quote: "forced to drink wine".
yes, I read this, can't remember where.
quote: "The father who was campaigning for custody sent her to a madrassa run by a man who boasts he has met Osama Bin Laden 'over 100 times'. Khalid Khawaja fought with OBL in Afghanistan during the battle against the Russians. He organised a press conference in Pakistan for her. He says she failed to appear in court because she wanted to be with him."
Meeting OBL over a hundred times, or fighting with him would have been considered an honur in the days of the Afghan reistance to the Soviets. Why then should this be someting to be concerned about.
quote: "She was interviewed wearing a burkah although her father has been careful to make sure all pictures have featured her wearing a headscarf. Khawaja told the Guardian Misbah had left her father to live with him. He now says her father turned up at 2am yesterday to take her back because he feared negative publicity."
She has taken to the burqa. Well and good. Others have taken to the veil, but not the all-enveloping burqa, and yet others have donned the hijab. Why should this cause concern?
quote: "Misbah has spoken at a protest rally organised by Khawaja. Khawaja said she did not want to go back to 'that dirty society' ie Scotland. Khawaja was one of the last people to see Daniel Pearl, the US journalist butchered by terrorists."
Again, being the last reported person to have seen Pearl deoes not mean he should be shunned. There was an investigation, resulting in a case and conviction. Khwaja is out, so obviously he was not involved in Pearl's murder.
quote: "Looks like at least two grown men are using this 12 year old to gain publicity and make political points. One of them her own father, the man who has painted himself in such a positive light. This isn't the clear cut case the father managed to present. It's a very murky story of adults exploiting a little girl."
On the contrary, Islamic girl's schools are not used for publicity. The publicity seeker is the mother's counsel, Ms Naheeda Mahboob Elahi.
There was a report that the Hafsa Madrassa alBanat is a terrorist madrassa. This is simply laughable. This madrassa is right at the center of Islamabad, and the Pak government would not tolerate such a madrassa there. Its writ runs larger than that of Kabul and Baghdad, you can bet.
quote: "I know that under Pakistani tradition she may well be considered of mariagable age"
really, under Pakistani tradition! In all my visits to Pakistan, I have never met anyone who was married at that age. There have been reports of rural and very tribal places where such things happen, but so rarely that this cannot be labeled as tradition.
Mr Khwaja is well-known activist in Pakistan. If there were anything suspicious about him, the Pakistani Government would have sent him off to Guantamao.
All the accusations lead to my understanding that Mr Rana agrees with Mr Khwaja, and his daughter wants to be sducated in taht madrassa. Nothing wrong there.