Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday slammed UK Home Minister Suella Braverman's "discriminatory and xenophobic" comments about Pakistani men.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Braverman's comments were intended to "target and treat British Pakistanis differently".
Baloch added that the British minister "erroneously branded criminal behavior of some individuals as a representation of the entire community".
"She fails to take note of the systemic racism and ghettoization of communities and omits to recognize the tremendous cultural, economic, and political contributions that British Pakistanis continue to make in British society," she elaborated.
Cultural Bias?
The Pakistan foreign ministry's criticism of Braverman came after the UK Home Secretary said that the values of British-Pakistani men were "at odds with British values".
"[British-Pakistani men] see women in a demeaned, illegitimate way, and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach to the way we behave," Braverman remarked.
Her comments were at odds with the findings of a Home Office report prepared in 2020, which mentioned that "most child sexual abuse gangs" featured white men under 30.
The report also pointed out that there was no evidence to suggest most members of such gangs were black or Asian.
Braverman was previously criticized by multiple children's charities and political pundits who called her comments "inflammatory", warning that they could result in "race wars" in British society.