E-Paper
Asians taint 'honour'
More Asians have tainted the community's reputation by getting involved in hateful crimes.
The year juxtaposed Asians who made a mark in Britain with those who tainted the community's reputation by getting involved in crimes, racial hatred, religious bias and honour killings.
The most successful investigation this year led to the arrest of Maninder Pal Singh Kohli who admitted on July 28 to the rape and murder of 17-year-old British teenager Hannah Foster in Southampton, England, in March 2003.
Kohli had been on the run from England two days after Hannah's body was found from undergrowth near her West End residence. Hannah’s parents, Trevor and Hillary Foster came to India in June to appeal to the people to help trace Kohli. His arrest in Darjeeling brought a great sense of relief and justice to them. Maninder Kohli is currently under CBI custody.
The shocking toll of “honour killings” continues despite measures taken by the Home Office and the police to curb the evil and extremely callous practice. Recently, the issue was taken up at a special meet in London, which was attended by senior police officers, lawyers, criminologists, social workers, NGOs and Crown Prosecution Service.
The meet decided to open nearly 122 cases of deaths of young women in the last decade to find out if they too were victims of the so-called “honour killings”.
In one such case, a court ordered 14 years imprisonment for Indian-origin Kalvinder Dosanjh, for securing a man to kill his daughter, her Jewish boyfriend and his father. Dosanjh’s attempt at killing was a way of dealing with the family’s dishonour and disgrace that he believed had been brought by his daughter and her Jewish boyfriend.
It is a shame for the community that few Asians have failed to break the shackles of orthodoxy and instead opted for violence to save their so-called "honour".
Race-hate crimes were also reported during the year. However, the Metropolitan Police has recently assured ethnic minorities in Britain that they are trying to bring racial quality at all levels to prevent such crimes. The Met, however, needs to concentrate on wise implementation of policies for a multicultural Britain!
