**Family of albino Muslims terrorised after one of them marries a Christian man
**
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:20 PM on 4th August 2012
**A family of albino Muslims are being terrorised by bigots because their daughter married a man from another religion.
****The so-called ‘honour’ retribution has included smashed windows at their Coventry home, vandalised cars and death threats.
**
Now, head of the family Aslam Parvez has made a plea to the culprits to end the hatred.
We’re a good family and have done nothing wrong yet we’re being punished in the name of honour,’ he said.
**Aslam Parvez, 53, blames members of the Muslim community who believe the family have been dishonoured by his daughter’s marriage.
**
**The hate campaign started five months ago when a national magazine published an article on albinos which featured Naseem, who no longer lives in Coventry and has little contact with her family. It revealed how she has married a Christian, goes to church and is expecting her second child with her husband.
**
Mr Parvez says copies of the article were quickly spread maliciously, and were posted on walls near their house and through the doors of Muslim homes in the community.
**
Mr Parvez says he has received numerous death threats and has spent hundreds of pounds installing security cameras around his house.
**
He has now stopped going to mosque and says he may be forced to flee the city with his wife Shameem Akhtar, 55, three sons Mohammed, 17, Haider, 28, Gulam, 30, and daughters Muqadas, 26 and Musarat, 19.
Mr Parvez called the police last week and officers are investigating the issue.
‘We want it to stop now,’ Mr Parvez said in a direct appeal to the culprits. We’ve had enough of all these bad things. We’re not a bad family and have done nothing wrong.
We’re being punished for our daughter’s decision. We just want to live our lives in peace. I’m a good religious man. Look at your own lives before you judge us. I know deep in my heart that I am a good man. God will judge you for what you’ve done to us.’
Mr Parvez was born in Pakistan and moved to Coventry at the age of 10 to join his family. He later met and married his Shameem, who is also an albino. Their six children inherited their parents’ condition, which causes an absence of pigmentation and partial sightedness. Mr Parvez says their condition has meant they have been subjected to ridicule, but recent events have made their lives unbearable.
‘I’ve always had it bad,’ Mr Parvez said. ‘I was called names when I went to school and then when I went to work. You get funny looks in the street but you get used to it. We’ve dealt with discrimination all our lives. This has made us feel 10 times worse.’
A Coventry Police spokesman said they received an allegation from the family on July 20 and are investigating the matter.
Mandy Sanghera, a social worker and Coventry expert in honour violence, is supporting the family.
She said: ‘This family is already vulnerable because of their condition and have clearly been affected by honour violence against them. They don’t deserve it. They need the support of the community not to be alienated by them. I urge those responsible for doing this to stop.’
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
An article by the daughter in question:
**
Life under cover of whiteness**
30 April 2010
Meet Naseem - and you’ve met someone unusual; An Asian woman living with Albinism, her story (in which she flees to Devon seeking safety under cover of whiteness) puts prejudice under scrutiny through the lenses of colour, culture, disability, identity and belonging. Like a photo and its negative, her life-story is an opportunity to look at prejudice through different eyes and to see it again through your own with renewed vividness.
My name’s Naseem. I’m married with a 6 month old baby. I work providing sensory support for people with a visual impairment. It’s a bit like social work for people who are visually impaired. We help people who have a congenital or acquired vision loss and we support people who also have audio impairments. As part of rehabilitation we provide independent living skills, mobility training and signposting.
I always wanted a career, and somebody said “Have you thought of being a rehabilitation officer working with visually impaired people?” So I went and did the training and found there was a lot I could bring to the role, by drawing on my own experience of disability in a positive way. I’ve been doing this work now for 5 years. My visual impairment is a registered eye condition and is a typical aspect of Albinism. If you have the white hair and skin colour elements of Albinism, you usually have the eye condition as well.
