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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

[ALOCHONA] Re: [chottala.com] Dogs & People



Please read FYI

From: musa hossein <musahossein@hotmail.com>
Date: 7 November 2011 14:25:34 GMT
To: <dahuk@yahoogroups.com>, <turkman@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: RE: [Dahuk]: Re: [KHABOR] Dogs & People
Reply-To: dahuk@yahoogroups.com

Dear mr. Trukman:
 
Some points for you to consider in response to your rant on the internet:
 
1. The United States has been a member of the security council from the inception of the UN. In this role it has aided and abetted Israel its favorite terroist state to subjugate the Palestenians. It has done this for over 60 years
2. It has supported dictators throughout the world including the middle east. In 1979 when Donald Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hossein, he described Saddam as a sane man, and Mr. Rummy was appointed US liason to Iraq.
3. At the behest of the US, Iraq attacked Iran. The US Navy acted as the defacto navy of Iraq enforcing embargo against Iran. Iraq used chemial wepons against Iran. Ofcourse, we did not hear the US govt shedding crocodile tears over scores of Iranians that died.
4. Only when Saddam expressed his hatred for Israel, did the US label him as a threat and a source of weapon of mass destruction, as coined by Nazi Bush
5. US has aided the governments of Hosne Mubarak for 30+ years, the govt of Syria for a longer period of time and the Saudi Royal family since 1970 when oil was discovered.
6. In 1974, in response to an oil embargo by Saudi Arabia protesting the plight of the Palestenians, the US assasinated the King of Saudia Arabia at that time, and installed his nephew in his place.
7. For over 30 years, the US supported the muderous regime of the Shah of Iran. The reason? israel. While claming to be for human rights and all that jazz, the US permitted the Shah to kill thousands of dissidents (same as Hosne Mubarak). The US's desire was to creat states friendly to Israels and govts that would ensure supply of oil. 
8. For 25 years it waged a war in Vietnam. UN estimate of Vietnam war dead is around 8 million. Same as the number the jews claim in the Holucast. Cancerous defoliatants such as  Agent Orange was used to destroy swaths of vegetation so that the "enemies of  freedom" could be detected. Artificial rain was created by seeding clouds to flood areas to "flush" out vietnamese guerrillas from their underground bunkers. And the crime of the Vietnamese? they want freedom from their colonial masters and corrput governments. But to the US, they were nothing but a bunch of communists who should be destroyed.
9. In 1997 when the Taliban delegation came to Washington at the invitation of the Clinton govt and our favourite oil company, UNICOL, there was no talk about how horrible the Taliban were. All talk was about building a pipline thru Afghanistan into Pakistan to carry oil from central asian states to pakistani ports. The talks broke down as neither party could agree on the tarrif per gallon of crude that would be paid to Afghanistan. And what happened after that we all know. In the name of human rights and democracy, a crusade, I mean " enduring freedom" was launched.
 
10. No one asked the US to be the policeman of the world. In its never ending quest to dominate oil regions of the world, it has exercised its military muscle, orginially built to fight a percieved Soiviet threat, with impunity. Creating dictators where it can and invading where it cannot. Ms Hillary Clinton has made several trips to India, helping it take its baby steps towards becoming the US's defacto muscle man in the region. So while India occupies Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and builds dams to feed its rivers and while starving the rivers of Bangladesh, India is extolled as a "democratic nation", implying some level of morals and ethics.
 
11. Obama is playing a safe role. The reason is, the Arab Spring is home grown. So the US must take a neutral stance in order to ensure that the government thaht comes to power, will continue to sell oil to the US on favorable terms. 
 
12. Muslims hate progress? Please look at the Middle east. Check out their skyline and their brand new cities. Check out the artificial Islands built for realestate investments (Mr Clinton has a property in Palm Island of the coast of Dubai). While airtravel in the US is stagnant with old airports, the Middle East is spending over $60 billion in  new airports. By 2013, over 400 million passengers are collectively expected to pass thru the Airports of Doha, AbuDhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait,  as the gateway to Asia. While the western countries fo Greece and Spain are going bankrupt, the US is in its worst recession ever, the middle east is booming economically and politically
 
There are many other facts I could share with you, but perhaps you could look them up for your self, as it appears that you can read and write. The US is not gods gift to mankind as the politicians would like the average man to think. As the Americans suffer thru economic hardships, the people of the US are being fed with messages of divine missions by the corrupt politiicans to create a false sense of supeiority among the American people, and keep their minds of the falling dollars and the tanking job market. And in you, Mr.Trukman the powers that be appears to have found the perfect lap dog (or lap bitch?).

