faye Adams28/ 3/2008
A MUSLIM leader appeared on the hard-hitting BBC programme 'Panorama' on Thursday night.
Mohammed Shafiq, director of the Rochdale-based Ramadhan Foundation, is heard slamming police for failing to deal with Asian gangs who force young white girls into prostitution.
Mr Shafiq claims that officers are differentiating between criminals on the basis of race. He says that fears of a repeat of the Oldham race riots in places like Oldham mean that officers are ‘overtly sensitive’ and are not clamping down on prostitution.
The broadcast comes after a 2004 Channel 4 documentary which claimed that Asian men in Bradford were grooming under-age white girls for prostitution was pulled. Police claimed it could provoke racial violence during the local election campaign.
But Mr Shafiq tells ‘Panorama’ that he believes the police are ‘over cautious’ when dealing with the issue.
He said: “They fear being called racist. They are not Asian criminals, they are not Muslim criminals, they are not white criminals.
“They are criminals and should be treated as criminals.”
He said he wasn't aware of a problem with the issue in Rochdale but believed gangs were operating in Blackburn, Oldham and Manchester.
Mr Shafiq has become a media spokesman for the issue after becoming involved in a campaign against prostitution and drugs around 18 months ago.
He claims some of those involved in prostituting white teenagers were gangs trying to make money after a drop in the cost of drugs.
He said: “I am the only Muslim leader in the UK that speaks up against this sort of thing and I do it because these teenage girls are somebody’s sisters and somebody’s daughters. I have two daughters and wouldn’t want that to happen to them.
“If there is a drug dealer grooming a white teenager into prostitution then I don’t want the police service or local authority not to be open about it.”
In Oldham a specialist team called Messenger has been set up to combat the issue of child exploitation. Police officers work alongside the council, the Primary Care Trust and children’s charity Barnardo’s.
They identify children who are potentially at risk from abuse and formulate a strategies to help them. A number of prosecutions against both white and Asian criminals have been made with their assistance.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester police described the allegations as ‘nonsense based on ignorance’.
He added: “The fact that we have charged 12 people through Messenger in Oldham alone shows that we are taking concrete, real action.”
Click here to watch the programme
Most recent 2 of 8 user comments
I recently applied for an information pack on a new estate which is being built in Rochdale by Barrat homes. I applied for an information pack as the accomodation looked to be suited to first time buyers in the local area. I applied for the information online and a few days later recieved an information pack in the post and an email. The email stated that the development is a new developmentsolely for the asian community in rochdale, however they sent me information for other developments in the county. It just seems like another blow to the working white man trying to get on.
I am not a racist man but things like this are going to do nothing to help the community build relations?!!
31/03/2008 at 20:40
Got an opinion you want to share?Do you think Rochdale is unfairly portrayed in the national media?
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