Sacramento Celebrates Pakistan’s Independence Day
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Sacramento, California celebrated the 75 th Independence Day of Pakistan (if one counts August 14, 1947, as the first) a week late on August 21, 2021, but with a great deal of enthusiasm. This event had to skip a year due to the COVID 19 pandemic just like almost all other such large gatherings. Masks and hand sanitizer were being provided at the entrance, but some brought their own. The venue was also changed this year, to the Town & Country Event Center off Fulton Avenue instead of the César Chávez Plaza in the heart of the city, but one has to admit that it still worked out quite well. And although a bit smoky due to regional fires, the temperature outside was in the ideal 80’s.
The people slowly trickled in and visited the food, clothing, novelty and henna stalls that were set up. The main activity got going after Magrib prayers as a sizable crowd was now in attendance. It was just after 8 PM when emcee Sohail Shahzad (DJ) called everyone’s attention towards the stage and invited Usaid Azhar to start the formalities with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an. Usaid did a good job here and he was followed by Asad Khan who presented a very fine Naat. The National Anthem of the United States was presented first followed by that of Pakistan. It was great to see the colorfully dressed children on the stage waving both American and Pakistani flags to grace the occasion. Sohail also charted out the program for the evening which was to include speeches by dignitaries, individual awards, and prizes drawn through free raffles.
The first speaker was our local community leader Javaid Akhtar who has many people on his side. Javaid extended his own words of welcome to the dignitaries and the community present and stressed the importance of Pakistani Americans representing our two countries (our homeland and our motherland-country of origin). He thanked the new local leadership team, which put in a great deal of work, into making this event possible. Javaid also has had some patriotic Urdu poetry to share which was well received.
Next up, the Chief Guest for the event Dr Asif Mahmood MD came up to the stage. Dr Asif is a practicing physician who ran for the office of Insurance Commissioner of California in the 2018 primary election. He came in third and received over 846,000 votes, which is a very healthy number. He has more recently (2019) been appointed to the Medical Board of California by the California Governor. In his speech Dr Mahmood thanked the host committee for this fine event. He congratulated everyone on Pakistan’s Independence Day and said that he wishes and prays that Pakistan continues to make progress. He added that as our community here grows, it needs to get more involved in community activism in this country. He added that the only thing that will bring real change in Pakistan is to bring it closer to the Western world, closer to America, so that it can open more doors to kids from Pakistan, bringing more opportunities to all in the process. On the upcoming recall election in California, he asked our community to vote “No” on any attempt to replace Governor Gavin Newsom. He said that we all worked very hard to get him elected. He also strongly urged all in attendance to pass this no on the recall message to all their friends and neighbors.
The next speaker was our honored guest, California Attorney General Rob Bonta who is the first person of Filipino descent to occupy the office. Bonta said that he was glad to be here with everyone and to feel the love, warmth, and beauty of this community. He added that this reminded him of events (the Independence Day of the Philippines) that he attended as a youth growing up in Sacramento. Happy Pakistan Independence Day, he said. Rob added that the Sacramento Pakistani Community is one of the most well-established communities in California, one which has helped to build our state and our nation in many areas. Bonta said that celebrating independence, freedom and liberty was important to him personally since his family had fled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. He mentioned that he grew up attending pro-democracy protests and knew how valuable it was. He also said that he has been trying to fight for justice in California as the people’s attorney, for everyday people in a very diverse state. He also advised us Californians to stand up for one another.
Last but not least, the Consul General of Pakistan in Los Angeles Abdul Jabbar Memon spoke and congratulated the organizers for holding such a great event. He said that he was glad to see the enthusiasm and spirit here. Memon added that as the Pakistan Consul General in charge of 10 states in western US he needed the community to join hands with him because he cannot do everything alone. Every person from the Pakistani community here is an Ambassador of Pakistan, he added. He asked for the Pakistani Diaspora in America to unite to build a bridge between the United States and Pakistan so that we can remove all hiccups and temporary upheavals in the relationship between the two countries. He especially emphasized the building of more trade and commerce between America and Pakistan. Lastly, he mentioned the current challenges being faced in Afghanistan. He said that some uninformed and misguided elements from the Afghan community have started Pakistan bashing in the US. Afghanistan shares a long border with Pakistan and any instability in Afghanistan has a direct fallout in Pakistan, said Memon. We really want to see Afghanistan as a peaceful and prosperous country so that Pakistan can prosper too. He concluded his speech with Pakistan Zindabad and Long Live Pakistan-USA friendship.
The Consul General next presented plaques of appreciation to Dr Asif Mahmood and Attorney General Rob Bonta. A community service award was also presented to Qumar Ashraf for his leadership and work with Sacramento region Pakistanis. And two Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to a very deserving individual and a family. Community Senior Bashir Choudhry has made quite a mark on our community here for many years and the award given to him was well deserved. Mohammed Saddique and family received an award (which Brother Ghulam Fareed accepted) for providing many resources and services over many years to the Sacramento community. Our sincere congratulations to both.
Last but not the least, the entertainment segment did not disappoint. Starting with Ali Shaikh our Pathan brother from the Bay Area who successfully incorporated patriotism, folk and the Pashto language into his colorful performance. And next the main entertainer Naeem Abbas Rufi from Pakistan who had an impressive array of songs. Rufi certainly has a unique voice and his rendition of the songs sung by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were just great and extremely well received. Pakistan Zindabad from Sacramento, California.