Desh-Bondhu,
'Desher Kotha Bolay'

On 7 Nov 2011, at 16:30, S Turkman <turkman@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

 

Right, right. Those God Damned Christians have not invented anything since of our Islamic 1800 A.D. days of Kerosene Lamps and Bull Carts. They created no wealth of their own. They had no Natural Resources of their own. They had built no Bridges, Railway, Road, Airports, Sea Ports, Radio Stations, Electric Power Generators, Steal Mill (in Calcutta), Hospitals, Schools, Colleges in our lands and it was just a Jungle. They were stealing so much that they had not left $ 7.5 billion (equal to half trillion of now-a-days) in Foreign Exchange for us, when they left, British India was not only 2nd to USA in Foreign Exchange Reserves, when IMF was formed and Great Britain was not the most indebted country. All this stuff is nothing but lies. Thanks for letting us know.

* Arab Countries, who were told to nationalize Oil Well of the Western Countries and had backed them should hate USA should not be thankful to USA because she made them rich beyond their imagination, right?
* Poor Moslim and Non Moslim countries should not be thankful of USA and the West though they have been living off Charity of Aid and Loans for more than last half century should just hate them because they are Kaafir, right?
* No Loans have been paid off so far by any of present poor countries therefore they are actually Beggars but they should never be thankful to their Benefactors, right?
* Moslim Beggars keep begging for Visa to the West every year by millions but at the same time they must hate those countries also, right?
.
Hate is our Religion, corruption is our Culture, lying is our Habit and Begging is our Profession ...!
SobHaan Allah ...!


To: khabor@yahoogroups.com; dahuk@yahoogroups.com; alochona@yahoogroups.com; chottala@yahoogroups.com; ovimot@yahoogroups.com; notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com
From: desh_bondhu@ymail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 07:25:44 +0000
Subject: [Dahuk]: Re: [KHABOR] Dogs & People

 
Mr. Turkdog, 

which planet are you from and heading to which hell?

The assets and prosperity you see in the WEST/USA/USSR are sourced from Muslim countries. You, headless slave of USA, will never realise that. Because you are not Nimak Haram. 

USA hired dog like you who can bark towards Muslims. 


Desh-Bondhu,
'Desher Kotha Bolay'



On 4 Nov 2011, at 01:05, S Turkman <turkman@sbcglobal.net> wrote:



There is no Moslim Country that has not turned around on its Benefactor may it have been USSR or USA because Moslims are thankless (Nmak Hraam) by birth. They hate progress and hate whoever tries to help them progress.
.
USA never had any clout in UNO and UN General Assembly has been passing resolution against USA for decades but their resolutions do not mean much because serious matters are controlled by Security Council in which USA, Russia, France, U.K. and China are permanent members with Veto Power.
USA was never in control of Security Council either but have been paying 1/3rd of UN Budget for more than a half century. So, its the Beggars, who live off Charity of Aid and Loans that have been always barking against USA and USSR in General Assembly because that's what all Dogs do.
USA doesn't have to run in a worldwide Elections to remain a member of Security Council so, it doesn't matter for US relationship with Dogs. If they hate so much, they should stop begging for Charity from USA, stop exporting their products to USA and stop earning Foreign Exchange. Have they ever tried to kill that relationship with USA?
.
If USA stops being Policeman of the World, China and India would replace her and would face the same barking from Dogs that USA has been facing for decades doesn't matter how much they would try to help. So what's new?
There are some Dogs and there are some people in this world and that is not going to change for while.
.
It looks like Obama's Policy on Arab Spring is about to install JehaaDis, who would be sending their Sneak Attack Terrorists to USA to thank him for putting them in power, in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Thank you Obama for their foolish selective support ...!
Police of all big cities in USA is also suppressing American Spring, arresting them and beating them up. How about some statements in support of Pro Democracy Movement in USA?
How about bombing New York, Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles also in support of Democracy just like Libya now ...!
.
S U Turkman







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[ALOCHONA] Weekly BUDHBAR on no-confidence



Weekly BUDHBAR  on no-confidence



http://budhbar.com/?p=6771




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[mukto-mona] Motiur RAHMAN Nizami's War Crimes in 1971





---SOURCE  Wed, 6/4/08, Syed Aslam > wrote:
Harun Chowdhury, Freedom Fighter Sector No: 02 Under the command of K.FORCE.

