Austrian Family Horror- A case for 'normalisation' of incest?

By Majed Iqbal- "They appeared normal, just like any other family," Guenter Prameiter, who runs a bakery just down the street, said. "They had a swimming pool in the garden. We would hear them [the children] laughing, the three of them," said a third.

These were the comments raised by neighbours describing the Austrian father who kept captive his daughter Elisabeth, now 42, in three windowless underground rooms ever since she disappeared in 1984.

The news of the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter and fathered a hidden incestuous family having seven children with her has left people speechless in the country. Police described the revelations as "one of Austria's all-time worst crimes" and Guenther Platter, the country's Interior Minister, called it "unfathomable".

While we all ponder on the details of the horrors unveiling in the house over the years which have been graphically described in press and Television stations, it is of paramount importance that we all take a step back and evaluate our thoughts and responses on this story.

NEW CAMPAIGN in Rochdale- "Stand for Islam" launched

By Majed Iqbal- A new campaign has been launched in Rochdale which plans to open up discussion and debate over the increasing levels of intolerance currently witnessed throughout Europe against Muslims and their way of life, Islam.



Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched this campaign, titled ‘Stand for Islam' in Rochdale to tackle the various challenges dawning over the Muslim Community. Majeds Blog will be providing exclusive coverage of the whole campaign and the messages being relayed to the Rochdale Muslim Community.

In recent years, especially the last few, have seen many attempts which have mocked Shariah law, equated the Niqab to segregation of British Society, a ban on the Hijab in France, Mosque applications denied in Italy, caricatures of the Prophet of Islam arrogantly published by Danish Media, the British Government trying to threaten islamic grous with bans after being heavily challenged on Foreign Policy in the Muslim World, Dutch MP Geert Wilders calling for the ban of the Quran, and the viable alternative of governance in the Muslim world, the Caliphate (khilafah) heavily attacked as being outdated, irrelevant and a system which demonises minorities, denies womens rights and equated to a dictatorship.

"I'm a Bimbo girl- In a Bimbo World"

By Yasmeen Ahmed- Why couldn't the blonde bimbo add 10 and 7 on a calculator? She couldn't find the 10 key. A bimbo is walking down the street with a pig under her arm. She passes a person who asks, ''Where did you get that?'' The pig says, ''I won her in a raffle''.What are the blonde bimbo's first words after 4 years of college? 'Would you like fries with that?'



'Bimbo' ....a word used to describe an 'attractive, clumsy, easy, airheaded' female. She is often seen as a dumb blonde and bears the brunt of numerous jokes in society (as highlighted above). And a 'bimbo' doesn't have to be blonde, Oh NO!! As long as a woman/girl fits the general description, then she can be classed as 'a bimbo'.

So, is it ok and acceptable to us that women are given this degrading label? And, what if young women out there actually aspire to become 'a bimbo'? It's a very disturbing thought, isn't it?

A new web game named Miss Bimbo was launched in the UK just a couple of months ago. Players taking part in the beauty contest simulation game are challenged to become 'the hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo ever'.

Can Muslims take a joke?

By Maqsood Ahmed and Majed Iqbal- Borat approached a passer-by in a New York street and said in the style of his Kazakh alter ego: "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it." But the target of his joke didn't see the funny side and punched Cohen repeatedly in the face.



This is not the first time Americans failed to get the Borat joke. Two US students who appeared in the Borat movie are suing Sacha Baron Cohen, the architect and player of the notorious Kazakh Borat character claiming they have suffered "mental anguish" after they were filmed making racist and sexist remarks.

Borat aired international reputation after the launch of his film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan' where audiences apparently laughed non-stop as he poked fun at Jews, feminists, gays, blacks, US President George W. Bush's "war of terror", frat boys, evangelicals, Kazakhstan and its neighbour Uzbekistan and included a clip where he goes into a redneck bar and sings "a song from my country, 'Throw the Jew down the well'".

Will Gillani, the New Pakistani PM deliver?

By Majed Iqbal- Tuesday 25th march 2008 saw Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani sworn in as Pakistan's new Prime Minister in the central hall of the Aiwan-e-Sadr by President Pervez Musharraf, making him the country's 25th Prime Minister.

After a turbulent tenure of Musharraf's nearly 9 year rule, the Pakistani nation looked ahead for a new change and a more promising future amidst the sequence of events which had bought the country to standstill over the last couple of months.

Gillani's Political background and family history seemed to have appeased segments of the nation who saw some depth in him. His father Alamdar Hussain Gillani was a signatory to the Pakistan Resolution, the 1940 document that laid the ground for the creation of Pakistan. His grandfather Ghulam Mustafa Shah Gillani and paternal uncle Raza Shah Gillani were both MLAs in the 1940s whilst his great-grandfather Raja Bakhsh Gillani was Mayor of Multan in 1921.

Why Tibet has blinded the world to oppression

By Waseem Aslam- "During the torture, one of the Chinese guards pointed his finger at me and said, ‘We will castrate the inferior masculinity of your turban-heads and prostitute your girls. What can you turban-heads do to our great Chinese nation? With our spit, you will all drown.' Then, they used electric clubs to knock me down again and again."

That is one man's story of everyday life under Chinese rule - a story of oppression, incarceration and even death. China has been accused of cultural and ethnic cleansing. We are reminded of its atrocious human rights record on a frequent basis.

Yet in spite of its record, countries and companies continue to chase the Yuan in a bid to take advantage of cheap manufacturing costs and the untapped market for Western products. Nevertheless, there is something about China that makes the average Joe Bloggs feel somewhat uneasy.