Trish

Sat Sri Akal. It is not often that I go into Birmingham City Centre since I left my job there. I go there, perhaps twice a year. On the last couple of occasions I have come back feeling totally disillusioned and hopeless because of my observations of what appears to be going on there. In the news a few months ago we heard of young teenage girls who were being lured by "Asian men" with gifts of mobile phones and free drugs etc and then being sexually abused. When the matter came to the attention of the police it was dealt with as child abuse. At the time when our Gurus fought for Sikhism, men and women were fighting against conversion to Islam. The men fought on behalf of the women and children and the women fought for themselves and their children, and fought unto death if necessary. In these enlightened days when women are educated and given the freedom to work and freedom of speech, it would be expected that they would be free to think about what is happening to them and to be able to protect themselves. However that is not happening. Birmingham City Centre and other areas of the city as well as of other British cities are flooded with "Asian men" who look for and befriend not young teenagers but older college girls or young women. Many of them look like Sikh girls. Some dress in what seems to be a fashion statement for them, of tightly fitting black trousers or leggings and tightly fitting black tee-shirts or cardigans etc. I have seen many girls walking alongside Muslim men, each looking straight into the other's eyes, chatting away, totally oblivious of the people around them. Sometimes the girls carry books and files indicating that they are college students. It seems abundantly clear that they are being lured away, and with tales circulating about what is happening to Sikh girls, it isn't hard to guess what might be going on. Many Sikh girls appear to be targeted, although not exclusively. Numerous "Asian men" hang around the bus stops and the pedestrian areas and stop girls walking past to talk to them. (I have never observed a man of any background being stopped). They take out what seems like mobile phone cards and talk to the girls on the pretext of selling, to strike up a conversation. Yesterday, I observed 2 girls who were stopped by a young man and after a short conversation they continued on their way. I asked the girls if they were being talked into buying something. They said the man was asking them something, although I didn't find out what was said. I asked if they were Muslim girls and they said yes. I remarked that women have to be very careful these days about young men. One girl said "Auntie, you wouldn't believe what young men do these days." I said "Take care of yourselves." They both smiled at me, said "Thank you auntie" and carried on. It became clear that once the man had found out that they were Muslims, they did not need to be targeted. I saw about 10 Asian, probably Sikh girls walking alongside "Asian men" I was in M&S and saw an English girl walk into Women's clothing area, accompanied by an "Asian man", who trailed a step behind, carrying her Primark shopping bag. She half turned and talked to him as he followed. The look on his face seemed to be saying "How much longer is she going to be?" I went into W H Smith and saw half a dozen "Asian men" wandering about aimlessly, not looking for or to buy anything being sold in the shop, but looking around at the people in the shop. They seemed to be looking for targets, and the expression that came to mind was "Curb Crawlers". I got on the bus to come home and on the top deck, in the seat in front of mine sat a girl, obviously not a Muslim, and next to her sat an "Asian man". They sat, shoulders touching, chatting to each other, and he pecked her on the cheek. The girl reached her stop and got off. As the bus began to move, I looked down to watch the girl who turned round to wave at the man. He did not turn round to wave. I looked at him, and he was already inviting a black girl who sat next to me to come and join him in the seat next to him. She declined, saying that she was getting off. As she waited in the stair-well, he eyed her, and made me wonder if he was thinking "I'll get you the next time". About a year ago, we went to a green-grocer's. Under the awning, by the fruit rack, stood one of the Muslim shop workers and a Sikh woman, in her 30s, talking. Even though it was a cold February day, she wore only a navy blue sleeveless dress. Printed up and down her right arm were pretty floral tattoos, which she displayed with her arm resting seductively and stretched out towards the man. They talked about her plans, totally unaware or uncaring about people around them, and the woman said of her husband, "I don't give a sh... about him." As we walked away from the shop, I said to my husband, "That's another one lost to a Musalman". My despair at what seems to be an avenue for a total wipe-out of the Sikh religion without a finger being lifted, without a sword being drawn, without any blood being shed, without an eye being blinked………. increases daily. As descendants of people who gave their lives for our religion, I feel we ought to give a thought to our plight. With so many eminent personalities, men and women, among the numbers of our community, I feel we must come together