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| Britain |
| Stereotyping is leading to terror, says first Muslim Miss England |
| 2006-08-31 |
| 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 coating" 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 hostility" which comes "mainly from the Government". 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." Ok, little missie, how bout this for a stereotype: 'Beauty queens are empty-headed'. Oops, you just proved that one. |
| Posted by:mcsegeek1 |
| #20 Muslim terrorism leads to stereotyping. She put the battery in backwards. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2006-08-31 22:34 |
| #19 STFU B**ch...put your burka back on or sme muzzie who can't be responsible for his self control will have his way with you along with a half dozen of his co-religionists. Whoops ...is that too sterotypical for you? |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2006-08-31 20:46 |
| #18 P.S. What a retard. P.P.S. And just lookie--even Miss England justifies terrorism (they made them do it , those meanie stereotypers ) |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2006-08-31 20:32 |
| #17 "Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves." Zorg: "So, they weren't so "moderate" after all . . . " |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2006-08-31 20:31 |
| #16 That's a Muzzi analog of "I want to solve the problem of World hunger". |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-08-31 19:26 |
| #15 Stereotyping is leading to terror, says first Muslim Miss England Yeah, whatya gonna do blow up my car? |
| Posted by: Glaviger Thinens8050 2006-08-31 18:45 |
| #14 Yup, we unfairly ignore the many attacks perpetrated by Buddhists and Methodists to focus simply on some stupid gits who have made it impossible to fly with hair gel in your carry on luggage. Thanks for pointing that out, Miz Hammy. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-08-31 17:00 |
| #13 As far as I am concerned, if Muslims were to police themselves better, the WoT would be over sooner and we could do away with any "stereotyping" or profiling that is being forced upon society by the absence of this policing. |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-08-31 16:47 |
| #12 "Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it because they are stereotyped anyway. just terrific, yeah let's blame their actions on Blair. So much for assimilation. Hey, how did she win? Did she not wear the traditional berka? |
| Posted by: Jan 2006-08-31 16:38 |
| #11 "Naughty, naughty. Don't construe Effect as Cause." Exactly. Terrorism may cause stereotyping, but not the other way around. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-31 16:22 |
| #10 The first Muslim to be crowned Miss England has warned that stereotyping members of her community is leading some towards extremism. Naughty, naughty. Don't construe Effect as Cause. But one year on, the 19-year-old student from Hounslow feels that winning the coveted beauty title last September was a "sugar coating" for Muslims who have become more alienated in the past 12 months. Fine, if she's so unhappy then strip her ... of the title, that is. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-31 16:03 |
| #9 She's right. Just look at the Christians and Jews in Islamic states like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, etc... and how they have turned to terrorism! Oh wait.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-08-31 15:53 |
| #8 Where do they grow these people? This why I am in favor of forced sterialization. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-08-31 15:28 |
| #7 This'll probably keep the acid out of her face for at least a couple of years... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-08-31 14:54 |
| #6 "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." Afterwards she left the podium and decapitated Miss Denmark. |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-08-31 14:15 |
| #5 Stereotyping doesn't lead to terror, little miss. Islam leads to terror. What do you think the death threats you got were all about, you stupid child? |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-08-31 14:06 |
| #4 She must have won the burkha competition, although I noticed she was not veiled in any of her pictures. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-08-31 14:02 |
| #3 Perhaps she is sort of right. Stereotyping IN her community has led to much violence. If Moslems thought non-Moslems were human, and not dogs to be abused, murdered and stolen from, much of this would not be a problem. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-08-31 14:02 |
| #2 Of course, no one has stereotypes about, say, Jews or Italians or Poles, so they don't have to resort to terrorism. |
| Posted by: Baba Tutu 2006-08-31 14:01 |
| #1 Only when the islamists put 100 lashes across her back for violating sharia with her half naked body, will Miss Kohistani understand what "extremism" and its "causes" are about... |
| Posted by: john 2006-08-31 13:27 |