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By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Pak-American Culture & Arts Council (PACAC) held its cultural/literary event on May 18, 2013 at the Kabab Corner restaurant in West Sacramento, CA. 
It was another colorful and vivid PACAC event held under the theme of “Dasht-e-Junoon.”
Naeem Syed, a well known personality of Sacramento, was MC of the program. With his inimitable style Naeem Syed colored his introduction of presenters with anecdotes and light stories.
Among those who participated included Dr. Nirmal Mann, Dr. Irfan Haq, Shehzad Baseer, Durriya Syed, Naeem Sayed, Javed Akhtar, Khalid Saeed, Zahoor Ahmed, Mohammad Asifand Abdus Sattar Ghazali.
Durriya Syed presented two poems on the theme of “Dasht-e-Junoon” in her unique style and drew wide applause.
Shehzad Baseer, who travelled from the San Francisco Bay Area to attend the program, amused the audience with his presentation of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poetry. Shehzad Baseer is a Faiz lover. He knows many long poems by heart.
Dr. Nirmal Mann, a popular poet, presented his own poetry to draw wide applause. He was called three times to present his thought-provoking poetry.
Vetern journalist and writer Ras Siddiqui also came on the stage and shared stories of his long history as journalist and some interesting stories for these times of writing for the newspapers and covering many events and activities.
Javaid Akhtar of Nationwide Insurance Sacramento presented the poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Zahoor Ahmed, a Woodland community leader, recited a ghazal of Zameer Jafery.
Dr. Irfan Haq, a social activist, also amused the audience with poetry presentations.
Khalid Saeed, the convener of PACAC, captivated the audience with an old Punjabi song “Mittee DiyaN MoortaN.” He also presented his own poetic compositions which he wrote during college days.
A new star is born on the horizons of PACAC, that is Mohammad Asif, who has attended the program before but this time was was on the stage and begind the mike as well and he shared his favorite poetry with the audience.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali presented a parody on a very popular poem of Ahmad Faraz.
At the beginning of the program, Naeem Syed invited Abdus Sattar Ghazali to speak about his latest book, Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America.
The audience took the opportunity of the presence of Saleem Khan of California Agriculture to ask why the passengers are not allowed to bring raw fruits with them. He explained that the procedure for bringing fruits by passengers or importing fruit in large quantity is the same.
At the end Naeem Syed thanked all the participants for making the gathering successful. He particularly thanked the Kabab Corner owner Abdul Hafeez Chaudhry for making arrangements for the PACAC event.
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