Islamist campaigner : Asim Qureshi is research director of the Cage human rights pressure group . The Islamist campaigner who described Jihadi John as a ‘ beautiful young man ’ claims he himself was turned into an ‘ anti-white racist ’ at private school . Asim Qureshi , 33 , said he and other ethnic minority children were ghettoised at £18,000-a-year Whitgift School in Croydon , south London . Rich white boys – particularly rugby players – apparently bullied and racially abused ‘ five foot nothing Asians ’ . The campaigner sparked outrage last week when he made himself chief apologist for the suddenly-unmasked British Islamic State killer Mohammed Emwazi , claiming the terrorist was radicalised by security service harassment . Mr Qureshi , the research director of the controversial Cage human rights pressure group , has known Emwazi for years , and has previously been caught on camera urging Muslims to support jihad during a rally the American embassy in London . But the Daily Mail can reveal that the campaigner had previously told how he became actively ‘ anti-white ’ himself – and blamed it on rich white pupils at elite Whitgift . Fees for full boarders there are £35,000-a-year . Mr Qureshi , who lives in a £530,000 detached house in Surrey , was born in Britain to Pakistani parents and – thanks to his mother ’ s ice-cream business – was sent to 400-year-old Whitgift . He said : ‘ It is a very expensive private school . It is one of those schools that has every single facility available . I did not necessarily , from an academic perspective , take the best advantage of it . Bullying claims : Mr Qureshi said he and other ethnic minority children were ghettoised at £18,000-a-year Whitgift School ( pictured ) in Croydon , south London . ‘ Every single student who goes to that school is expected to come up with straight As . ‘ But even within that school , we formed a ghetto very , very quickly amongst our ethnicities because , even though these kids came from very well-off families , they still had an intense level of racism . ‘ Especially the rugby lads , who were known to be extremely racist because they were built like tanks , all of them . Us small Asians , five foot nothing , would not stand a chance against them. ’ Mr Qureshi , speaking to American academics four years ago - a transcript of which has now surfaced - continued : ‘ We formed cliques very quickly . ‘ The Chinese , the blacks , the Pakistanis , and the Indians , we would all be together in the same crowds . We would move around in the same circles . ‘ Many of the white kids would be coming from very rich areas , and we would be taking the bus . Terrorist : Mohammed Emwazi was suddenly unmasked last week as the Islamic State killer Jihadi John . ‘ Their parents would be picking them up in their Bentleys , and their Rolls-Royces , and their Aston Martins from the front of the school . ‘ We would be going to bus stop at the back of the school and going back down to our area , which was not so affluent . In fact , there was a bus stop in Croydon , which is on our way back home . We used to call this bus stop Terminal Three . In Heathrow Airport , Terminal Three is the terminal that all the ethnic minorities take to go back to their countries of origin. ’ Mr Qureshi added : ‘ Sports was one of the things that helped get me through in many ways . I played squash at a county level. ’ He said that after his GCSEs his parents could no longer afford the Whitgift fees so instead sent him to grammar school Wilson ’ s , in nearby Wallington , Surrey . In marked contrast to the public school , he said , the races mixed freely . Mr Qureshi continued : ‘ When I turned up , I came with the same kind of anti-white racist attitude that I had developed in Whitgift because I felt that all white people must be like this . Outspoken : Mr Qureshi has known Emwazi for years , and has previously been caught on camera urging Muslims to support jihad during a rally the American embassy in London ( pictured ) ‘ What was amazing is how that was broken down completely . For the first time in my life I had white friends . For the first time in my life I could relate to white people. ’ After ‘ doing not very well ’ at A-levels – spending much of his time listening to ‘ hardcore hip hop ’ - Mr Qureshi went on to study law at London Guildhall University , which he described as ‘ not a great university but I did enjoy my time there ’ . While a student he said he ‘ began to choose an Islamic identity ’ for himself . The Whitgift headmaster from before Mr Qureshi started until today has been Dr Christopher Barnett – who says in his welcome to prospective pupils the school staff ‘ welcome boys from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds ’ , and ‘ regard the diversity and richness that this brings as a real strength of the school. ’ He was unavailable for comment last night . The historic school was founded in 1596 by Queen Elizabeth I ’ s last Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift . It now educates 1,300 boys in the former stately home of Lord Howard of Effingham , who fought the Spanish Armada . The school motto is Vincit qui patitur – ‘ He who perseveres , conquers ’ .
Mohammed Emwazi said he and other ethnic minority children were ghettoised . Claimed rich white boys bullied him at £18,000-a-year Whitgift in London . Campaigner made himself chief apologist for Asim Qureshi of ISIS .