HOUSTON: Funeral prayers for Sabika Sheikh, the Pakistani exchange student who was killed during an attack on Santa Fe High School in Houston, Texas, were held after Zuhr prayers in a local mosque in Houston on Sunday.
The Pakistani Consulate in Houston organised the funeral at Sugar Land’s Masjid Sabireen, and is separate from the funeral that will be held in Karachi and that will be attended by Sabika’s family and friends.
Members of the Pakistani consulate, local members of Congress, and many from the Pakistani diaspora attended the funeral to honour the deceased.
Sabika was on an exchange program to study in the United States, and was due to go home at Eid. Fate, however, had other plans when 17-year old Dimitrios Pagourtzis attacked the school on the morning of 18th may, and killed ten people, including the bright Sabika.
The funeral was marked by inter-faith harmony and a sense of companionship that has in recent years eluded America’s social landscape as xenophobia and racism have gripped the world’s largest economy.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also attended the funeral, and took to Twitter to remember Sabika.
I am grateful to Pakistan consul general Aisha Farooqui for inviting me to the solemn observance of the death of #SabikaSheikh
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) May 20, 2018
She’s a child of the Sheikh family but she is also one of our children, including all who lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/ILP8jj5feu
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) May 20, 2018
Other attendees included Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al Green, Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman, former Pakistani minister Babar Ghauri, Houston-Karachi Sister City Association President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, Shamim Siddiqui, as well as Consul-General Aisha Farooqui.
Ms. Farooqui also spoke after the funeral and informed the media that Sheikh’s body would now be flown to Karachi, where her mourning family awaits.
Sabika’s cousin Shaheera is travelling to Pakistan with the body, which was due to arrive in Karachi Tuesday morning but was delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
Sabika hailed from Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and was studying in the US as part of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program since the 21st of August 21 of last year.
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