Motiur Nizami's War Crimes in 1971

Motiur Nizami in 1971

Motiur carried out a wide range of activities against the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. Motiur was the president of Jamat's youth front, the Islami Chhatra Sangha (now known as Islami Chhatra Shibir or the Islamic Students' Association) . Under Motiur's direct supervision and leadership, the al-Badr (para-militia) force was organised in order to eliminate the freedom fighters and supporters of liberation movement. Motiur was the commander-in- chief of al- Badr forces. Apart from killing the freedom fighters and supporters of liberation movement, the aim of ideological warfare waged by the al-Badr forces was to Islamization (Talibanisation) of Bangladesh. One of the main objectives of al-Badr forces was to short list the secular Bangalee intellectuals and eliminate them. Horrifying stories of killing of intellectuals by Motiur's al-badr forces were published in newspapers, home and abroad, during and after the liberation war.

1. During the war Motiur acted as one of the top Jamati ideologues instigating his cohorts and followers by means of public speech and newspaper articles to support the Pakistani occupation army in killing the freedom fighters and supporters of liberation war. In one of the issues of Daily Sangram, the Jamati mouth piece, Motiur wrote : The day is not far away when the young men of al-Badr, hand in hand with the armed forces, will defeat the Hindu forces (enemies) and raise the victorious banner of Islam all over the world, after the destruction of India. (Daily Sangram Nov 14, 1971)

2. On April 12, 1971, Motiur joined Gholam Azam and other leading collaborators such as Sabur Khan to lead a procession in Dhaka to demonstrate their support for Pakistan. The procession, under the banner of peace committee ended with a special prayer for the victory of Pakistan. (Daily Sangram April 13, 1971).

3. In Jessore, a bordering district, Motiur, in addressing the assembly of the para militia forces at the district head quarter of the Razakar force, said: In this hour of national crisis, it is the duty of every razakar to carry out his national duties to eliminate those who are engaged in war against Pakistan and Islam. (Daily Sangram Sept 15, 1971)

3. People from Motiur's home district, Pabna, have brought allegations against Motiur's direct involvement in killing, rape, arson and lootings. One such person is Aminul Islam Dablu of Brishlika village under the Bera Police Station (in Bangladesh, due to the colonial legacy, all administrative units below districts are organised under a police station, PS, hence all sub-districts are called Thana or PS). Dablu told the commission that his father Mohamed Sohrab Ali was killed on the orders of Motiur. Dablu further said that a number of people from the area were killed on Motiur's orders such as: Profulla Pramanik, Bhadu Pramanik, Manu Pramanik and Shashthi Pramanik. Dablu said there were many eye witnesses to those killings.

4. Abdul Quddus, a freedom fighter from Madhabpur village in Pabna, once spent two weeks in an al-Badr torture cell following his arrest in an uneven war. Quddus said he heard plans to kill freedom fighters and local supporters of the war were discussed and drawn up by al-Badr men under Motiur's supervision.

5. On November 26 a razakar commander named Sattar took Pakistani troops to the Dhulaupara village where 30 freedom fighters were arrested and subsequently killed. As per Quddus's testimony, Sattar carried out the execution on Motiur's order. Quddus told the commission that he managed to attend a secret meeting of al-Badr forces which Motiur presided and gave instructions to kill freedom fighters. In the meeting the al-Badr men listed the houses of Awami League leaders and the bases and hide-outs of the freedom fighters. Motiur sternly ordered his men to finish off Awami League supporters and possible bases and safe houses being used by freedom fighters were identified. Quddus said Motiur gave orders to finish off Awami League supporters and destroy bases of the freedom fighters. The day after the meeting, Al-Badr forces, in cooperation with Razakars, surrounded Brishlika village and burnt it to the ground.

