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Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam
Last updated at 17:22pm on 22.02.07
Sir Ian Blair: Police and universities working together to tackle 'aggresive conversions'
Extremist Muslims who force vulnerable teenage girls to convert to Islam are being targeted by police, Met chief Sir Ian Blair has revealed.
Police are working with universities to clamp down on "aggressive conversions" during which girls are beaten up and forced to abandon university courses.
• Muslim pupils 'need their own showers'
The Hindu Forum of Britain claims hundreds of mostly Sikh and Hindu girls have been intimidated by Muslim men who take them out on dates before terrorising them until they convert.
Sir Ian spoke about the problem at a conference organised by the forum.
A Met spokesman said: "Neighbourhood officers work with university authorities in London and we would encourage anyone targeted in this way to seek help and support and where necessary use third party reporting facilities if they do not want to contact police directly."
Ramesh Kallidai, of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said: "Some girls are petrified because they are constantly being phoned up, having their door knocked.
"One girl was beaten up on the street and others have been forced to leave university."
• Met police chiefs are to review a controversial stop-and-search power used in the fight against terrorism. Assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, the overall head of Britain's anti-terrorist operations, said he had concerns about the number of stops carried out in London using Section 44 legislation.
Reader views (8)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
ani said
"Sikhs and Hindus are one, we are under the group of indians not asians. Muslims are totally different"
ther are 154 million MUSLIM indians. they are also "under the group of indians".
india is a country in asia, so indians are "under the group of" asians.
ritz, even if it is "a tiny minority" its still a big issue. even if 1 girl was forced to convert its a big problem, and news doesnt come out of thin air, it is happening mate.
- Dal, southampton england
In Sikhism, a Holy War is only eligible when all means of peace have been tried and failed. The early Sikhs of the 15-1600's fought off many Mughal Islamic Invaders, as well as Hindu Rajputs. Sikhs are only allowed to fight for the well being of righteousness, even stated by their 10th guru, Guru Gobind Singh. ""When all other means have failed, It is but lawful to take to the sword."
- Belwinder, Canada
I have heard about non-Muslim Asian girls being pressured by extreme male Muslims to convert. However, I'm wondering whether this is just a myth and a away for extreme Muslims to taunt the Asians of other religious backgrounds. We have to remember that Islam is a religion that actively seeks converts while Sikhism and Hinduism do not. Hence, it is possible for non-Muslims who are not familiar with their own religious background to be easily converted. The conversion issues have led to a lot of physical conflict between non-religious Sikh and Muslim youths in the West Midlands. I'm not sure whether this conflict will ever end.
- Sukhbir Singh, Coventry, UK.
dude we sikhs are not the same as HINDUS OR MUSLIMS ....you fools...
we are sikhs the one and only gosshhh dont put us with some other relgions ppl ..... seriosly how can we hindus be known as one after what they did to us in "BLOODY 1984" .... naahhh mate keep dreamin people .
and we sikhs are not inidians we are """"SIKHS!!!"""".....
bye bye ......
- Jas Kaur, u.k
I am concerned at the sheer ignorance of some of the views presented here. Ani says that Sikhs and Hindus are one and are under Indians not Asians. That is simply absurd since there are many Hindus from Bangladesh, as well as other Asian countries. Yes I agree Hindus are different to Muslims, but then why should any group be treated unfairly? Why shouldn't all groups be treated with respect? I for one have never heard of any such "forced conversions" by Muslims, so if it's happening then it must be a tiny minority...seems like another thing blown out of proportion. It's interesting to note that there are no Muslim views presented as sample views here, I hope that this balance will be addressed.
- Ritz 28, London
It is wrong for the public to think that all asians are the same. Sikhs and Hindus are one, we are under the group of indians not asians. Muslims are totally different. Just because we are the same colour we are consistantly associated with muslims and are referred to as 'pakis' which is inappropriate. Considering we are born in Britain and we are BRITISH we are still treated with disrespect and the public is still racist. At the end of the day we are all equal and should be treated the same despite our colour or religion however if someone is doing wrong they should be punished. In this case the extremeist muslims should stopped
- Ani, Birmingham
I agree, we are sikhs, hindus as hindus and muslims as muslims, we should all be treated for who we are, i.e. SIKHS and HINDUS, we are not MUSLIMS and to be associated as such is wrong... our ethics are totally different. The government needs to address us fairly and treat us with respect.
- Bss, United Kingdom
I’m a Hindu student and we Hindus are categorised under the group as Asians. But we are Hindus and we don’t like to be discriminated against. I think that we should educate the general British public understand the differences. Hindus are constantly associated with Muslims, but we are different, it’s like Jewish people pray at synagogues, Hindus at temples, Muslims at mosques, and so on. I think the government needs to act quickly as there is a large population of Hindus living in this country who are not being treated fairly.
- Sanj, London