Sometimes you can just have Ocular Albinism where it affects the eyes only. It means: you are photophobic (sensitive to light because there is no pigment in the iris, so light is going straight in without being reflected, and all the light is hitting the retina); you have nystigma too (involuntary eye movements) and; very acute short sightedness that can’t be corrected with lenses. People usually say “why can’t you wear glasses?” The answer is I can’t, because the Ocular element of Albinism has to do with the visual pathways controlling the messages to the brain.
I have Oculocutaneous Albinism which affects my hair and skin, as well as my eyes. So in addition to having the visual disorder, I have no pigment in my skin and hair. I was one of 6 children and my parents are from Pakistan. We were brought up in the traditional culture of Pakistani Muslims. My parents are both Albino – that was all to do with arranged marriage; Culturally it was felt it would be better if they were the same. But biologically that wasn’t great for us - because it meant we would all be Albino. It’s a recessive gene and that means both parents have to carry the gene for it to show in the offspring. If both of you have the gene (but aren’t Albino) there’s still a1 in 4 chance that your children will have Albinism, but if you are both Albino and have the same type of Albinism, your children will definitely have some form of Albinism.
When I fill in the ethnic monitoring forms I just put White British - The government won’t be pleased with me I expect! Obviously, when I was pregnant I had to put my ethnic origins down as they had to check for conditions – so in that case I put British Asian with Albinism. I’d rather not have to do these forms. I don’t like to be categorized – there’s no box that says British Asian Albino. Who am I? What am I? I’m just me - just Naseem. I would rather the forms just say ‘How would you describe yourself?’ – and let you write your own words. My parents used to say “You’re Pakistani Asian” and we’d say “No, this is where we were born”. It probably doesn’t matter - it’s probably just me. Although, I know my husband doesn’t like it either– “Why’s that relevant?” he asks. Working within social services I do realize it’s about collecting data, but I do feel it’s irrelevant sometimes. I understand we want to respect people’s backgrounds. But I think if people want to volunteer that information to you that’s OK. Usually, how I explain it to clients is that it’s statistics for government and people say “Oh yeah, it’s another thing government want to collect”. In the context of the report Multi-Ethnic Devon, though, I can see now how the statistics are good ammunition against racism - I didn’t know before that it could be statistics with a purpose.
Where I live now in Devon I don’t get much discrimination. You still get the odd idiot who wants to show off in front of his friends making comments about Albinism. In the Midlands I got the discrimination form all races - the Asian, the Black community the White community. My brothers and sisters still get it because they live in the same area. It was horrible. At a young age you do have an identity crisis and you want to know where you fit in. Growing up I didn’t know where I fitted. It affects your self-esteem and you have to do a lot of soul searching. As you get older and have more positive experiences you begin to find yourself. Being both Asian and Albino it was harder.
My Dad came to the UK when he was very young and my Mum came later for the arranged marriage to him, so, my siblings and I are British-born Asian. I was brought up in the Midlands. I’d say Dad’s probably glad to be here in this country as the climate’s a lot better for his skin and eyes; as an Albino you have to wear factor 50 plus when it’s summer because you have no melamine so no protection against the UV rays. Having Albinism, he’s also got more access to opportunities in this country than in Pakistan: He’s had a chance for education that he probably wouldn’t have had; There’s support finding jobs; Disability benefit if you are struggling.
My Dad’s views are completely different to mine. He was very much of an old school of thought in the traditional Muslim culture. I was born in 1979. I had the mixture of two cultures from going to school and from being in a multicultural society. It was hard growing up with Albinism because you were seen as different and didn’t fit into the Asian community. White people thought you were a bit freaky - wearing the headscarf and full clothing and being white, so you’d get racism and discrimination from both cultures being Albino. It was tough growing up. People didn’t know much about Albinism then.
