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The incident was immediately juxtaposed against a culture of female degradation, the subtext of which implied Islam was the source of such subjugation. Pakistani journalist Kamila Shamsie was outraged by this insinuation when she was asked to produce a radio show on the issue, exploring 'the culture behind it' and consequently refused.
While Muslims were shocked by case, which clearly contravened the tenets of the Islamic Shariah, they were also concerned by the manner in which the incident was covered. While the case in Pakistan was still being concluded a similar story emerged in Belgium but went virtually unreported. A 37-year-old man was found guilty of having sex with his daughter, aged 11, and then forcing her into prostitution. He was convicted of abusing the girl along with 19 other men in the rural town of Saint Ode, who included the family doctor, a lumberjack, a car repairman and the local shopkeeper. The Belgian judge, more lenient than his Pakistani counterparts, sentenced the guilty to sentences ranging between six months and five years, with some sentences being partially suspended.
The hostile rhetoric of the media has not failed to resonate with politicians either. Islamophobia is becoming increasingly fashionable across Europe's metropolitan centres. Both Jean Marie Le Pen and Pim Fortuyn campaigned on bitter anti-Islamic platforms and enjoyed limited success during recent elections in their respective countries. Similarly, a poster declaring "By the time you retire, Denmark will be a majority-Muslim nation" helped the Danish leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, win a place in the country's ruling coalition.
The climate created by this hostility towards Islam has had a particularly injurious, although hidden, effect on the lives of countless Muslims. Writing in a column for The Guardian, Aisha Khan, highlighted the typical dilemma she faces along with countless other Muslims living in the West. "I am too weak to wear the veil, too scared that doors will close and that opinions will be formed long before friendships are. Islam doesn't oppress me; fear does. I live a half-life, a double-life: not quite a Muslim and not quite a Westerner" she says. She goes on to say, "I have left university and now feel better equipped to cope with irreconcilable differences of being British and Muslim. You can be born and raised in this country, benefit from its education and live freely and comfortably thanks to the solid British economy. But you can also be oppressed. Stay silent when your religion is being lambasted in the press. Look on helplessly when Muslims are being persecuted in their homeland and then watch them being punished by the British Asylum system. Stuff your veil into your handbag because you'll never get that job if you cover your head. Sacrifice prayer times and fasting to keep up with the crowd and stay in with the boss."
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