[Rhodes22-list] Merry, Whatever They Celebrate

[Brad Haslett]

Boys and Girls,  just trying to keep it fair and balanced here.  Before the
holiday season is over we'll have to hear about some poor girl from
Tennessee who was bitten by a poison snake in some celebration.  This is
from an area of Canada that I frequent.  Just another day in PC.  What,  you
didn't see this on Oprah?  I'll call her right now, she'll want to know!
Brad

oronto.ctv.ca

Updated: Tue. Dec. 11 2007 7:06 PM ET

A Mississauga, Ont. teenager was killed in a family dispute over her choice
not to wear traditional Muslim clothing, her friends say.

Aqsa Parvez, 16, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries on
Monday after police said a man claiming to be the girl's father called them
and said he had killed his daughter. Parvez succumbed to her injuries on
Monday night.

The teen, an Applewood Heights Secondary School student, often complained of
her situation at home, her friends told CTV News on Tuesday.

The students said Parvez no longer wanted to wear a hijab, a shoulder-length
head scarf worn by some Muslim women. They also said Parvez would often
change her clothing once she got to school and then would change back before
going home.

"People said her brothers and sisters followed her to see if she was wearing
her headscarf or not," one student said.

Parvez had recently been staying with a friend because of tension at home,
classmates said.

"Her dad was threatening her and she was getting scared and she just didn't
want to live there anymore," another student said.

The victim's father has been charged with murder, while the girl's brother
has been charged with obstructing police.

Police have not commented on a possible motive and are keeping tight-lipped
as to how the teen was attacked.

*Students, staff remember slain teen *

A spokesperson for the Peel District School Board said officials will look
into the situation to see if there's something they can learn to help ease
cultural transitions for students in the future.

"We will want to see what we can learn from this," Sylvia Link, the board's
manager of communications told CTV.ca. "If there is anything that we can
learn from this incident that will prevent it from happening in the future,
we'll do what we can to keep our students safe."

Link said the board already helps students learn about other cultures by
organizing events such as Black History Month.

In fact, Parvez helped organize the school's last Black History Month event.


"She had friends from all kinds of different backgrounds," Link said.

Aside from describing her as popular and vivacious, Link said Parvez showed
great interest in the arts, particularly fashion. She was enrolled in a
photography and fashion course at the school.

Counsellors were at the school Tuesday to help students and staff deal with
the grief, Link said.

A memorial table was also set up at the front of the school where friends of
the slain teen could write their memories, put up pictures, leave flowers
and mementos.

"Aqsa was honestly the brightest girl around," wrote one student inside a
memory book. "She had the biggest smile and was the happiest person in
school. She loved to dance and take pictures."

"No matter what, there was always happiness inside you," wrote another
student. "You always knew how to make people smile even when you weren't
yourself."

Link said staff at the school were shocked when they heard the news.

"There is no way to describe the shock and grief a school experiences when
it loses a student to a tragedy like this," she said. "Our focus today is
helping support staff and students."

An announcement was made early in the morning and two letters, one for
students and another for their parents is expected to go home with the kids
at the end of the day.

Muhammad Parvez, 57, appeared in a Brampton court on Tuesday charged with
murder.

Waqas Parvez, 26, is also charged in the investigation with obstructing
police.

*With a report from CTV's John Musselman *