Azeem says: I was driven out of the country after racist storm
AZEEM Rafiq has told MPS the only thing which has changed in the 13 months since he first gave harrowing evidence of the racism he faced in cricket is that he and his family have been driven out of the country.
The 31-year-old, who initially blew the whistle on the discrimination he faced at Yorkshire when he appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee in November 2021, cited the Yorkshire Post’s coverage of his case as one of the main reasons his family had been driven out when he gave evidence to the same committee yesterday.
Journalist George Dobell, who has covered Rafiq’s case closely since he first alleged he had been the victim of racist abuse and bullying in the summer of 2020, told the MPS the Yorkshire Post had been “the voice of the racist” and had “intimidated and bullied” Rafiq.
Yorkshire Post editor James Mitchinson
rejected what he called “scurrilous and unfounded” allegations made at the hearing by Rafiq and Dobell, and said his newspaper had “applied the same rules of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism in seeking to tell all sides of the story”. Rafiq was asked to begin his evidence by giving a summary of what had changed since his first appearance.
“If I was to look at 13 months on from me opening my heart out, all that’s changed really is that me and my family have been driven out of the country. And that’s a sad element of it,” he said. Rafiq, who moved with his immediate family to Pakistan last month, recounted incidents of abuse to the committee, including a man defecating outside his parents’ house. “I would love to come here and tell you how much cricket has changed, but unfortunately what it feels like is that cricket is very much in denial,” he said. “There are still a group of people out there who feel like cricket is the victim in this.”
Rafiq took aim at the coverage of his claims by his local newspaper, the Yorkshire Post, suggesting that the
tenor of its reporting had helped generate the tide of abuse which forced him to leave England.
“The impact locally has been quite big,” he said.
“Every time there is an article, it creates a wave of online abuse. It’s been so sad that (in) a place I’ve called home for 21 years, at times I’ve walked down the street fearing for my life. The effect is quite big.
“I don’t feel like at any point they’ve had any balance. I spoke out and I knew I would be targeted, but the way it has impacted me and my family my family especially - is something the Yorkshire Post should be held responsible for.”
Committee member John Nicolson asked Rafiq what he would say to the newspaper’s editor James Mitchinson if he had been in the room.
Rafiq replied: “I would like to have a conversation and hopefully get them to understand the effects of what they’ve written and the effect of that in society.
“Look, I think I’ve said pretty clearly I think it’s had a huge impact on mine and my family’s life. It’s driven us out of the country.”
Yorkshire Post editor Mitchinson said in a statement: “The scurrilous and unfounded allegations made by Azeem Rafiq and George Dobell to today’s DCMS select committee, referring to myself, The Yorkshire Post and my staff in relation to Mr Rafiq’s experiences of racist bullying whilst playing for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, I reject absolutely.
“From the moment Mr Rafiq blew the whistle on the racist abuse he was unquestionably subjected to whilst playing for Yorkshire, we have applied the same rules of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism in seeking to tell all sides of the story.”
If I was to look at 13 months on from me opening my heart out, all that’s changed really is that me and my family have been driven out of the country. Azeem Rafiq