Those seeking to raise their personal profiles, after the conviction of 20 men found guilty of vile crimes of sexual abuse and exploitation against young girls in the Huddersfield area was made known, have to no surprise at all included Quilliam co-founder Maajid Nawaz. This he did using the platform given him by broadcaster LBC, and in doing so perpetrated another of those untrue myths that become hard to dispel.
Perhaps Nawaz had been paying a little too much attention to his former protégé Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, who claimed “The BBC refuse to say the majority of grooming gangs are Muslim as if it is not relevant but are very quick to point out that the ring leader of this one is a Sikh. If they bothered to do their research they would have known that he was actually also a Muslim when he committed the attacks and converted to Sikhism 2 years later. Never let facts get in the way of BBC propaganda though”. Lennon, who loves to call “liar” on others, was lying.
No surprise there, then. But as Stephanie Finnegan, who covers Leeds Crown Court for Leeds Live and the Huddersfield Examiner, pointed out, “The word conversion was used in court so it was what I reported. A local source now tells me he’s always been Sikh, his parents are Sikh but he just got baptised a few years ago - before he was arrested or charged in relation to these crimes though”.
Amere Singh Dhaliwal had always been a Sikh. Ms Finnegan confirmed “A local source told me he’s always been Sikh, his parents are Sikh but he just got baptised a few years ago - before he was arrested or charged in relation to these crimes though.” Others have used the term “initiated”, rather than “baptised”, but both explain the “conversion”.
Sadly, this was too late to stop Nawaz, who had gone off on his own tangent: “Media is saying Sikh ringleader converted to Sikhism five years ago (that would be 2013). Sky News is reporting he was a Muslim prior to converting. But when were they charged, and tried? Trial unlikely to have lasted 8 years right?” Do go on.
“Apparently the investigation began 5 years ago. Which is also when he is reported to have converted. So the timing matches. Very strange”. Maajid Nawaz is at least hinting very strongly that Dhaliwal had been a Muslim and converted to Sikhism at the time the Police investigation into the grooming gang began. And one observer was quite sure that Nawaz had gone further on his LBC show.
Harjap Bhangal was not happy about what he had heard: “There is an audio clip of your show on @LBC circulating where you clearly state Dhaliwal was a muslim prior to becoming a Sikh. It has now transpired that this was not the case. Your audio clip is being circulated to add credibilty to this false claim. Please clear this falsehood”.
But Nawaz did not retract. “I relied on the report you’ve screen grabbed below, and Sky News & BBC also reporting that he had ‘converted’. You seem to be insisting this is inaccurate & that he was simply reborn as a Sikh. In such a case I will be happy to stand corrected for relying on that report”. See Ms Finnegan’s clarification.
The Huddersfield ringleader was not a Muslim, and never had been. And it’s no good Maajid Nawaz hiding behind the “someone else did it and ran away” excuse.
In any case, Harjap Bhangal was not satisfied with the explanation: “The reports mentioned he had 'converted' but did mention he had converted from Islam to Sikhism. You assumed this. On your show you clearly stated ‘the man converted to Sikhism from being a Muslim...has a British Pakistani background’. This was just not true.”
It was absolutely not true, and indeed on two counts. So it’s now time for Maajid Nawaz to hold his hands up and say sorry, no ifs, no buts. Also, he and LBC can explain why all those clips from the relevant show have become hard to find.
Then he and his pals might reflect on the increasing scepticism over the claims made in the Quilliam report that his old mucker Stephen Lennon is so keen on quoting. The way in which he approached the case of Amere Singh Dhaliwal will not help him.
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9 comments:
Is this really important? Compared to the crimes committed by muslims, no! Your constant articles about those who dare call islam to account, as though they are doing something wrong, while ignoring the vile crimes committed by muslims makes you look like an apologist for the medieval ideology. If you cannot see it is because first and
foremost they are muslims that they thought it acceptable to commit these crimes then you are blinkered to reality. Their conception of morality and the position of women in society is totally different to ours, and this is because of their allegiance to Islam. It is not just a religion on a par with others. On the other hand your naive view of islam could be because you converted!
Just because one abuser may or may not have been a muslim doesn't invalidate the point that muslims have carried out industrial scale abuse because of their ideological beliefs.
I find it agreeable that every time Zelo does a piece on "Tommy Robinson" his fans pop in to make comments. It shows this website is on the right track.
I'm amused that Robinson and his rusted-on fan base love to call themselves "patriots" yet seem to have little understanding of how the laws and courts of Britain have worked for endless decades. How can they be patriotic to a country they seem to be so ignorant about?.
As exampled by Anon above who avoids the fact that overwhelmingly crime in the UK is perpetuated by white Anglo Saxons.
Anonymous
Since everything you said there is total BS, no one will be writing to your specifications here.
Anon at 19.04 - you're talking bigoted bullshit.
Tim - Keep up the good work.
Anon 19:04 – Important?
Obviously not important, if you want to ignore the fact that your spokes-people constantly get things wrong and you are happy to accept what they say at face value without actually caring that what you are told is false, fake and invariably made up.
Remember Blair telling us that we were in danger from Saddam and his missiles, remember the search for WMDs, remember being told that we had to go to war? Seek out your own truth, don't blindly follow without checking that what you are told is right.
And do not fall again into the trap that your leaders are trying to drag you - remember what happened when right wingers in Germany demonised a particular religion. Ask who benefits from a war on race and religion, and see that Robinson/Lennon has a nice new big house – pull your head out of the dirt and ask why, but please remember that it is not you who will benefit.
There'll be no apology from Nawaz.
Like all ranting righties, he's too busy climbing up his arse to scratch his ear.
Don't just tell me l am wrong, show me! Show me the ideology of islam shares the same moral compass has us, treats all women as equals, show me it is just another religion. I say these crimes show I am right. Name calling isn't an argument, face up the reality these crimes expose to your view or does prejudice blind you?
Anon 16:45 "... shares the same moral compass has us."
90% of those convicted of child sex offences in England are white men.
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