and do something to save our women and our religion. In the early 1990s I worked in two secondary schools in Birmingham, both for girls only. 75% in one and over 95% of the girls in the other school were Muslims. The girls were not allowed to walk home, and at 3.20 pm the whole of the parking area outside the schools would be crowded with cars of parents who came to pick the girls up. Some of the cars were old, battered and fit to scrap, while the others were not so bad. The cars were filled to the capacity when they left, evidently because they were picking up not only the owner's children, but others' as well, no doubt by arrangement with the parents. Some of the cars were marked as taxis. However as time went on, tatty cars began to disappear and more and more taxis began to appear, and I realised that the owners were using the cars for picking up the girls but also now using them as vehicles of work, so that at their own convenience, they would be available at 3.20. The girls were not trusted to walk home. Two families who did allow this found that their daughters were hassled by a boy. This was very upsetting for the families and no doubt the girls' freedom to walk home was lost. One day I visited the home of a girl as a part of research about what the girls were doing since they left school following their GCSEs. I found out that the girl had been kept at home and not allowed to go into further education. The reason, I learned was that one day on the way home from school she had talked to a boy in the park. When I asked what harm there was in doing that, I was told that they didn't know what else she might have got up to. The girl was a virtual prisoner at home, ostracised for misbehaviour. Girls and boys are allowed to go to co-ed primary schools where chances of mischief are small. However once in secondary schools, the girls are segregated and virtually locked up by the schools under Child Protection procedures and at home by the parents, who will accompany the girls when they venture out. Boys on the other hand, continue to go to co-ed secondary schools, where they misbehave to their hearts' content, not listen to teachers and do what they wish with the girls, including practicing low level violence on girls, such as punching them "playfully". This gives them practice for continuing in life, and the world is their oyster. Girls of all colours, religions and hues then become victims of their perfomance. It is now up to us to take steps to help our children. <S> </S> Some of the ways in which we may be able to help Sikhs · Girls in Secondary Schools and Colleges Just as Muslims are making a big effort to abduct Sikh girls, I feel we should make a big effort ourselves to prevent this. We could form a group of concerned Sikhs (men and women to act as role models) who would: 1. Gather views of the Sikh Community about what can be done about the situation. 2. Get some funds together. 3. Work out a plan of action to be applied to engage girls in secondary schools and in colleges. 4. Provide training for people who might be able to deliver it. 5. Make contact with girls/women who went off the rails but didn't go all the way to conversion and see if we can learn from them. · Punjabi in Primary Schools So far there have been facilities in secondary schools for teaching Punjabi. Also, where children can agree, they are taught Punjabi in temples. However the success of these two methods has been quite limited. If in agreement with the school head teachers Punjabi could be taught in primary schools, it may be much more successful. 1. Parents could be asked if they wished their children to remain at school after end of school to learn Punjabi on say, 2 afternoons per week. 2. Children could be given fruit and water to sustain them through the lesson. 3. Parents and grandparents could help the teachers. 4. Learning could be made fun for the children by helping them to speak and sing the language, playing games, playing music, learning about Sikhism etc. 5. Parents and other community members could contribute. Learning Punjabi at an early age would mean that they learn more easily, they would have learned a lot by the time they left primary school, and as a result would be able to learn a lot more and take GCSE exams etc. HELPING SIKH GIRLS Do you think that trying to help Sikh girls by engaging with them at secondary school and college would make a difference? What do you think should be done? Sikhs are now beginning to realise that we are in grave danger and something needs to be done. Is there a way that you would like to help? How much of your time or money or resources could you commit? TEACHING PUNJABI IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS What do you think about teaching Punjabi in Primary Schools? Would you support your children/grand children in this? Would you be able to help by being there with the children, or assisting the teacher in helping to distribute fruit and water, etc? Would you be able to help with any sort of donations or with transport etc? How else do you think such a project might move forward? Please email to express any way that you might be able to help. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL SIKH CONTACTS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO SUPPORT AND HELP OUR CHILDREN. Thank you.