‘This guy is dangerous’: British in Pakistan fear Musk is fueling racism | Far right news
London, United Kingdom – Azmat Khan, a British Pakistani taxi driver, is usually not too worried.
But recently, as he drives his taxi through the icy streets of London at night, he grows increasingly worried.
“We just had the summer of unrest with disinformation emboldened far-right activists in this country, thanks in part to Xu, and now he’s back, fanning the flames again,” Khan said of South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has used the social media platform he owns to lash out at British sex offenders. abuse of Pakistani origin.
“This guy is dangerous and yes, I am worried,” Khan, a 35-year-old father of three, told Al Jazeera, sharing his fears of collective punishment.
“Our community has seen this type of scapegoating before. But with Musk’s platform and resources, the threat has reached a whole new level.”
Khan takes the pulse of the city through his passengers and says he’s noticed a worrying shift in backseat conversations.
Some passengers spoke of what they called the “threats” that Muslims and migrants bring to the UK.
That kind of discourse could be linked to Musk’s incendiary comments about historical cases of child sexual abuse, according to Khan.
“It was a terrible time when the news first came out over a decade ago,” Khan said. “But to bring it up again now, while we’re dealing with it, and to point the finger specifically at Pakistani Muslims — it’s clear that he’s trying to stir up trouble, a step toward the civil war he was trying to incite last summer.”
In August last year, after three girls were killed in Southport, online agitators blamed the attack on a Muslim migrant. But 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was convicted this week to 52 years in prison, he was neither a Muslim nor a migrant. The false claims led to widespread unrest. Responding to footage of the riots posted on X, Musk announced, “Civil war is inevitable.”
In recent weeks, Musk has focused on cases of child sexual assault that have occurred over several decades in northern English towns such as Rochdale, Oldham and Telford.
As well as tirelessly sharing grim details of cases involving British Pakistani men, several of them taxi drivers, Musk called for a new national inquiry, boosted posts suggesting dual-national convicts should be stripped of their UK citizenship and took aim at Prime Minister Keir Starmer the Labor government, accusing politicians of a “cover-up”.
While some cases of child sexual abuse have involved a few men of British Pakistani origin, it is impossible to suggest that British Pakistanis are more likely to commit the crime.
Shabna Begum, head of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, said there was “no compelling evidence to show the ethnic disproportion of those who commit this violence”.
A 2020 UK Home Office report supported this view.
“By spreading misinformation, he is creating mistrust and an unstable environment,” Begum said. “It deliberately incites fear, prejudice and division without concern for the victims and survivors of this violence, and makes no effort to address the real issues of misogyny and child sexual abuse.”
According to the Center for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre), in 2022, 83 percent of defendants prosecuted for child sexual abuse were white, while 2 percent were of Pakistani origin.
The center used data from the child welfare, police, criminal justice and health departments to prepare its report, but warned that the overrepresentation of white defendants “is probably related to the overall under-identification of child sexual abuse in minority ethnic communities.” .
But instead of doubling down on a divisive and misleading story, Musk seems intent on portraying a distorted picture, Khan said.
Musk has relentlessly pressured the government led by Starmer, the former Attorney General and head of the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Starmer was complicit in the RAPE of BRITAIN during his six years as Chief Prosecutor,” Musk announced on X.
The government has repeatedly rejected calls for a second national inquiry. However, last week it announced plan to fund five new local inquiries, including one in Oldham.
The UK’s seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse (2014-2021) was one of the most extensive investigations of its kind.
His final report, published in October 2022, was based on extensive research, multiple investigations and victim testimony. The report revealed systemic failings in child protection and made strong recommendations to improve protection and accountability.
Despite this, critics argue that the true extent of the abuse committed has been ignored for years.
“The real issue is creating a society that protects young girls from predators of any background,” Khan said. “But Musk is not interested in solutions – he is interested in scapegoating a community. It does not bode well for Britain or even for Europe where he also messed around.”
In Rochdale, where British Pakistanis make up about 14 percent of the population, some are tired of being vilified.
“Most of us are working class, honest people,” said Mohammed Sheraz, a 48-year-old self-described “Rochdalian”.
Born and raised in the city, he added: “We are tired of being portrayed as troubled Muslims or brown people to be feared. Yes, some people committed heinous crimes, but they were the furthest from Islam. They are criminals and should be treated as criminals. They do not represent us in any way.”
Sheraz, who for years ran the Army of Kindness – a soup kitchen in Rochdale that serves people of all backgrounds – sees Musk’s interventions as dangerous.
“It’s like sowing the seeds for some big anti-Muslim war,” he said.
Rochdale remained calm over the summer while xenophobic riots erupted elsewhere, a sense of calm Sheraz attributed to the resilience of the British public.
“Remember what kept these riots from escalating: People of all races and backgrounds stood together against the right-wing thugs that Musk seems determined to support.”
Musk’s support for jailed far-right activist Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, was particularly contentious.
A figure synonymous with anti-Muslim sentiment in the UK, Robinson is currently serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.
Musk has called for the release of Robinson and portrayed him as a supporter of free speech, which drew widespread condemnation.
Nigel Farage and Richard Tice, who lead the populist Reform Party with which Musk had previously flirted, have distanced themselves from Robinson.
Nevertheless, Musk’s rhetoric has emboldened fringe movements. His posts echo the language of far-right activists, conflating cultural integration with the rise of crime.
His influence – as one of the world’s richest men and an adviser to the new United States administration led by President Donald Trump – worries Sheraz.
“Tommy Robinson was already in Rochdale in 2011 to incite hate, divide and rule, but it didn’t work. The community stood together to make sure our city didn’t burn… But now Mr. Tesla supports these people. Who knows what will happen next?”
‘A thinly disguised attempt at racism around the gender issue’
Begum, from Runnymede, described Musk’s rhetoric as “dangerous and irresponsible”, especially after “the worst racist riots the UK has seen for generations”.
“Victims of child sexual abuse deserve justice, and of course, all children must be protected from sexual violence and exploitation – that goes without saying,” said Begum.
“What we are witnessing are powerful men exploiting horrific sexual violence against women to score political points and advance their own goals.
“Focusing on Pakistani Muslim men and advocating deportation or stripping them of their citizenship is a thinly veiled attempt to racialize what is fundamentally a gender issue.”
As the UK grapples with Musk’s growing influence, unity should be the strongest defense against disunity, Sheraz said.
“We have already faced hatred and we will face it again. But we are British – we will stand together against this too.”
