The far-Right leader in a Sikh headscarf and a very disturbing anti-Muslim alliance: EDL joins protesters angry at ‘grooming of girls’

By
Ian Gallagher and Ross Slater

16:06 EST, 30 June 2012

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19:55 EST, 30 June 2012

At first, the dozen white men mingling with 300 or so Sikh demonstrators besieging Luton police  station went largely unnoticed.

They stood on the fringes, content to observe. But as the night wore on and the intensity of the protest increased, the white men grew more raucous and aggressive.

What was remarkable about their presence was that they were members of the far-Right English Defence League.

Kevin Carroll, wearing a white shirt and a black headscarf is talking to a police officer surrounded by local Sikhs in Luton during the demonstration

Kevin Carroll, wearing a white shirt and a black headscarf is talking to a police officer surrounded by local Sikhs in Luton during the demonstration

They had turned up to express support for their Sikh ‘brothers’ who were angry at the way detectives had handled an allegation that a young Sikh woman had been sexually assaulted by a Muslim man.

The EDL makes no secret that it loathes Islamism, but stresses that, unlike the British National Party, it embraces all other creeds.

That said, when EDL supporters have taken to the streets in the past they have done so with St George’s flags and banners bearing inflammatory slogans.

In Luton all 12 men, including EDL leader Tommy Robinson and his right-hand man Kevin Carroll, wore a rumal, the traditional Sikh headscarf.

That night – May 29 – racial tensions had risen in the multicultural  town and this time it was Luton’s usually equable Sikh community that was angry.

EDL leader Kevin Carroll adresses the crown during an anti-peadophile protest last year

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Lennon, also attended the demonstration

English Defence League leaders Kevin Carroll, left, and Tommy Robinson, right,  whose real name is Steven Lennon both wore the traditional Sikh headscarf rumal along with the ten other EDL members at the protests

Bringing traffic to a standstill, female protesters lay down in the dual-carriageway that splits the town centre. Others demanded answers from individual officers.

While there was much anger  and plenty of noise, there was no violence, and by midnight it was all over. Yet that night a curious  alliance was formed.

A Mail on Sunday investigation has established that the leadership of the EDL has aligned itself with groups of radical Sikhs from Luton, the West Midlands and other parts of the country, who are furious that young women in their communities are, as they see it, being sexually exploited and groomed by British-Pakistani Muslims.

Two days after the protest, Sikhs and EDL members held a secret meeting in Luton to discuss a joint response to the problem. Both sides are said to have favoured acts of vigilantism.

There has been unofficial contact between Sikhs and the EDL for some time, and the links were cemented at the protest.

Asked about the secret meeting, Mr Robinson said: ‘Who told you about that? We can’t comment on exactly what we will do with the Sikhs but we will do whatever we can to work together, raise awareness and combat the problem.’

The EDL has a strong anti-Islamic agenda but say that they are embrace all other religions and beliefs

The EDL has a strong anti-Islamic agenda but say that they embrace all other religions and beliefs

When pressed about plans to carry out vigilante acts, Mr Robinson – who earlier this year was the focus of a Channel 4 documentary called Proud And Prejudiced – said:

‘When the police fail to protect the community, when they fail to protect daughters, we have to protect them.

‘We live in a community where Muslim paedophile gangs are operating without police pressure. If  a Sikh girl is attacked in Luton that is my problem because she is a member of my community.

‘I class everyone in my community as everyone who is non-Islamic.’

The EDL has held many demonstrations across the country since it was formed in Luton in March 2009 after Muslim radicals disrupted a homecoming parade by the Royal Anglian Regiment. It has become the most significant far-Right street movement in Britain since the National Front in the Seventies.

Nick Lowles, director of the anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate, said: ‘We are aware there has been contact between the EDL and a small group of radical Sikhs. But there is nothing to be gained by anyone in the Sikh community linking up with the racist EDL.

‘We need to tackle the issue of child exploitation, but it needs to be a community-wide response.’

While the EDL supporters in Luton were welcomed by some, the town’s  Sikh elders viewed their presence at the protest as opportunism.

They accuse EDL leaders of trying to hijack the protest and exploiting difficulties between their community and the town’s large Pakistani Muslim population.

The issue of grooming is at the heart of that discord.

The group of radical Sikhs says it receives about three calls a week from Sikh parents fearing their children are being targeted.

There have been few prosecutions, however, largely because the issue touches upon notions of honour and shame.

Jasvinder Singh Nagra, of the Luton Gurdwara temple, said: ‘Young girls of school and college age are being targeted by men from the Pakistani community.

They are duping them into believing they  are in love and it all comes to grief because they are treated as sex toys.

‘A small proportion of the Pakistani community feel it is fair game to go for Sikh and Hindu girls.

