A Sikh group condemns using term ‘Asian’ to describe Rotherham gang

London: Rotherham gang is a group in Britain, including four Pakistani men and two British women who groomed, raped, prostituted and abused teenage girls in Rotherham town of England and were handed combined prison sentences of 103 years on Friday.

It was found that at least 1,400 girls had been sexually exploited in Rotherham over a 16-year period.

Sikh group in Britain has urged the media and politicians to stop describing the Rotherham grooming gang, which was handed combined sentence of more than 100 years for sexual assault on women, as "Asian".

Sikh Federation UK said the use of term "Asian" for the Rotherham gang is too vague and "besmirches" other communities, The Independent reported on Sunday.

"If the four men that have been found guilty and carried out the abuse were Pakistani Muslims, this is how they should be described and not called Asian," he added.

In a joint statement, the Hindu Council UK, the Network of Sikh Organisations, Sikh Media Monitoring Group and the Sikh Awareness Society had said: "Communities who themselves fall victim of this emerging pattern of criminality, should not be besmirched by the vague terminology 'Asian', in order to help find a solution to the problem, we need to be clear on the identity of those involved."

The petition closed with 1,859 signatures calling for the word "Asian" not to be used in grooming and sex abuse cases.(inputs from agencies)