Something About Molly... or is it Misbah?

What a revelation Misbah Rana (aka Molly Campbell) turned out to be. News of the 12-year-old's 'abduction' to Pakistan to be forced into an arranged marriage broke just over a week ago. Her distraught white mother was in the press, fearful for the daughter supposedly spirited away to her ex-husband to Pakistan, seeming to confirm all that the British public fears about the contrariness of all things Pakistan to civilised British way of life in the current world order. The arranged marriage scaremongering drew gasps... even in me, when one is talking of a twelve-year-old. But things moved on very quickly; and for once, the other side proved to be as outspoken as this side of the pond. Most eloquent is Misbah herself, who despises the fact that she'd been coerced into joining her nickname, Molly, with her mother's partner's surname - an attempt to obliterate her Pakistani identity. Turns out also, that Misbah left Britain with her older sister, Tahmina, of her own free will. And could such a girl be forced into an arranged marriage? Not with the mouth on this one. Something just tells me the girl's going to be alright. Hear her below... and read more...

Though she looks older than 12, Misbah is a child caught up in an adult mess. Asked if she would miss Scotland, she said: "There was a beach in Stornoway and I always used to go down on my bike. It was massive and really long. I used to take biscuits and juice and it was really pretty. I will miss it but only a wee bit - I only went there to take my mind of stuff at home and missing my family."

Misbah's father says the forced marriage claims were wrong. "I would hope that she will wait till her 20s before she is married. What father would wish for his daughter to be wed at 12?"
At that, the little girl who wants to be a vet piped up: "I'm not getting married - and I'm 12 and a half."

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Meanwhile, the G2 section of the (UK) Guardian of Thursday 31st August listed 10 things you can no longer do if you are a British Muslim:

• Don't wear a big coat
• Don't go on holiday to Pakistan
• Don't have a beard - "The beard is top of the 'Watch out! Muslims about!' charts. We're not talking about designer stubble or a George Clooney five o'clock shadow - we mean scary Bin Laden bumper bum fluff... The beard is not [sic] an essential Islamic feature, yet any Muslim sporting one is instantly seen as radical. And so, brothers (and a few sisters), get your razor out and shave it off!"
• Don't join groups or clubs.
• Don't wear the veil
• Don't live in High Wycombe/Luton/Beeston/Walthamstow.
• Don't be apathetic.
• Don't be a 'community leader'.
• Don't be a sucessful sportsman/woman - "Or, in fact, show any sporting prowess at all. It isn't worth it. A Muslim sports star nowadays carries a burden of representation that black athletes have long since sloughed off. To evade it, there is really only one course of action - wrap yourself in the union flag the way black stars did in the 1980s. Amir Khan must now follow where Daley Thompson trailblazed..." [illuminating, this].
• Don't draw cartoons - "Hold on, I've got that wrong - it was we who were trying to ban this after those crazy Danes drew the Prophet (may peace be upon him) in a series of offensive 'comedy' depictions. But we can all get carried away."