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Underwear ads hurt Muslim sentiments in Bradford

By Shyam Bhatia in London
March 18, 2004 17:07 IST

Muslims in a British city are concerned over advertisements featuring women's bottoms.

'Velvet' toilet paper that urges consumers to 'love your bum', and G-string and bikini bottom billboards have provoked an outcry in Bradford, home to thousands of Muslims originating from Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

An independent body should regulate the content of advertisements to go on billboards, Bradford Council of Mosques President Sher Azam said in a statement.

"It is not because they are near mosques and it is not just the Muslim community which is offended," Azam said. "They are degrading to women wherever they are located and it is sad in this day and age to find we have come so low.

"People should complain; they should not turn a blind eye."

Azam's statement follows damage caused to a billboard close to a Bradford mosque that featured G-strings on four women's bottoms. Anonymous protestors have also slashed another billboard elsewhere in the city that advertises women's underwear.

The campaign against advertisements that offend family values started four years ago when angry Bradford residents slapped paint across a bra advertisement featuring tennis pinup star Anna Kournikova.

A spokeswoman for the UK's Advertising Standards Authority confirmed that a complaint about underwear advertisements had been received from the Bradford area, but pointed out that what might be seen as offensive by a specific community did not necessarily apply to the general public.

She said those who are offended should get in touch with the owners of the site, who usually respond positively to any complaints.

The spokeswoman confirmed complaints had also been received about the G-string advertisement, but said, "We did not find it offensive.

"Some people have complained that the ad might not be suitable for children, but again we did not think that was a problem."

Shyam Bhatia in London

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