Since the beginning of time, the parent and their offspring has had an endless history of arguments. From money to messy rooms and late night curfews, fights between parent and child come with the good times of growing up. But in some instances, these conflicts can spell tragedy, which is the unfortunate case with sixteen year old Aqsa Parvez, a Canadian Muslim teen whom on Monday was killed by her father for not wanting to wear the hijab, listening to R&B music, ignoring her curfew, but most of all just wanting to be independent from her family’s Muslim beliefs. Muhammad Parvez is currently being held without any bail in the murder of his daughter along with his son, Waqas Parvez for obstructing with police. This has not only shocked Canada, but the whole world. Several organizations, including the Islamic Society of Toronto have expressed outrage and urge a no tolerance for domestic violence against women. Here is this outgoing, vivacious, and independent teen trying to break away from tradition but which has not only cause tension with her family, it caused her death. But for some experts, this is all too common for Muslim families that have these frictions of cultural freedom and traditions. For new immigrant families, there are new challenges like learning a new language and adapting to a completely different culture. But here’s a question: is tradition/religion more important than their child’s life and wellbeing? We may never know the full reason why Mr. Parvez decided to kill his daughter, but what can be done is to discuss and engage in dialogue to making sure a tragedy like this doesn’t repeat itself again.
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