CNN should first at least mention a Pakistani kid who was murdered in USA ..
Well to be honest they have done that too.
Thousands attend funeral prayer service for Pakistani girl killed in Texas shooting
"I want to learn the American culture, and I want America to learn the Pakistan culture, and I want us to come together and unite," she told her hosts.
by Suzanne Gamboa and Phil McCausland / May.20.2018 / 8:48 PM ET / Updated May.21.2018 / 10:20 AM ET
Nasir Shenwari, center, holding his daughter Aunza, grieves as the casket of Santa Fe High School shooting victim Sabika Sheikh, 17, leaves after a funeral service Sunday in Stafford, Texas.Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images
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STAFFORD, Texas — Sabika Sheikh was a world away from close family when a
gunman shot and killed her and nine other people at Santa Fe High School last week.
On Sunday, thousands turned out at a Houston-area mosque to briefly take part in a traditional Muslim funeral prayer for Sabika, 17, an exchange student, and to send their "sister" home to Pakistan.
"This is a tragedy that has touched every heart, every soul throughout this land and Pakistan," said Aisha Farooqui, consul general of the Pakistani consulate in Houston.
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Community comes together after Texas high school shooting
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town became the latest to lose children and teachers in a school shooting.
"Each and every day, many people are being born, and each and every day many people die," Imam Taquir Shaikh said at Sabireen mosque. "God says — almighty Allah — this is to test us to see who among us has the best conduct."
The service, organized by the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, was opened to all so the public could serve as the family that isn't with Sabika now.
Sabika was just a few weeks from returning home to Karachi, Pakistan, when the gunman opened fire on her classroom.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, is facing capital murder charges in the shootings. Police say he was armed with a shotgun and a revolver that belonged to his father.
Abdul Aziz Sheikh, the father of Sabika Sheikh, a victim of a shooting at a Texas high school, shows a picture of his daughter Saturday in Karachi, Pakistan.Fareed Khan / AP
Mourners, many from the Pakistani community in the area but also from other cultures and faiths, filled the main prayer hall and another prayer area for women at the mosque.
Others packed onto a covered patio where prayer rugs had been placed, and the service could be seen on televisions. An estimated 3,000 mourners, who came out despite despite the afternoon heat and humidity, spilled onto the adjoining playground and lawn.
In the Muslim tradition, Sabika's body was briefly brought to the mosque at Brand Lane Islamic Center for the janazah, a funeral prayer.
The prayer was said for her but also for "everyone suffering," Shaikh said. The names of each of the 10 victims also were recited.
The Cogburn family, which had hosted Sabika, attended the service and told mourners of the loving young girl who had embraced American culture and taught them so much about her own that they had been fasting for Ramadan — the month of fasting practiced by Muslims — with her.
Jason Cogburn, right, speaks as his wife, Joleen, left, and daughter, Jaelyn, far left, listen during a funeral for Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh, who was killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting, during a service Sunday at the Brand Lane Islamic Center in Stafford, Texas.David J. Phillip / AP
Jaelyn Cogburn, 15, said that she had bonded with Sabika, who lived with her family in Santa Fe, because, like her, she knew few people at Santa Fe High School. Jaelyn had just begun her first year at public school after having being home-schooled.
Jaelyn told the mourners that the two had grown close and that on a recent night she was crying while driving because she knew Sabika would be returning to Pakistan.
"She leaned in and said, 'I love you and I miss you.' Even though we were always together, I don't know why she said she'd miss me," Jaelyn said through tears.
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Santa Fe, Texas, shooting underscores how Americans no longer feel safe
Joleen Cogburn, Jaelyn's mother, wore a crimson embroidered shawl covering her hair and head, which Sabika had given her on Mother's Day, she said, as she became increasingly choked up.
Cogburn said Sabika once told her: "I want to learn the American culture, and I want America to learn the Pakistan culture, and I want us to come together and unite."
Sabika brought love with her, said Joleen Cogburn's husband, Jason, who added that the family would "carry on that tradition of love that she brought from Pakistan."
"The root of our issue is love, because when people love each other, these kinds of things don't happen," Jason Cogburn said.
Cross for Texas shooting victim Sabika Sheikh put out by Crosses for Losses at Santa Fe High School.
Back at the school, members of a charity called
Crosses for Losses planted 10 white crosses on the campus for the 10 shooting victims, including one for Sheikh, although she was a Muslim.
Earlier Sunday, nine seniors walked down the aisle at Arcadia Baptist Church wearing their graduation gowns and mortar boards as "Pomp and Circumstance" played over the sound system.
The service, attended by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, was supposed to have recognized seniors in the congregation, but the focus shifted to the classmates and teachers who were killed.
Interim pastor Jerl Watkins told the congregation that the teaching of Christ was "that as long as we live on this Earth, we are going to have trouble, we are going to face tragedy, but if a person is in Christ, then he can have a peace in spite of the tragedies."
