By M.R.
Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan studying in the US through a program funded by the State Department was killed in a school shooting at Santa Fe, Texas on Friday, 18th May.
With less than a month until going home to her friends and family, Sabika Sheikh, a YES exchange student from Pakistan, was killed in the #SantaFeHighSchool shooting. If this had happened to me when I was on YES in Jordan it would be “terrorism”-why is it different when it’s here pic.twitter.com/CeozGAVSRN
— Ariel Russell (@russ_ari) May 18, 2018
Houston’s Muslim community gathered at an Islamic Center in Texas to honour the 17 year old killed in a mass shooting.
The funeral service was fully packed with people of Texas including officials of the Pakistani Consulate in Houston, local members of the United States Congress, members of the Pakistani diaspora and students of Santa Fe High School.
The young woman, with a bright future ahead of herself, was described by her family as an excellent student who had dreamed of working for Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry later in her life.
She was due to return to Karachi just in time for Eid Ul Fitr after spending the holy month of Ramadan in the United States.
Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, tweeted, “She’s a child of the Sheikh family but she is also one of our children, including all who lost their lives.”
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
Congressman AL Green presented the US flag as a mark of honor for Sabika and her family from the US House of Representatives.
Tributes poured in from @SylvesterTurner @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepAlGreen
From Mayor Stafford and Jason family hosts of Sabika in Santa Fe pic.twitter.com/o3CnqY3kBZ— consul general pak (@pkconsulhouston) May 20, 2018
Towards the end of the funeral service, Turner said, “At the end of the day, we are all one. We may be of different faiths and nationalities, but we all bleed the same color. We all bleed red.”
Even through her death, she will be a diplomat bringing together people. She was one of our children as well as all the other children who lost their lives in the #SantaFeHighSchool shooting.-@SylvesterTurner pic.twitter.com/eLjxlNZIh2
— Jeff Syptak (@JeffSyptak) May 20, 2018
The body was originally slated for arrival in Karachi early Tuesday morning via a foreign airline, but bad weather conditions have forced a delay of two hours at the Houston airport.
