www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 30th November2013
Dominic Grieve apologises for controversial comments
Continued from page 1 0 In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Grieve first praised the integration of minorities into British life, and pointed out that corruption can also be found in the “white Anglo-Saxon” community. But he reportedly said that the growth of corruption was “because we have minority communities in this country which come from backgrounds where corruption is endemic. It is something we as politicians have to wake to up to”. Mr Grieve emphasised that he was referring to “mainly the Pakistani community” but added that other minority communities also had similar problems. Later, Mr Grieve said he was wrong to give the impression that there was a problem in the Pakistani community. In a statement, he elaborated: "It is not my view. I believe the Pakistani community has enriched this country a great deal as I know full well from my extensive contact with the community over a number of years. I'm sorry if I have caused any offence." Mr Grieve, the MP for Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, has a sizeable South Asian community in his constituency. During the interview with The Daily Telegraph he told the interviewer, that electoral corruption in particular had increased
Hamlets, east London, in an effort to stamp out electoral fraud in areas with large South Asian communities. When asked if he was referring to the Pakistani community, Mr Grieve reportedly said: “Yes, it’s mainly the Pakistani community, not the Indian community. I wouldn’t draw it down to one. I’d be wary of saying it’s just a Pakistani problem.” He added: “I happen to be very optimistic about the future of the UK. We have managed integration of minority communities better than most countries in Europe.” His comments have been condemned by members of all three main political parties, including the Conservative party Chairman, Grant Shapps. Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP, also said Grieve's comments were offensive. Karim told the BBC: "As a member of the British Pakistani community myself, I found these comments to be offensive, divisive. "I do think they were ill-advised and I'm afraid the very general way in which Dominic is trying to make the points that he is making will have the net effect of being seen as purely populist in nature." Khalid Mahmood, a Pakistan-born Labour MP, said Grieve's comments were designed to "divide
Pakistan group, pointed to what he called Grieve's "loose language". Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said that the single incident that the attorney general had mentioned was dealt with by the courts and was not evidence of endemic corruption."I think the attorney general should consider his comments again and either withdraw them or apologise for them," he said. However, The Sikh Media Monitoring Group (UK) applauded the comments by Dominic Grieve and said that they were encouraged to hear a politician speak out about such a sensitive political issue with courage. In a statement they told Asian Voice, "We feel that it is important to investigate where such corruption occurs and why - so that steps can be taken to tackle this issue. If a 'politically-correct smokescreen' is used when dealing with crimes considered too sensitive to highlight then we fear that this will continue unabated. In a similar vein the Sikh Media Monitoring Group (UK) in recent years has campaigned against the use of the blanket term 'Asian' when reporting on several high profile court cases recently involving sex grooming gangs of mainly Pakistani origin - which we
Murder accused councillor invited to Eid Reception
Abdul Aziz (centre, dark tie, floral shirt) at the Eid celebration in Downing Street
PM David Cameron will investigate the case of a Tory councillor whom he welcomed to Downing Street on Eid reception despite being wanted for murder in Pakistan. Abdul Aziz, a Conservative councillor from Nelson, Lancashire, is one of four men named
on an arrest warrant issued by a Pakistani court for the alleged “revenge killing” of his cousin in Gujrat district last year. Muhammed Ilyas was shot and killed by a gang of armed men last year “on the hook” of Mr Aziz, the document
alleges. Mr Aziz strongly denies the allegation, and has insisted he was in Lancashire at the time of the alleged killing. He says the accusation has been made to stop him from travelling to Pakistan and he will clear his name.
over the years. He identified Slough, Berks, as an example of where abuses had occurred. In 2008 a Tory councillor, Eshaq Khan, was found guilty of fraud involving postal ballots. Earlier this year the Electoral Commission announced it was considering introducing ballot box identity checks in Tower
and conquer". The MP for Birmingham Perry Barr said: "This is the law officer who's made this statement and I think the prime minister now needs to make clear whether this is his understanding of what's going on." Liberal Democrat Qassim Afzal, chairman of the party's Friends of
felt unfairly smeared Britain's Sikhs and Hindus: http://www.bbc.co.uk/new s/uk-18092605. It will be in nobody's interest if the Government panders to political correctness by being vague on the perpetrators of certain crimes and the Attorney General needs to be congratulated on taking such a bold stand on this issue."
