|
Funeral held for bomb victim
15/07/2005 21:23 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| A family photograph of Shahera Akther Islam, 20, of England. (AP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
London - Shahara Islam was, her family said, a "simple girl" who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Eight days after the London transit bombings, a funeral was held Friday for Islam, a 20-year-old Muslim Londoner who has become one of the most visible victims of the attacks.
"She was an Eastender, a Londoner and British, but above all, a true Muslim and proud to be so," Islam's family said in a statement.
Islam, a bank teller from London's East End, was killed along with 13 others when a bomb tore through a bus on July 7. Authorities say a total of 54 people were killed in the bombings of three London Underground trains and the bus, and police have so far identified more than 35 of the victims.
Private ceremony
She was buried in a private ceremony on Friday as mourners recited a prayer from the Quran: "From the earth did we create you and to it shall you be returned. And from it you will be raised once again."
Earlier, she was remembered during Friday prayers at the East London Mosque, near Aldgate station, the site of one of the bombings.
British media have held up Islam as a symbol of the city's diversity and the cruelty of the attacks.
The daughter of immigrants from Bangladesh, she was described as a vivacious, modern Muslim woman, a regular at her mosque, comfortable in western fashion as well as the traditional Bengali shalwar kameez.
The Guardian newspaper ran front-page stories contrasting Islam with Hasib Hussain, the 18-year-old who, police say, blew himself up on the bus. Both came from close-knit Muslim immigrant families, the paper noted.
Endless
Islam's family on Friday requested privacy and asked the media to "respect Shahara's dignity as a Muslim woman and refrain from endless inquiry and analysis, some of which has already been found hopelessly inaccurate."
"She was a simple girl, from a simple family who led a simple life. Unfortunately she was at the wrong place at the wrong time on that unfortunate day," the family's statement said.
The statement added: "We take this opportunity to declare in no uncertain terms that Islam stands for the triumph of the humanity, peace and goodwill and utterly rejects mindless violence.
"If our supreme sacrifice results in unity and understanding in our society, it indeed will be a great reward."
- SAPA
|
