Iftikhar Ahmed embraced Western culture until his marriage to Farzana, his ex-wife said.
Iftikhar and Farzana were jailed for life for the murder of their daughter Shafilea in Warrington in 2003, after a jury heard she brought them shame.
Vivi Lone Andersen said Iftikhar was “a very happy boy” who enjoyed dancing, drinking beer and going to discos when he lived with her in Denmark.
She said his personality changed around his Pakistani relatives.
Ms Anderson, who is Danish, married Iftikhar in 1982 in Copenhagen and they had a son, Tony Andersen.
The couple lived in Denmark until 1986, when he received a letter from family in Pakistan and told his wife he had to go home as his mother was unwell.
‘Deep trouble’
After several months in Pakistan, Iftikhar asked Ms Anderson to join him in Bradford with their son to start a new life.
When she arrived, a heavily pregnant woman, whom Iftikhar introduced as his cousin Farzana, was also living in the house.
Ms Andersen said Iftikhar enjoyed Western culture before marrying in Pakistan
It was only when a health visitor went to the house that Iftikhar admitted that Farzana’s baby was his and that he had married her in Pakistan.
He told his wife that he and Farzana had been promised to each other when they were children.
Ms Andersen left the UK the same month she had arrived and recalls conversations with Iftikhar in which he said he could leave his son to grow up without his influence because he was a boy.
He said, if they had had a girl, he would not be able to allow her to grow up “without his guidance in the Islamic ways”.
Ms Andersen said Iftikhar changed when relatives from Pakistan visited them, and he told her he felt forced to marry Farzana after she threatened to kill herself if he did not.
“He explained to me that if he had not married her, she did not want to marry anyone else but him,” Ms Andersen said.
“She would kill herself if he didn’t marry her in Pakistan, and then he did it.”
Ms Andersen said she was married to Iftikhar for five years, but left him after learning he had married Farzana, adding: “Farzana was pregnant at that time so he was in deep trouble and he knew that if I went to the British police, which I could have easily done, he would have been thrown out.
“I don’t know the rules in Britain about having two wives because we were still married at that time.”
Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana, 49, went on to have three daughters and a son. Shafilea went missing in 2003 and her body was found in February 2004.
The couple had denied her murder but the jury at Chester Crown Court returned guilty verdicts against them both.
via BBC News – Shafilea Ahmed’s father had ‘embraced Western culture’.
Honour killing and female infanticide come from Pagan-Hindu-Judeo-Christian traditions. Hindus idolise women as Goddesses on one hand, while downgrading them on the sly at the same time. There is nothing in the Holy Quran and the Hadiths that may encourage people to kill their daughters. Infact, Islam came to abolish the dark ages of Pagan- Hindu –Judeo- Christian traditions. Islam is a matter of choice and there is no compulsion at all. It is a misconception that forced marriage and honour killing are part of Muslim culture. Forced marriage, honour killing and genital mutilation are rare practices among migrant communities. Muslim migrants are worried about institutional racism, binge drinking, drug addiction, incivility, gun and knife crimes, high rate of abortions and teen age pregnancies. An average of 20 English girls under the age of 16 falls pregnant every day. Muslim parents do not want their children to be integrated into such barbarity. Muslim women feel torn between two cultures, thanks to the British education system with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. It makes their lives very confusing.
The tragedy of forced marriage and honour killing could have been avoided if the poor girls were educated in a single sex state funded Muslim schools by female Muslim teachers. Educational attainment rises quite significantly if boys and girls are educated separately. The tragedies are an eye opener for all those Muslim parents who send their children to state schools where they are exposed to non-Muslim teachers who have no respect for Islamic faith and Muslim community and do not understand the needs and demands of the Muslim children. Muslim schools are crucial for Muslim children because western education makes a man/woman stupid. The hypocrisy of the Western society is clearly seen whereas an Australian Judge failed to jail nine males who admitted gang-raping a 10-year old aborigine girl in 2005, saying the victim probably agreed to have sex with them and a UNICEF Photo of the year shows, a bridegroom, 40, with his 11-year old bride in Afghanistan. In my opinion, a UNICEF photo of the year must show a nine year British girl having a baby and another photo showing a gang of teenage girls with anti-social behaviour and vomiting out side a pub, thanks to binge drinking. Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. Muslim schools are the solutions and not a problem. They help to strengthen community cohesion, not undermine it. Muslim schools stand as shining beacons of light, serving as one of the most crucial factors which protect Muslim children from the onslaught of Eurocentricism, homosexuality, racism and secular values and traditions. They need to be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time they need to be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Muslim schools are not only faith schools but also bilingual schools. Infact, bilingualism is an asset and not a problem as perceived by the British education system. There is a positive co-relation between language and culture. English language is associated with western culture.
The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to Muslim schools but there are not enough schools to go by. The only alternative left is either British Government should introduce voucher system for parents to choose the school of their choice or designate all those state schools as Muslim community schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslims are in majority. Such schools may be handed over to Muslim educational Trusts or charities for their management. They are in a better position to educate Muslim children in accordance with their needs and demands. This demand is in accordance with the law of the land because there are state schools already managed by private companies. Muslim community is not asking for a favour. It is their legal right.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk