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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