Hammasa Kohistani, the Muslim woman who is this years Miss London says that the stereotyping of Muslims is causing terrorism:
The first Muslim to be crowned Miss England has warned that stereotyping members of her community is leading some towards extremism.
Hammasa Kohistani made history last year when she was chosen to represent England in the Miss World pageant.
But one year on, the 19-year-old student from Hounslow feels that winning the coveted beauty title last September was a "sugar coatingî for Muslims who have become more alienated in the past 12 months.
She said: "The attitude towards Muslims has got worse over the year. Also the Muslims' attitude to British people has got worse.
"Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it because they are stereotyped anyway. It will take a long time for communities to start mixing in more.
"People may feel I am just a sugar coating on the situation. I am a symbol to show it's not really that bad.
But at the same time, she said, "there is this hostilityî, which comes "mainly from the Governmentî.
The Prime Minister told MPs last month that moderate Muslims were not doing enough to tackle extremists in their own community.
Miss Kohistani said: "Tony Blair addressed Muslims in particular, telling them that they need to sort out the problem within. That was a huge stereotype of the Islamic community. Even the more moderate Muslims have been stereotyped negatively and feel they have to take actions to prove themselves.
Born in Uzbekistan and raised in Afghanistan, Miss Kohistani divided Muslim opinion when she entered and won the Miss England pageant in Liverpool.
Several community leaders openly declared her to be betraying the laws of Islam while radical Muslims sent the teenager and her family death threats.
But after a busy year travelling around the world as an ambassador for England, Miss Kohistani said she feels Muslims are unfairly being branded as terrorists.
She added: "For a Muslim to represent England is asking for controversy at the moment. I feel after everything that's happened Muslims are being stereotyped negatively. The whole community has been labelled and, whether they are guilty of crime or not, they are getting penalised for it.
"I like being in the limelight because people can look at me and see I am a Muslim but good. Most of the people being pinpointed are judged by their outer appearances and people assume because they are Muslim and have a beard they have done something wrong.
She continued: "The bridge I have made is slowly being broken by more and more wars. Now the Iran situation is brought up and another Islamic country is under scrutiny - and the recent Heathrow scare. I guess I am needed even more now than last year to an extent because of what has happened.
"It is not for me to answer how to get people to turn away from terrorism. The politicians don't know what to do and I am just a 19-year-old.
Maybe it's just my mood, but I find this story to be one of the most maddening and depressing things to come out of the Muslim community ever. If anyone has a reason to understand the problems in Islam it is a woman who has chosen to participate in Western popular culture as a performer of any sort.
As is noted in this article, Ms. Kohistani did face quite a bit of criticism from her own community, so she has direct experience with the totalitarian nature of Islam. And yet, even she would blame the problems within Islam on her home country rather than face the fact that it is Islam itself which has the problem.
If it is not Islam itself with the problem, then why is it that Muslims are killing people everywhere in the world, from Indonesia, to the Phillipines, to the Sudan, to the streets of Iraq, where they are killing each other?
And, if it isn't the Muslim community itself that is to solve the problems within Islam, then who is to solve them? And how?
Can you imagine what it will look like if people from outside of Islam are to have to try to solve the problems of Muslims, for Muslims?
Jeez, Muslims. Get with the program. Don't make us have to clean up your crap.
2 comments:
Muslims are under attack!
Check out this post: Muslim Bashing Continues. Please remember: Islam is a religion of peace, and it is the world's fastest-growing religion!
Pastorius,
I've given up on the moderates. The few whom I've decided are moderate cannot have enough impact.
I waited and waited for the hordes of moderates. I've been disappointed for so long that I've given up on them. Furthermore, any moderates just coming forward aren't going to have my trust.
I'm sorry to be saying this. And I fear that the world is spinning toward an abyss of which we don't even have adequate understanding and certainly for which we don't have adequate preparation.
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