I’ve been estranged from my parents for 12 years; I didn’t want to have an arranged marriage – I left home when I was 18. I knew what was expected of me by my family by a certain time – marrying a cousin or someone who had been chosen for me. But I just wanted to make something come alive - I didn’t want to be married to someone I didn’t love or who didn’t love me. My parents used to say to us “Who’s going to marry our children? - They’re Albino!” It felt like they were belittling us and devaluing us because of our Albinism. It felt like they were going to marry me off with someone from Pakistan who would feel that that I owed him a favour for marrying me. I didn’t like my parents’ attitudes towards us. It was hard to digest. I still feel it was the right decision to go. It’s been tough. It was something I thought about for a long time before leaving. I don’t have any regrets, apart form losing my family. I had to feel comfortable in my own skin.
I have a double colour disadvantage. It makes me see everyone can be racist. There’s racism in every culture. Asians can be racist against whites or black. Racism is not accepting other culture’s differences. Having two cultures – Albino and Asian I can step out of that and see racism everywhere; But its an individual thing - people don’t have to be racist. It’s just a minority that can make such a big impact.
Racism can isolate you and it creates barriers. Including the protective barriers you place where you don’t want to mix in with other cultures - because of fear of racism. Because of a small minority you feel like tarnishing everyone with the same brush. The impact on me was that I had to leave that environment. I had to leave home and go off and find myself. I was looking for a community where that abuse wouldn’t be that intense – just the rare occasion with that silly person. But that means I don’t have the support of my siblings round me, so you have to sacrifice some things.
I didn’t know where to move to. I just went into a refuge for people fleeing crisis in life. Looking back now it all felt just like madness. When you’re 18 you think you know it all. As you get older you learn, and you toughen up, and realize it doesn’t have to be as bad as it was when you were a child. But at the time I didn’t have any where to go, so I went into a refuge to get the right support – to get re-located and re-housed.
Before coming to Devon I first moved to Yorkshire where I met my husband, and he suggested moving down south because he had connections here from his time at the south west rehabilitation centre as he’s visually impaired too. So I thought, we’ve got nothing to lose. It’s been the best 8 years of my life – I did my training, got my job, got married, and now we have a baby. Devon is very accepting. I feel comfortable being me; People don’t know I’m Asian unless I divulge it, although obviously I have an unusual name.
I don’t have other minority ethnic friends in Devon – I don’t feel the need, as I didn’t really fit into my culture at home. And when I left home I didn’t feel I could mix with the Asian community because I’m always worried my family will catch up with me. You hear horrible things like parents will want to kill children who have left. It used to be a frightening feeling. Now as I get older I think, if they do anything to me they’re going to get themselves into trouble. 5 or 6 years ago I would have been too scared of the consequences to do an interview like this. But that fear has gone. I have lines of communication with my family, but they don’t know where I live.
I think the percentage of Black and Minority Ethnic people in Devon was about 1 or 2 % at the last census. In working with disability I’ve only had 2 or 3 Asian clients in about 5 years. You don’t see very many Black people. I think it’s getting more. When we first came down here there were hardly any at all. I guess the fastest growing group is migrants (Europeans). I’m not surprised to hear it’s mixed heritage families too. I can understand that - my son is dual heritage. Colour shouldn’t matter, but it does. In everyday life it matters because of the way people are treated. Services need to keep mindful of what the person’s saying they need. The trick is to be person-centered and person-led in your approach rather than colour and culture led. There will always be racism of some sort whether against colour or migration. We have to work on accepting each other’s differences. Service providers really have to focus on being person centered in order not to discriminate in the way they provide services.
I do have quite a few friends with albinism, but not here. Just like any other friends, we have a connection – we’re the same. Whilst 1 in 70 people carry the Albino gene, in most populations only 1 in 40,000 people have Oculocutaneous Albinism. I don’t have any Albino friends in Devon – they’re scattered around the country. We met at the Royal National College for visually impaired people. Before that, all I knew were my immediate family and my visual support teacher. It was great to meet other people whom you have this instant connection to. We are a minority. I went to a recent Albinism conference and it was great to see other people with Albinism. All our lives we’ve been told were different. To see other people like me – it’s nice. The conference talked about parenting with Albinism, the genetic side and the visual side. There were lots of new parents with Albino children gathering info about the prospects for their children; Technology helps – especially for studying and you now have the same chances as other children because of IT learning support. You learn to touch type because writing is difficult. Technology gives you the same opportunities and prospects as sighted people. Like if you are totally blind you can get a screen reader that reads your emails and orders your shopping online and helps you maintain your independence. You don’t have to rely on other people any more.
