A 24-year-old British Muslim woman, who hopes to become the first person from the community to represent the U.K. at the Miss Universe contest, has received death threats from those who claim that she is denigrating the name of Islam, a media report said on Sunday.
Shanna Bukhari was subjected to a tide of online hate messages after entering the qualifying rounds for choosing Britain's Miss Universe candidate, according to a report in The Guardian .
Now she fears her life could be in danger. She has contacted a private security firm to protect her. “I have felt fear for my life,” Ms. Bukhari said.
The threats on the Manchester-based English literature graduate began after a local newspaper ran an article 10 days ago revealing her ambition to become the first Muslim to represent the U.K. at the beauty contest.
The censure has come from various quarters, ranging from Muslims who claim that she is denigrating the name of Islam, to white supremacists who say that an Asian cannot represent the U.K, and to women who condemn beauty pageants as an affront to feminism, the newspaper reported.
Since then, she has received around 300 messages a day on her Facebook page, a handful of which are abusive. The attacks escalated last week when Ms. Bukhari received her first death threat.
Negative comments
Most of the negative comments have come from a minority of Muslim men. One Facebook message calls her a “dirty Muslim” and asks why she is representing Britain “when you don't even belong here.”
“I get people saying, ‘you're not a Muslim' and ‘you're using religion to get attention.' I said they were the ones bringing religion into it. I'm not representing Islam; I just want to represent my country, and of that I am very proud. They are trying to control me, using religion as a tool to attack.”
Ms. Bukhari accuses her abusers of having the same sort of mindset as those who support “honour” killings and beat women.
Many of the comments are, she says, from individuals who want sharia law instead of a liberal democracy.
She fears that Britain's Miss Universe finals in Birmingham in May will also be a target: “It worries me that haters will turn up. I know what they are capable of.”