6. Quddus also said Motiur himself bayoneted to death one Bateswar Saha of Madhabpur village in Sathia PS.

7. In Pabna Motiur led the killing of a young freedom fighter Latif and his group. Latif was only 19 years old and a first year student of Pabna Edward College. Latif's small group was captured by the Pakistani occupation army in an uneven combat at Dhuliuri. They were then handed over to Motiur's gang for execution. Motiur's lieutenants publicly slew Latif's co-fighters with big camp knifes especially used for slaughtering bulls for sacrifice (during Islamic festival called korbani) as a part of Islamic ritual. The bastards in Motiur's group celebrated the killing of the captured freedom fighters with cannibalistic zeal. They gouged Latif's eyes, chopped off his genitalia and tied his dead body on a stick at Shanthia (Badshah, a socialist activist was killed in the same way by one of Motiur's top killer gang-JMJB in May 2004, please see Islamist Extremism in Bangladesh page). Latif's father Sufian Paramanik is a witness to his son's brutal murder and the razakars' frenzied outburst of pleasure in killing the brave sons of the soil.

8. Latif's brother Shahjahan Ali, a freedom fighter himself from Madhabpur village, nearly met the same fate. After slaughtering Shahjahan, along with his co-fighters, in Islamic manner, Motiur's people left him taking him for dead. But Shahjahan was a die hard freedom fighter. The slayer's knife could not take his life. Deadly wounded, Shahjahan lay on ground for hours. Foxes smelled at him, dogs bit him. Fortunately his relatives came by before it was too late and saved his life. Motiur's knife could not take Shahjahan's life, but took away his voice: now Shahjahan is paralyzed and can't talk carrying a big scar on his throat-Motiur's  kiss of death.

Verifiable list of people killed by Motiur and his al-Badr forces:

Mohd Sohrab Ali Profulla Pramanik Bhadu Pramanik
Monu Pramanik Shashati Pramanik Bateswar Saha
Freedom fighter Latif 30 freedom fighters in Latif's group Dara
Chand Muslem Akhter
Kabir    

In 1971 Motiur was personally involved in killing of hundreds of Hindus and confiscating their assets and properties. By confiscation and extortion of large amount of money, jewellery and assets from the wealthy Hindu families, Motiur became a millionaire within nine months of the war. During the Sheikh Mujib government (1971-75) Motiur went underground in order to escape conviction as a war criminal. In 1976, as a part of General Zia's razakar rehabilitation program, Motiur resurfaced and took charge as the second in charge of Jamat-e-Islam. Motiur is presently the chief of Jamat-e-Islam.

Besides his involvement in assassination, murder, extortion and confiscation, Nizami is also committed to establish Jamati ideological hegemony (a Maududi version of Islamic fundamentalism) to perpetuate the Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Since 1976, thanks to the political backing of the so-called freedom fighter Gen Zia and financial generosity of the Islamic countries like Saudi Arab, Iran and Libya, Motiur and his gang invested millions of dollars to open hundreds of Islamic kindergartens around the country. The syllabi and curricula of those kindergartens are based on the precepts of Maudoodi, the spiritual guru of Jamat-e-Islam. This network of schools enabled Jamat-e-Islam to sustain a huge number of their cadres as employees of those schools. From organizational point of view, those schools are a big success for Jamat-e-Islam: it secured them a sustaining source of income (education is the most thriving business in Bangladeshi cities) and employment for its cadres in education industry. But intellectually those schools cripple the students forever as they teach pre Copernican /Ptolemaic world views, orient them to alien Arabic culture and emotionally invest them with jejune Islamic sentiments. 

Jamat's goal to render intellectual bankruptcy is not confined to pre school stage only. Motiur successfully expanded its mission to the tertiary level as well. Motiur's wife founded an English medium college in the most aristocratic residential area in Dhaka city. The college boasts of having international educational standard as its name indicates " Manarat International College". The off-springs of the Muslim Bangladeshi elites swarm into that so-called English medium college. Manarat is an English medium college in the limited sense that it disseminates its knowledge in English language. But what constitutes its epistemological corpus? Koran and all forms of Arabic medieval precepts. The graduates from Manarat college are apparently smart (as the definition of smart in Bangladesh means ability to speak trash in English) but intellectually and attitudinally medieval: perfect elements for Islamic fundamentalism. Politically Gholam Azams and Mainuddins are feared monsters, but culturally Motiur's and Saidi's are more corrosive and their impact on society is far reaching.

Other crimes by Motiur Nizami

1. After the election in 2001, Motiur Nizami's armed men forced the members of 20 Hindu families in Pagla Haldar Para, part of Nizami's constituency,  to eat beef. (Daily Janakantha 10 Oct 2004)

2. Although Jamat preaches Wahabism its head Nizami gave a lavish Iftar party in the most expensive hotel in Bangladesh (Sonargaon) on 11 November 2003 when the northern districts of Bangladesh were devastated with famine. In the Iftar party Nizami invited top 550 elites of the country and spent 300,000 taka.

 

Maulana Rahmat Ali Bhisti: The portrait of a Jamati leader by late Prof Humayun Azad killed by Nizami-Saidi's goons

 

Reference:

  1. Liberation Museum

  2. Killers and Collaborators of 1971: An Account of Their Whereabouts, compiled and published by the Center for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War

  3. Commission on War Criminals of Bangladesh

  4. Saiduzzaman Raushan: Speeches and Statements of Killers & Collaborators of 1971

Source:

Read latest at:
Read more at:
 
muktijudho, shadhinota, sonarbangla, liberation war, 1971, ekushe, 21st, february, dalal, nizami, jamayat, razakar,


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Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

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               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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[ALOCHONA] Islamophobia: Why we have to get over our fears



Islamophobia: Why we have to get over our fears

Rania Hafez

'Islamophobia is the new racism' is now a seeming truism, or so Baroness Warsi and many others would have us believe. She claims that Islamophobia has 'passed the dinner table test' and that anti-Muslim prejudice is now normal and uncontroversial in respectable society. Warsi's views are echoed by many British Muslims, who claim to experience such prejudice daily.

Like many a clever coining, the term 'Islamophobia' remains undefined and its existence uncontested.  The first recorded use dates back to 1990 in the American magazine Insight, although its etymology can be tracked to the mid 1920s. Since then after being a sociological concept largely restricted to Britain its use increased exponentially when it was declared a new form of global racism by the UN in 2001.

In its simplest form, and just going by the term itself, 'phobia' can be defined as 'an intense but unrealistic fear that can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, brought on by an object, event or situation'. Adding the prefix 'Islam' therefore implies that this irrational fear is triggered by Islam and directed at Muslims.

But are we conflating run of the mill prejudice that a few may encounter with a national epidemic of irrational hatred against Muslims? Or is the cry of 'Islamophobia' simply a way of deflecting legitimate criticism of certain backward ideas associated with religion in general; and conservative Islam in particular? When we talk about Islamophobia, what is it we are really talking about?

Neither the simple definition nor the forensic academic investigation of the concept help to explain what we are really dealing with. Both mask the real issues behind Islamophobia. The easy appropriation of psychoanalytical approaches to fear suggest that indeed fear is the key issue. However, 'Islamophobia' expresses not a primitive fear of Muslims and Islam but several deeper anxieties that dominate British and Western political culture.

The first of these is a fear of conviction.  Contemporary 'post-modern' morality encourages us to reject certainty in ourselves and others. We fear to confidently state our own convictions in case we are accused of bigotry, and we are anxious about others expressing their beliefs in case they are forced upon us. We may repeat the mantra that all perspectives and philosophies are equal, including beliefs held by others, but we shy away from a close examination of these beliefs for fear of losing the moral high ground of being non-judgemental.

In this cultural climate, Islam presents the West with a double challenge. Its adherents display a remarkably strong and not the slight bit 'post-modern' conviction in their faith, and its tenets seemingly contradict social and political Western values. Unwilling and unable to engage either with the faith or its followers, Islamophobia becomes a useful subterfuge.

This fear of strong ideas is connected with another fear. Fear of free speech.

There is no doubt that there is a deep-rooted 'phobia' in our society, but it is not of Islam. The fear that has gripped people is a fear of open debate and free speech. Across the spectrum, politicians may advocate for liberty and freedom of speech, but with caveats and ever stricter limits.

Both sides of the Islamophobia debate have argued for curbs on freedom of expression and free speech. The free speech of Muslim 'extremists' is curtailed in the interest of community cohesion. And the freedom to criticise Muslim fundamentalists or even Islam is chilled by charges of Islamophobia.

Fundamental to the fear of free speech is the fear of giving offence. We live in a culture where giving offence is deemed worse than grievous bodily harm. Some even argue that 'hate speech' itself harms the very being of those at whom it is directed. This doesn't just betray the fear of argument and debate, but also the diminished view of individuals and groups particularly Muslims as not being capable of rational argument.

Not immune from the same fears, some British Muslims have jumped onto that very bandwagon, seeing it both as a useful way of deflecting criticism and an avoidance of defending their ideas. Much easier to hide behind the charge of Islamophobia! The danger for them is that in rejecting argument and debate they start to lose the ability the express their ideas with conviction and claim a legitimate public space for their beliefs.

