Here’s what’s happening across the border: Pakistan gets its first Sikh female reporter; a PML-F leader raises a shoe at the deputy speaker during Sindh assembly session
Pakistani girl killed in Texas shooting was an exchange student
Sabika Sheikh, 17, was one of the 10 people killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas that took place Friday.
Sheikh was an exchange student from Pakistan in association with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme. She was in the US since August 2017 and was supposed to return to Karachi on 9 June and celebrate Eid with her family.
The shooting occurred Friday morning when a 17-year-old boy, identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis by the police, opened fire at the school, killing 10 people including students and teachers.
Sheikh’s father Abdul Aziz told the Express Tribune that they were waiting to throw her a grand welcome in 20 days. Aziz was informed a few hours after the shooting occurred and he attempted to call his daughter immediately.
“At such a young age she would say such huge things, that sometimes I couldn’t believe it. Even now I cannot believe that my daughter is gone,” he told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan’s first Sikh female reporter accepted the job to be an example
Manmeet Kaur became the first Sikh woman news reporter when a newly launched private TV channel called ‘Hum News’ employed her last Saturday.
The 24-year-old is a resident of Peshawar and has a master’s degree in sciences from Peshawar University. She will be reporting on human rights issues, and will focus on minorities, local communities and NGOs.
However, Kaur hadn’t always planned to enter the field of media. She told Pakistani media that she accepted the job to prove herself and encourage others.
“In our country (Pakistan), most of the Sikh girls prefer to sit at homes after completing their formal education…I want to serve my country as a journalist and want to show the world that we [Sikh women] are also talented.” she said.
PML-F MPA raises a shoe at deputy speaker in Sindh assembly
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), Nusrat Seher Abbasi took off her shoe during Sindh assembly session Saturday and raised it at the deputy speaker Shehla Raza. Abbasi was then banned from attending the session further.
Raza also told the media, “Abbasi has issues and she has proven that she is not worthy of sitting in this assembly.”
However Abbasi claimed that she raised her shoe in anger after provincial minister Mumtaz Jakhrani passed an inappropriate comment at her. Abbasi also told ‘Geo News’ this would show male MPAs that if they misbehave with women again, the shoe will be hit on their heads.
Many MPAs came forward to condemn the incident. Pakistan Peoples Party leader Manzoor Wassan said, “The world is watching what is happening in the assembly…By raising a shoe, Abbasi has disrespected the assembly.”
Ramzan cricket tournaments kick off in Karachi
With the beginning of the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, Karachi is carrying out its tradition of holding various kinds of Ramzan cricket tournaments.
Even though the mercury has hit a scorching 42 Celsius in the city, with load-shedding and power cuts, none of it has seemed to tamper with Karachi’s craze for cricket. This year many Ramzan cricket tournaments are taking place in different stadiums across Karachi including Moin Khan Cricket Academy, Aga Khan Gymkhana, Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium, Naya Nazimabad Ground and Karachi Gymkhana. Besides these, around 20-small-level tournaments are also being conducted on the streets.
At least 1,500 cricketers participate in these tournaments from across the country and the average earning from these tournaments amount up to Rs 1,50,000 per cricketer. The festivity of Ramzan cricket has become an industry of millions of rupees.