‘Your loved one is not forgotten’, US activist groups extend condolences for Sabika Sheikh

 

KARACHI: Multiple organisations have condemned the latest horrific shooting rampage that left 10 — including 17-year-old, Karachi-born exchange student Sabika Sheikh — dead in Santa Fe, Texas on Friday.

A resident of Karachi's Gulshan-e-Iqbal locality, Sheikh was the eldest of three sisters. She was studying in the United States under the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme since August 21, 2017, and was due to return home next month.

In a joint statement, sent to this correspondent, the Spring Interfaith Dialogue Council (SIDC) and the An-Nisa Hope Center (ANHC) offered condolences to the families directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy and condemned “the menace of gun violence and murder in our schools [that] came to plague innocent students and teachers at a school close to home”.

Sabika ‘will be missed dearly’

Set up in 2009, the ANHC offers support and resources to victims of domestic abuse and women's rights. The SIDC, on the other hand, comprises people from the Spring community and surrounding areas who meet regularly to promote discussion on understanding diverse faith communities.

“We pray for healing and comfort for those who are recovering from their injuries,” the statement read.

“While mere words cannot bring back a loved one, please know that we stand with you in solidarity and will continue to work to end the prevalence of gun violence in our schools,” it added.

With regard to Sabika, the organisations wrote that the teenage student “will be missed dearly, especially as Muslims are currently observing the holy month of Ramazan, We will hold her memory close and ensure her legacy lives on in Houston. Her family will always have a place for them here if they ever plan on visiting.”

"May God grant everyone the strength to get through this unimaginable tragedy. Your loved one is not forgotten," the statement added.

Both organisations vowed to stay driven in their work, alongside similar groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, to oppose nonsensical gun-related laws and in efforts to make the US a safer, non-violence state.

‘Deep sorrow’

Further, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America also joined the SIDC and the ANHC in expressing outrage at the latest incidence of gun violence in the US.

“The statewide members of the Texas chapter (and all local chapters) of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America” expressed their “deep sorrow at the school shooting that claimed ten lives in Santa Fe, Texas”, their statement read.

“We stand with the families of all victims and the survivors of this tragedy. We also commit ourselves to continuing our grassroots fight to end the gun violence epidemic in America”.

Formed in 2012 after the dreadful Sandy Hook shooting, Moms Demand Action has chapters in all 50 US states and works for gun-related legislation at local, state and national levels.

The group noted that it was unacceptable for public places to be subjected to such despicable acts due to the inaction of lawmakers and government officials.

“The places we send our children for education, worship, and entertainment should not become places of fear because our lawmakers have, for too long, refused to act,” their statement read.

Moms Demand Action pledged to continue their work, “to advocate, to march in the streets, to sit as stakeholders, and to engage lawmakers at every turn- to end gun violence”

“We will not stop until our schools, our streets, our workplaces, our places of worship, and our state and country are safe from gun violence,” they added.

‘So much love for Sabika’

Sabika's funeral prayers were offered at a local mosque in Sugar Land on Sunday after Namaz-e-Zuhr, with hundreds of people — including grief-stricken families of southwestern Texas — gathered together to mourn the deceased.

Speaking to Geo.tv, Afshan Jilani, a Pakistan-born human resource professional who attended Sabika’s funeral, said: "The janaza [funeral] was packed. Over 2000 attending, host family had us in tears […] so much love for Sabika."

The community was still processing "the shock and sadness on the killing of the Pakistani exchange student", said Jilani, who has been living in Houston, Texas since the past 25 years. "The interfaith community has stepped up and offered help in any possible way," she added.

Among the attendees present to pay their respects to Sabika were Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al Green, Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman, Consul-General Aisha Farooqui, members of the Pakistani diaspora, and students of Santa Fe High School.

Gun rampages becoming rampant

17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the gunman, was armed with a shotgun and a revolver. He was arrested on murder charges and was being held on capital murder charges, meaning that he could face the death penalty.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo expressed frustration with the latest shooting — the 22nd such incident in the US this year. Taking to social media after the Santa Fe incident, he wrote: “I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do.

“This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).”

The shooting becomes the latest in a long series of deadly ones at US schools. 17 teens and educators were shot dead at a Parkland, Florida high school in February 2018 — a massacre that stirred the nation’s long-running debate over gun ownership.

Responding to the latest one, however, US President Donald Trump said: “My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.”

Days after the Parkland shooting, Trump had said the elected officials should be ready to “fight” the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) lobby group. Early this month, he went on to embrace the NRA, telling its annual meeting in Dallas “your Second Amendment rights are under siege”.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right to bear arms. No major federal gun controls have been imposed since the Parkland tragedy.