When I first heard about the death of Mississauga teenager, Aqsa Parvez, this past Monday on CBC Radio One, I braced myself for the usual backlash. The CBC reported that 16-year-old Parvez had allegedly been strangled by her father Muhammad Parvez. You see, Parvez was also Muslim and had apparently clashed with her 'devout' father over the fact that she didn't want to wear the traditional Muslim headscarf, the hijab.

I was very impressed by CBC Radio One's initial coverage of the Parvez story. The CBC went to great lengths not to portray Parvez's murder as a "Muslim issue." It was mentioned on several occasions that conflicts, such as the one between Parvez and her father, were common especially within immigrant families. It would have been easy to sensationalize the story (as if it is not sensational enough) and turn it into another debate about the hijab and whether wearing it is actually a choice.

Even today, the day of Parvez's funeral, the CBC is still treating the story with the utmost sensitivity. In news updates, the story does not centre on the fact that Parvez was Muslim or that she refused to wear the hijab, it focuses on the fact that she was a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly killed by her father.

Overall, I have also been very impressed with the coverage of this story on thestar.com (with the exception, of course, of the usual rant written by Rosie DiManno.) Today, thestar.com ran a story, written by Ryerson School of Journalism alumni Robin Doolittle, profiling two local Muslim girls: one who chose to wear the hijjab and one who chose not to. The story put a human face (actually two) to the tired hijab debate.

Earlier this week, the Star's website also featured a video interview with Muslim Girl magazine editor Ausma Khan talking about her readers and the hijjab. This type of media is sorely needed it we are to avoid the usual Islam bashing that occurs after this kind of incident.