Santa Fe High School graduates bow their heads in prayer during a baccalaureate service Sunday in Santa Fe, Texas.David J. Phillip / AP
"We live in a fallen, sinful world, and therefore no matter who we are, no matter how good we are and how bad we are, we are going to have problems," he said. "We are going to suffer and be affected by the sins in this world."
Suzanne Gamboa reported from Stafford, Texas, and Phil McCausland from New York.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-...-pakistani-girl-killed-texas-shooting-n875886
School shooting victim's mission was to promote 'mutual understanding'
By Sophia Saifi, CNN
Updated 9:01 AM ET, Mon May 21, 2018
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<img alt="Exchange student Sabika Sheikh was a victim of the May 18 shooting at Santa Fe High School." class="media__image" src="//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180519105043-02-sante-fe-school-shooting-victim-sabika-sheikh-large-169.jpg">
Exchange student Sabika Sheikh was a victim of the May 18 shooting at Santa Fe High School.
Karachi, Pakistan (CNN)In Pakistan's bustling port city of Karachi, a family is in mourning.
On Friday, thousands of miles away in Texas, the eldest child of the house, 17- year-old exchange student Sabika Sheikh
was one of 10 people killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting.
Ten months ago, Sabika had received a scholarship to visit the United States on a program funded by the State Department -- an initiative called the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program.
One of the aims of YES is to create youth ambassadors to foster "mutual understanding and respect" between the United States and countries with significant Muslim populations.
<img alt="Two Pakistani girls shot; two different responses. For some, that reeks of hypocrisy" class="media__image" src="//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180520121619-sabika-malala-split-large-169.jpg">
Two Pakistani girls shot; two different responses. For some, that reeks of hypocrisy
Sabika's joy at being shortlisted for the program is obvious in the video that she uploaded to Youtube. She sits in her room, wide-eyed and excited, saying that she was "over the moon" and "jumping like a madman"when she found out about her place on the shortlist. The pride on her parent's faces is what made her call it "the best moment" of her life.
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Now Sabika will never return to her home. She was among the 10 who died when police say 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis opened fire Friday on staff and students at Santa Fe High School. Pagourtzis is being held on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant.
Her father, Aziz Sheikh, told CNN that his daughter "loved to read," that she enjoyed studying US history "to learn from the best," and that she wanted to grow up to become a diplomat to "make Pakistan proud."
Her bookshelf is stuffed with Roald Dahl stories and copies of Khaled Hosseini's books. Her diary lies untouched on her desk along with the scrapbook in which she doodled favorite quotes. Sabika's sister pulls out the teenager's favorite things, including a piece of paper on which Sabika has written in purple pen, "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
Ramadan in Pakistan is a festive month of fasting and feasting. Aziz Sheikh had tuned in to CNN soon after breaking the day's fast. That was when he found out that it was his daughter's school that was the scene of a shooting. He called his daughter, her friends and her host family -- who then went to the hospital.
Close to three hours later, the host family called him back and he only heard tears on the other end. "I asked them to .... I asked them clearly to tell me ... how is she?" he said. "They replied and said ... 'She is dead. She is gone.' "
Extremism 'not limited to one nation'
<img alt="Sabika Sheikh with classmates at her school in Pakistan. The 17-year-old won an award for creative writing. " class="media__image" src="//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180520153638-01-sabika-sheikh-large-169.jpeg">
Sabika Sheikh with classmates at her school in Pakistan. The 17-year-old won an award for creative writing.
While Sabika's father spoke to reporters downstairs, upstairs her mother was too grief-stricken to meet anyone.
She agreed to speak to CNN on condition of not being photographed. "Sabika became my friend, she would tell me that many of the kids at her school were lonely," Farha Aziz Sheikh said.
"There had been a suicide earlier in the student community and that had really shaken Sabika, I didn't think that I would lose my child so far away ... I never thought."
<img alt="These are the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting" class="media__image" src="//cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180519134705-santa-fe-tx-school-shooting-survivors-vigil-invs-large-169.jpg">
These are the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting
There has been outpouring of condolences from the US Embassy and the State Department. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi visited the family and released a statement saying that "extremist activities are not limited to one nation or region alone. They are an international problem."
When asked about gun control and the ongoing investigation into the reasons behind the attack, Aziz Sheikh said he "doesn't care, I haven't touched this topic, I am focused on my Sabika, on bringing her home to Pakistan."
Sabika hadn't been home in 10 months, she was due to fly back in time for the Muslim festival of Eid and had been keeping a countdown with her mother "just 19 more days days mama!" she had said when last hanging up the phone.
She was fasting on the day that she was killed.
After a service in Texas, the teenager's body will arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday. She will be buried on the same day.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/20/asia/santa-fe-high-school-pakistan/index.html