‘In the past, the Pakistani community have not taken this seriously and neither have the police. They have not looked into the role played by coercion or blackmail.

‘We know that at colleges and  universities you have young Muslim men wearing the kara [a bangle worn by Sikhs] to pretend they are part of the community, or they change their names to pretend to be Sikh and our girls fall for it.

‘Before they know it they are with this man and then compromising photographs will be taken of her. She will be threatened with having these shown to her family and the fear of losing honour is a very  powerful tool to make her do what the man wants.’

But Mr Nagra said protest organisers did not share EDL’s values. ‘The arrival of the EDL was a total surprise to me,’ he added.

‘They were there to try to make an alliance over what they felt was a common issue. It caused a great deal of anxiety because we wanted, above all, for the protest to be peaceful.

‘The EDL leaders were showing off to our young people by being very aggressive in the way they spoke to the police, pretending to be doing it out of solidarity.

‘I would advise our young people not to be lured down the EDL route of taking the law into our own hands and vigilante activity.’

In response, the day after the protest, some 40 leaders from the Sikh and Muslim communities met at the Gurdwara to discuss their differences in a two-hour meeting.

Mr Nagra said: ‘I was delighted that so many people from the Pakistani community came.’

Zafar Khan, of the Luton Council  of Faiths, who chaired the meeting, said: ‘The idea that there is an orchestrated campaign by young Muslim men to target young Sikh women is totally insulting and wrong. This is the language of the EDL.’

He added: ‘The threat of the EDL is very great in Luton. We have a  lot of experience in dealing with them and that is why we reacted so promptly.

‘Now we will meet every couple of months to talk about inter- community issues.’

A Bedfordshire Police spokesman urged anyone with evidence of grooming of people ‘from any faith or group’ to come forward, but added that there was nothing to indicate that ‘systematic’ grooming of Sikh girls was taking place in Luton.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

They “Seikh” them here they “Seikh”them there!They “Seikh”injustice everywhere!

I realise this won’t be a popular post on this particular site but you can’t escape fact…. And the facts say that over 90% of abuse cases are carried out by someone who is a close contact of the family.
The media scaremonger us into believing otherwise but it’s true.
If you want to protect your family stop hating someone just because of their culture and wake up to the really dangers your own culture presents you.

stuart, stockport: is it “raciest” to protect your kids? What are you on about? Does it “mater”. It matters to get a good education, then you would be able to read and write, and then maybe comprehend!

Kiran and Ricky – grow up and get responsible for your actions – he wore a Bangal and I was duped – grow up !
– TheFox, London, 30/06/2012 23:05

is it raciest to want to protect your children …. no mater were it comes from

Bring back capital punishment… NOW.

Kiran and Ricky – grow up and get responsible for your actions – he wore a Bangal and I was duped – grow up !
– TheFox, London, 30/06/2012 23:05
Firstly learn how to read. Kiran left the comment about a guy who claimed he was Sikh and his name was Ricky.
Secondly, invest in some spelling lessons. I trust you mean a ‘bangle’ not ‘bangal’ –
A Kara is not simply a bangle. The wearer is declaring to anyone in the know that he/she belongs to a warrior faith that prides itself in standing up for all that is true. A basic Wiki search will tell you that the practice of trying to convert Sikhs and Hindus dates back to Moghul times and it was the Sikhs who stood up and fought, refusing to bow down to oppression and rejecting conversion.
The Kara is one of the 5 K’s (Google it!) and came about as a weapon worn on the wrist and made of steel. It allowed our Warriors to keep their hands relatively free and use simple weapons like a Sword, Spear or the Kara to strike their opponent.

The truth hurts and I must have hit a raw nerve… because my posts have been removed by the cowards

It will only become much worse with time and it will be on a global scale. There are those who post warning such as Geert Wilders in Holland but our naive leaders do not want to recognize the growing problem worldwide of I***m. There is hardly a country or certainly continent where these people are not seeking to impose themselves and the 1300 year old laws.

the last 3 weeks, there have been at least 6 or so stories about different ped*philes in Britain. There was one with the title: “Soldier, childminder and farmer ‘in ped*phile ring which hosted sex parties at isolated country farmhouse.” Where are the repeat articles and protests on that? Or are victims less worthy of attention when it’s men with names like “Nicholas,” “Anthony,” and “Peter” are the ones who are doing sick things to them?
– Cain L., Westmount, Quebec, 30/6/2012 3:57………… Read the article before commenting. If you had read it, you would have known the difference. The difference is that there is a systematic belief in this one community that it’s okay to go after young girls and trick them as long as they are from an ‘outside’ community. You’re right, we forget about most crimes. But there is no community silence behind the crime itself. The times we see an entire community at fault, such as the Catholic church, then we equally blame the whole institution.

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