Finally

One of the criticisms routinely leveled at Muslims is that the so-called moderates - the silent majority - are well and truly silent when it comes to speaking out in opposition to extremists who, in the words of some, pervert a legitimate religion through barbaric acts such as beheadings, stonings, honor killings, and the like.

I must admit that I tend to subscribe to that view. Taken as a whole, when it comes to savagery committed in the name of the Muslim religion the silence from members of that religion has been deafening.

However, there is at least one recent crack in that wall of silence.

Rotherham is a working-class town that is remarkable in its ordinariness — a collection of charmless discount stores, betting shops and kebab counters, surrounded by sleepy residential streets lined with brick houses that have seen better days.

But below the drab surface, shock was evident Wednesday as the people of this northern English town learned that for 16 years, girls as young as 11 in their community had been subjected to sexual exploitation on a vast scale.

The number of victims — 1,400 — was terrifying enough for a community of just 250,000. But that wasn’t all: despite repeated warnings over the years, only a handful of men have ever been convicted and an independent report found that local leaders had dismissed reports of child rape, exploitation and violence for years. Part of the reason, they said, was that they feared they would be branded as racist for pursuing the perpetrators — the majority of whom were men of Pakistani origin.

Ah yes, Political Correctness. I swear that someday it will be the ruin of us all.

Yet, many say it’s time for police and social workers to come up with a better response than to blame prickly race issues. Muhbeen Hussain, who founded the British Muslim Youth group, said the Pakistani community also needs to step up and face the problem.

“We need to acknowledge there was a large number of Pakistani men said to be involved. As a Pakistani Muslim I don’t find anything within our religion to condone this,” the 20-year-old said. “We need to reopen every case since the 1990s and investigate them. If it were any other type of crime the police would have acted” (emphasis added).

Hussain argues the reason the problem has gone on for so long isn’t about race, despite the authorities tiptoeing around the issue. What it is about, he argues, is a lack of accountability.

“Saying it’s about race is just an excuse for the failure of the local council. Are they not going to arrest a drug dealer because the Muslims may be upset? It’s ludicrous.”

Yes it is. Those who failed to act because of fears they might be branded as racists are just as guilty, and just as deserving of punishment, as the freaks who committed the acts.

Kudos to Mr. Hussain for telling it like it is. I'd be proud to buy him a beer ... if his religion will allow him to drink it.