**
I have an Albino friend who dyes her hair and gets a fake tan.** She does it to fit in with the western community and because she likes it. I tint my eyelashes so you can see my features a bit more – so that I don’t just look like a blur. We all do things to make ourselves feel better. I have tried tanning sprays and it looks awful when it comes out streaky. I just have to love the skin I’m in, because it’s hard work to fit into other people’s perceptions of how to look. Just be yourself.
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
the first post is quite a disturbing read. If people want to show their hatred. they should find the daughter and pelt her home with whatever they wanted. Poor parents have already got too much on thier plates.
Second post. even though I do not agree with some of the things she said, but it seems she is doing well for herself.
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
If people want to show their hatred. they should find the daughter and pelt her home with whatever they wanted.
Excuse me, why exactly should anyone be doing this? Isn't this her life and it wl be her who wl be going in her grave, so who are we to pelt her or abuse her for her choices?
I know marrying non-Muslim is not allowed for Muslim women but believe me, there is alot more to Islam than only this aspect. Why don't we go pelt skimpily dressed women or badly behaved men?. We seemingly have this trend of live in relationships in our country now, are you telling me marrying a non-Muslim is worse than that? I seriously don't think so.
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Actually the story was also in the local paper of their home town Coventry. I expect that's where the Daily Mail found it first.
STA, Nomi, are you trying to say the story is somehow not true or 'unreliable?' Why would a (looks like practising) Muslim family make up a story like this showing other Muslims in a bad light, allow themselves to be photographed etc and not complain if the details were not true??
'A Coventry Police spokesman said they received an allegation from the family on July 20 and are investigating the matter.'
So are the police lying as well?? Or are they part of some local conspiracy to make Muslims or perhaps just albino Muslims looks bad??
Seriously try having some sympathy with the family and stop digging your head in the sand.
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Haven’t seen this documentary but it was shown a couple of years back, might be an interesting insight into their lives:
'**Waheed Khan’s touching film focuses on three sufferers of albinism from different families. Haider, 25, is one of six albino siblings, an occurrence so uncommon that it would qualify as a Guinness World Record.
This rarity is the product of two albino parents, matched together out of fear that their condition would leave them without a partner in later life.'**
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Not intelligent enough id say .. about not thinking what the consequences are going to be for her and her family .. and not learning from the past that ppl give hard time with that condition and on top of it .. to make things worse ..marry into a non muslim family .. i d say .. parents are partially to blame for not giving her the proper upbringing in teaching her the ‘Islamic Code of Conduct’ .. and if someone goes and disobeys the ayat of the Qur’aan ..simply these are the consequences..
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Ohh I remember that documentary. I don't understand why people are making such a big deal about her marrying a non Muslim. It's a free country, it's no ones business but hers really. I say good on her for getting away from all those bigots!
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Not intelligent enough id say .. about not thinking what the consequences are going to be for her and her family .. and not learning from the past that ppl give hard time with that condition and on top of it ..
Re: Pakistani albino family terrorised for daughter marrying a Christian
Excuse me, why exactly should anyone be doing this? Isn't this her life and it wl be her who wl be going in her grave, so who are we to pelt her or abuse her for her choices?
I know marrying non-Muslim is not allowed for Muslim women but believe me, there is alot more to Islam than only this aspect. Why don't we go pelt skimpily dressed women or badly behaved men?. We seemingly have this trend of live in relationships in our country now, are you telling me marrying a non-Muslim is worse than that? I seriously don't think so.
Argh.
It was a tongue in cheek comment ZK. Of course there is more to islam than this aspect. :)
