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Saturday 21 November 2009

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We are up against 20 years of planning

04 July 2007

Saira Khan recalls the moment she met relatives in  the hijab for the first time and one of them told her:  ‘We are not British, we are Muslim

In July 1989 I had an experience that scared and alienated me, but also made me realise who I was and, more importantly, who I was not — and would never be.

I was 18 and in my first year at Brighton University, where I was studying for a BA in Humanities. I was meeting new people — people of different religions, cultures, ages, sexual orientation, experiences and interests. I was growing up, realising for the first time that there was a world other than the one my parents talked about constantly — the world of Long Eaton (where I lived) and Pakistan. I was discovering that I had a lot more in common with British non-Muslims than I had hitherto realised.

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