UK
A conversation with Dr. P. N. Rachhoya
Tanveer Mann
Dr. P. N. Rachhoya, is a retired senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who is currently an advocate of the Rajasthan High Court. He joined the police service in 1972 and retired in 2005 serving as the Additional Director General of Police of the Rajasthan State. During his 33 years of distinguished service he held various positions in the district police and was awarded the 'Indian
only 3000 men controlling it. We 3000 men control the whole country and keep law and order. We police officers have been given such powers that we can arrest even an army officer or politician. The Police is the only organization that has kept this country as a stronghold. Do you know any other army in the world who sacrifices 3 persons every day for the nation?” Recounting a poignant true-story about a Hindu girl who
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in India, not all but most are having this problem. Why? Because the policymakers of India have not realised the importance of Police. For example, those working in an Income tax or customs department get more salary than our police fighting on the borders. He gets all the benefits. Yet there is corruption there too?” “Unfortunately, Police are part of the criminal justice system and it is the criminal justice system that requires
Publisher/Editer CB Patel in conversation with Dr P. N. Rachhoya
Police Medal for Meritorious Services' by the Honourable President of India in 2002. On Wednesday 20th November, Asian Voice had the pleasure to host a lunch for Mr P. N. Rachhoya, at Karma Yoga House, London. Hosted in Shakti Hall, guests were greeted by Mr Rachhoya and listened to the inspirational conversation with editor CB Patel. Mr Rachhoya began talking about how he became involved with the Police. He said, “Just like the fate of a person is decided by chance, so is the case of the nation too. It is just a matter of chance that I took my fate to join the police. I certainly had a desire to serve my community. I preferred to have a uniformed service which shows an emblem as a symbol of those who give their lives to the cause of the nation.” Wearing an impressive three medals attached to his breast pocket, he proudly informed us that the police is “the only organization/force that at the very first does justice to the common man” and praised the fact that though “India is a very big country with the second highest population in the world, there are
developed an affection with a Muslim boy and became pregnant, Mr Rachhoya emphasised the role of the Police and the humanity involved in such a situation. He said, “at the time, I particularly felt law is meant for men, a man is not meant for law. I took a decision and prayed to god. The life of the girl was the most sacred, so I allowed the doctor, who killed the baby, to get the girl married to the poorest of the poor first and then we would deal with him after. The point of this is how the police force and the important decisions that we make directly affects the outcome of peoples' lives.” Whilst serving as the Director of the Rajasthan Police Academy, Mr Rachhoya has also been a role model and mentor for many young police officers. He said, “I would advise everybody, if they have a religious sense to lead a life properly, then they must join the police. I invite even the police force of the UK to come and visit us to see how we work. It is easy to work in Scotland Yard but not in Kolkata. I'm sure the UK police force would learn many good things from us.” Posing the question on corruption, and how he proposes to tackle it, he said, “the police force
a change. Why are these european countries surviving? Because of accountability. The accountability is present there within their systems. In India, accountability is not there on the part of the government. Those who collect money in the name of it are corrupt.” “Mental corruption in the form of religion is also a factor that has been seen when politicians take the vote on basis of caste. This mental corruption exists not only in police but in all systems. India has to get out of the mental corruption of caste before anything else, which discriminates two human beings. Our constitution thinks in the same way.” Finally, when asked what has been the most satisfying and least satisfying about being in the police force, he said, “the most satisfying part is that as a police man I have done social justice, justice for the people, justice which comes from the common state of society. What is most dissatisfying is that there is still many things I wanted to do, that haven't been done so far. Like taking the cause of these people to parliament on a certain field. As a representative of the public, the discipline has to be within the soul itself.”