Fear of conviction, fear of free speech and fear of offence are the hidden fears in the cry of 'Islamophobia'. Overcoming these fears is the real challenge to all of us: Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Throughout October and November, The Independent Online is partnering with the Institute of Ideas' Battle of Ideas festival to present a series of guest blogs from festival speakers on the key questions of our time.

Rania Hafez is a teacher educator and academic and founder and director of Muslim Women in Education. She produced the session Islamophobia: the new racism or liberal angst? at the Battle of Ideas festival.

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/07/why-we-have-to-get-over-our-fear-of-islamophobia/


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[ALOCHONA] MLM companies: Destiny 2000 Limited / Revnex [BD] Ltd



MLM companies: Destiny 2000 Limited / Revnex [BD] Ltd



http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1926/mlm-company-puts-pm-dgfi-into-controversy



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[ALOCHONA] Three-quarters of Britons who become Muslims are female



Women & Islam: The rise and rise of the convert

Three-quarters of Britons who become Muslims are female. Now a major new study has shed light on the difficulties they face in adjusting to their new life.

Record numbers of young, white British women are converting to Islam, yet many are reporting a lack of help as they get used to their new religion, according to several surveys.

As Muslims celebrate the start of the religious holiday of Eid today and hundreds of thousands from around the world converge on Mecca for the haj, it emerged that of the 5,200 Britons who converted to Islam last year, more than half are white and 75 per cent of them women.

In the past 10 years some 100,000 British people have converted to Islam, of whom some three-quarters are women, according to the latest statistics. This is a significant increase on the 60,000 Britons in the previous decade, according to researchers based at Swansea University.

While the number of UK converts accelerates, many of the British women who adopt Islam say they have a daily struggle to assimilate their new beliefs within a wider culture that both implicitly and explicitly positions them as outsiders, regardless of their Western upbringing.

More than three-quarters told researchers they had experienced high levels of confusion after conversion, due to the conflicting ways Islam was presented to them. While other major religions have established programmes for guiding new believers through the rigours of their faith, Islam still lacks any such network, especially outside the Muslim hubs of major cities.

Many mosques still bar women from worship or provide scant resources for their needs, forcing them to rely on competing cultural and ideological interpretations within books or the internet for religious support.

A recent study of converts in Leicester, for example, found that 93 per cent of mosques in the region recognised they lacked services for new Muslims, yet only 7 per cent said they were making efforts to address the shortfall.

Many of the young women – the average age of conversion is 27 – are also coming to terms with experiences of discrimination for the first time, despite the only visible difference being a headscarf. Yet few find easy sanctuary within the established Muslim population, with the majority forming their closest bonds with fellow converts rather than born Muslims.

Kevin Brice, author of the Swansea study A Minority Within a Minority, said to be the most comprehensive study of British Muslim converts, added: "White Muslim converts are caught between two increasingly distant camps. Their best relationships remain with other converts, because of their shared experiences, while there is very little difference between the quality of their relationship with other Muslims or non-Muslims.

"My research also found converts came in two types: some are converts of convenience, who adopt the religion because of a life situation such as meeting a Muslim man, although the religion has little discernible impact on their day-to-day lives. For others it is a conversion of conviction where they feel a calling and embrace the religion robustly.

"That's not to say the two are mutually exclusive – sometimes converts start out on their religious path through convenience and become converts of conviction later on."

Another finding revealed by the Leicester study was that despite Western portraits of Islam casting it as oppressive to women, a quarter of female converts were attracted to the religion precisely because of thestatus it affords them.

Some analysts have argued that dizzying social and cultural upheavals in Britain over the past decades have meant that far from adopting an alien way of life, some female Muslim converts are re-embracing certain aspects of mid-20th-century Britain, such as rigid gender demarcation, rather than feeling expected to juggle career and family.

The first established Muslim communities started in Britain in the 1860s, when Yemani sailors and Somali labourers settled around the ports of London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Hull. Many married local women who converted to Islam, often suffering widespread discrimination as a result.

They also acted as a bridge between the two cultures, encouraging understanding among indigenous dwellers and helping to integrate the Muslim community they had joined. Today, there is growing recognition among community leaders that the latest generation of female converts has an equally vital role to play in fostering dialogue between an increasingly secular British majority and a minority religion, as misunderstood as it is vilified.

