Hijab wearing Afghani Woman shot Dead in
Fremont SF Bay Area
A Hijab (head
covering) wearing Afghani woman was shot dead in Fremont
in broad daylight at about 3PM.
The motive is not
clear but chillls has gone down the immigrant
community and community at large.
First a
killing
in broad daylight is bad esp in a "safe city"
like Fremont Second, if this was a Hate Crime- ALL
Asian and
Miidle Easteran and NOT JUST Muslim Women are targets.
As Indian Muslim women
as well as many other wear Hijabs plus many
Hindus, Sikhs wear Salwar Punjabi dress- with head covered.
Also It should be
apparent to most people that the hate Crime
perpertrators are really not the most knowlegeable- so they would
easily "mistake" their targets and there have beenn numerous cases of
Indians- sikhs, indus, Muslims etc being targetted.
This was clear
at the Memorial service and also as many calls
and community action to counter this has started taking pace.
Currently the Fremont police Depatmet is still looking into a "person
of interest" who was detained on an unrelaeted charge, following his
arrest close to e scenne of the crime with clothing and a acr
matching eye witnesses description., althiugh its been a few days and
that person has NOT been charged with the shooting crime!
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Nov
13th: Community responds to Attack o Hijab Wearing woman
< style="font-family:
helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">People
who congregated were from all ethnicities. They came
from far away as San Francisco;
like Ms. Lisa who wore a Hijab for the first time, while Paul Singh and
Karnail
Singh regularly wear turbans; Ms. Estella donned on a turban just for
the
event. Others like Ms. Anu Peshawaria of Delhi,
who runs a Legal Aid service in Fremont
came in solidarity for the victim as did hijab wearing Bengalooru-raised Noor Ayesha and her husband Naheed
All these folks were part of the 75 people, who gathered
in
solidarity with a recent shooting victim in Fremont,
who was wearing a Hijab or head covering at the time of her demise
The novel
solidarity
event for the Afghani American victim Ms. Alia Ansari, by
a
group of local organizations and community leaders, who sponsored a "Wear a Hijab/Turban to Work/School
Day" on Monday, November 13th. The
event was also a rallying cry for the people in the community and to
show
support for all people of color and others who have been discriminated
because
of the religion, national origin et
Organizing groups included the Foundation for
Self-Reliance,
American Muslim Alliance and SEMAH, a group that focuses on domestic
violence
prevention to the Muslim community, as well as a host of other groups
and local
community leaders and politicians.
The moment of silence followed by
a release of white doves
was held at Lake Elizabeth
in Central Park, which was the location of
Celebrate
Fremont 50th anniversary recently.
The short speeches, held under umbrellas in rain, was
about
combating racism, prejudice and community
building by educating and creating awareness on cultural sensitive
issues.
Invited speaker Paul Singh said “ We need to let people
know
that we are part of the community. This is our home Whether we wear a
Hijab or Turban, we are (still) part of
the community. And we cannot be separated because of religion While
this ended very bad, her life should not go waste. We
need to give message out, and educate the community about cultural and
religious sensitivity. My message here to all is also to mix with
neighbors and
celebrate Universal Brotherhood for all.” Another attendee Dr. Rakesh
Sharrma agreed, “We have to
educate the community that people have a right to believe and dress
they way
they want to.”
The idea for the event originated
days after Alia Ansari, a
38-year-old Afghan woman from Fremont,
was gunned down Oct.
19 as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up
some of her other children from an elementary school
However, the “Wear a
Hijab/Turban day’ event was not without
controversy, when apparently Afghan Elders- a loose coalition of
respected
members of the afghani community, “closed ranks” and decided that any
public
offering of sympathy and memorials etc would be handled within the
Afghani community
In spite of these concerns, organizers Melanie Gardner,
Reshma Younus and Ms Sundas went ahead with the event as they felt the
message
was bigger than “the feelings of a few conservative Afghani elders”.
The
Afghani community was notable by their absence at the ‘Wear a
Hijab/Turban day’
While, Fremont Police have yet to declare a motive in the
Ansari case, the perception among many in the community including
Indian-Americans is that the shooting had to be a hate crime because
Ansari was
wearing a Hijab, the Muslim head scarf. Many reports have surfaced
where not
just Muslim women but also Sikh men and women and even Sari and Salwar
kameez
clad Indina women have been confronted as have men hailing from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Fremont Polce Chief Craig Steckler, said the crime had not
yet been classified as a Hate Crime, sayng, “ this case is not being
investigated differently rather as a routine case, although thoroughly
and with
full resources at the disposal of Fremont Police department.”
Ms. Anu Natarajan, recently elected to Fremont City Council
spoke passionately about the crime saying, “ We know (that) there are
small
pockets of racism in this area and we have to send a message out that
‘There is
No room for racism. Not Now. Not Ever!
Let’s get rid of ignorance and create awareness and build community”
adding, “The only place anything gets sorted by color is in the laundry
room”
to applause form the attendees.
As
a follow up, Ms. Moina Shaiq, Vice Chair of the Fremont
Human Relation Commission is co-organizing an even in January titled”
“our
Community- We all Belong”, to be held on January 11. 2007, in Fremont.
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