Shahida Raza was the one who played Pakistan’s national soccer and field hockey teams, but her athletic prowess did not make her rich or allow her emigrate to Europe legally.
It is this that Ms. Raza (a mother of 1) was able to travel. Italy from Turkey was last month aboard a boat that included other economic migrants from Central Asia. Ms. Raza (29 years old) was among at least 63 who were killed when rough seas pushed the boat into rocks approximately a hundred meters away from the Italian shore — agonizingly close to the land where she had hoped to start a new life.
Ms. Raza was unable to leave her 3 year old son (partially paralyzed) with her ex-husband. Pakistan before starting her dangerous journey. However, her friends and family claim that she had a plan to finally settle the boy. ItalyShe hoped that he would get better medical care.
“She was deeply concerned about his health and wanted him to have a normal life,” Saba Khanum was one of her field and soccer teammates for many years.
Ms. Raza was at most two Pakistani nationals that were lost in the shipwreck on February 26, 2006. Italy’s Calabrian coast. Eighty survivors, which includes 17 of her compatriots. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry called the crash an example of “unscrupulous individuals” Profiting from economic migrants
Pakistani journalists will be reporting this week descended on Ms. Raza’s family home in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, a vast, arid province in the country’s southwest that borders Iran and Afghanistan. The room she was in had sporting medals all over it. the green coat She was a national field hockey player.
Quetta is the home of many. from The Sunni extremists have targeted the Hazara ethnic minority, which is predominately Shiite and has been attacked by both Sunni extremists. Pakistan Afghanistan. Some Pakistanis saw Ms. Raza’s death as emblematic of the hardships that the Hazara face in the region and the pressures they feel to emigrate.
Other in Pakistan, a country where professional male cricket players are lavished with attention and money, lamented that Ms. Raza’s athletic success had not shielded her from tragedy.
“I wish this country would recognize and respect its athletes, its people!” Hajra Khan, a former captain of the women’s soccer team, wrote on Twitter. “Rest in eternal peace, sister.”
Saadia Raza (sister) said that Ms. Raza was a member of field hockey teams for Quetta. This is Quetta’s capital. Her country was represented on numerous occasions. She traveled abroad for field hockey six times and soccer four times.
Ms. Raza eventually joined the Pakistani military’s field hockey team, a job that came with an army salary and enabled her to send her son for treatment at a military hospital, Ms. Khanum said. However, the army cut Raza because she refused to play for different teams.
According to her sister, she felt financially vulnerable after losing her army salary. She was desperate for new doctors and needed help finding them. He suffers from Brain injuries have left him paralysed on the left side.
Mitte last year, Ms. Raza informed Ms. Khanum about her plans for a vacation to. Italy Because she believed there would be better medical care and economic opportunities there for her son.
Other migrants who embarked on the fatal boat trip from Turkey Italy These were the mainstays from Afghanistan but also from Iran is also a member of the PakistanAfter the sinking of the vessel, officials stated:
Ms. Khanum claimed that her old teammate, who had been in Turkey since October 1, was now living in Australia. Several members of the Hazara community in Ms. Raza’s hometown, where she once coached youth soccer, have settled in Australia. However, Ms. Khanum stated that the cost of getting there has risen in recent years.
It was about an hour before Ms. Raza expected to reach. ItalyShe sent her family a few messages by voice and seemed to be happy.
“She was constantly thanking Allah that she had made it to Europe,” Her sister spoke up. “She thought now her economic worries would be over.”
The messages suddenly stopped and were never resumed.
After the migrants’ boat washed ashore in pieces, Italian news outlets showed a priest blessing the bodies of the dead, hidden under white bags. But Ms. Raza’s sister said on Friday that the family was still waiting to receive her body to give her an Islamic burial.