Kristiane Backer, 45

Television presenter and author, London

I converted to Islam in 1995 after Imran Khan introduced me to the faith. At the time I was a presenter for MTV. I used to have all the trappings of success, yet I felt an inner emptiness and somewhat dissatisfied in my life.

The entertainment industry is very much about "if you've got it, flaunt it", which is the exact opposite to the more inward-oriented spiritual attitude of my new faith. My value system changed and God became the centre point of my life and what I was striving towards.

I recognise some new converts feel isolated but, despite there being even fewer resources when I converted than there are now, it isn't so much an issue I've faced. I've always felt welcomed and embraced by the Muslims I met and developed a circle of friends and teachers. It helps living in London, because there is so much to engage in as part of the Muslim community. Yet, even in the capital you can be stared at on the Tube for wearing a headscarf. I usually don't wear one in the West except when praying. I wear the scarf in front of my heart though!

I always try to explain to people that I've converted to Islam, not to any culture. Suppression of women, honour killings or forced marriages are all cultural aberrations, not Islamic ones. Islam is also about dignity and respect for yourself and your femininity. Even in the dating game, Muslim men are very respectful. Women are cherished as mothers, too – as a Muslim woman you are not expected to do it all."

Amy Sall, 28

Retail assistant, Middlesbrough

I'd say I'm still a bit of a party animal – but I'm also a Muslim. I do go out on the town with the girls and I don't normally wear my headscarf – I know I should do, but I like to do my hair and look nice! I know there are certain clothes I shouldn't wear either, even things that just show off your arms, but I still do. My husband would like me to be a better Muslim – he thinks drinking is evil – so it does cause rows.

I haven't worshipped in a mosque since I got married, I find it intimidating. I worry about doing something wrong; people whispering because they see my blonde hair and blue eyes. Middlesbrough is a difficult place to be a Muslim who isn't Asian – you tend to be treated like an outsider. Once, I was out wearing my headscarf and a local man shouted abuse. It was weird because I'm white and he was white, but all he saw was the scarf, I suppose. It did make me angry. My family were surprisingly fine with me converting, probably because they thought it would rein me in from being a bit wild.

Nicola Penty-Alvarez, 26

Full-time mother, Uxbridge

I was always interested in philosophy and the meaning of life and when I came across Islam it all just clicked. In the space of four or five months I went from going to raves to wearing a headscarf, praying five times a day and generally being quite pious – I did occasionally smoke though.

I felt very welcomed into the Muslim community, but it was a mainly white convert community. My impression of the Asian community in west London was that women felt sidelined and were encouraged to stay at home and look after the men rather than attend mosque. I think this was more a cultural than religious thing, though.

Non-Muslims certainly treat you differently when you're wearing a headscarf – they're less friendly and as a smiley person I found that hard. After a year-and-a-half of being a Muslim I stopped. I remember the moment perfectly. I was in a beautiful mosque in Morocco praying beside an old lady and something just came over me. I thought: 'What the hell am I doing? How have I got into this?' It just suddenly didn't feel right. Needless to say my husband, who was a fellow convert, wasn't impressed. He remained devout and it put a lot of strain on our relationship. We split up, but are on amicable terms now. I'm not really in contact with the Muslim friends I made – we drifted apart.

I don't regret the experience. There is so much that I learnt spiritually that I've kept and I haven't gone back to my hard partying ways.

Donna Tunkara

Warehouse operative, Middlesbrough

I was a bit of a tearaway growing up – drinking, smoking, running away from home and being disrespectful to my parents. I converted 10 years ago because I met a Muslim man but I've probably become more devout than him.

Sometimes, I miss going shopping for clothes to hit the town and then going home and getting ready with my mates, having a laugh. The thing is no one is forcing me not to – it's my choice.

It did come as a shock to my family, who are Christian. They've not rejected me, but they find it difficult to understand. I feel bad because I don't now attend weddings, funerals or christenings because they're often at pubs and clubs and I won't step inside.

There needs to be more resources for women who convert. I know some mosques that won't allow women in. But in the Koran there is an emphasis on women being educated. I've learnt about the religion through my husband's family and books – if you want support you have to look for it. It's taken time to regain an identity I'm comfortable with. Because I'm mixed race and a Muslim ,people don't see me as British – but what's important is that I know who I am.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women--islam-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-convert-6258015.html



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