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By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Pak-American Cultural & Arts Council held its Eid Milan gathering on Sept. 22, 2012 at the Kabab Corner Restaurant in West Sacramento.
The program included a traditional literary session and live ghazal performance by Aziza Rehman, niece of famous South Asian singer Gulshan Ara Syed. Shakeel Rahman amused the audience with popular Karaoki songs.
Naeem Syed, a prominent personality of Greater Sacramento was the MC of the event. At the outset of the program he delighted the audience with a witty composition.
Dr. Nirmal Mann, a prominent Urdu poet with his published diwan, thrilled the audience with his touchy poetry.
Khaled Saeed’s comical composition about domestic life drew wide applause. Javid Akhtar’s political poem about the current situation in Pakistan also drew wide clapping.
Among those who amused the audience with their presentations of the Urdu poetry include: Basir Shehzad, Sameena Sundas, Mir Shams Nazir, Zahoor Ahmed and Mohammad Nadeem.
Duriya Syed captivated the audience with her presentation of an interesting skit.
Aziza Rehman stole the show with her melodious presentations of many ghazals. Shakeel Rahman entertained with Karaoki songs.
Dr Farooq Sattar
Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and MQM Deputy Convener, Dr Farooq Sattar, on a private visit to Sacramento, encouraged the Pak-American Cultural & Arts Council by joining the colorful program. Dr. Sattar not only amused the audience with poetical recitation but also he was gracious to answer questions about the current developments in Pakistan.
Dr Farooq Sattar said that he was vigorously pursuing voting rights for overseas Pakistanis who send more than $13.5 billion remittances to Pakistan every year and enjoy a great clout in policy making circles outside Pakistan. The World Bank ranks Pakistan among the top ten recipients of remittances.
He said that Pakistanis residing abroad have been playing a pivotal role in country’s socio-economic development and they should have a voice in the democratic process.
Dr. Farooq Sattar said that Government will soon announce a policy for overseas Pakistanis under which seats will be reserved for them in Senate and National Assembly. He said that a bill in the National Assembly of Pakistan has been moved to pursue the reserved seats for Overseas Pakistanis which constitute 7 to 9 percent of the Pakistani population and they cannot be neglected.
Dr Farooq Sattar observed that in Pakistan, policies were made to safeguard 2 per cent ruling elite but other 98 per cent people were alien in their own land. He observed that alienating millions of Pakistanis living overseas would be a huge mistake and Pakistan can’t afford it.
According to official statistics, 6.3 million Pakistanis are living in more than 54 countries across the world. About 1,500,000 Overseas Pakistanis live in Saudi Arabia, 1,200,000 in United Kingdom, 1,014,082 in United Arab Emirates and 900,000 in USA.
Tellingly, the Election Commission of Pakistan in February 2012 decided to grant voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. However, voting will be limited to those Pakistanis who have a National Card for Overseas Pakistanis or NICP card, an identification card which allows expats visa-less entry into their home country.
Questions to Dr. Farooq Sattar
On the dual nationality issue, Mir Shams Nazir, an IT engineer at Intel, told the Minister that like him many overseas Pakistanis don’t agree with the suggestion that dual nationals should be allowed to contest in parliamentary elections because obviously the loyalty of such nationals towards Pakistan may be questionable. “If any overseas Pakistani wants to contest then he or she should go back and stay in Pakistan to become part of the political process.”
Khalid Saeed, founder of the Pak-American Cultural & Arts Council, was of the view that the MQM supporting the Zardari government from the beginning. He hoped that the MQM, as a strong coalition partner, will use its pressure in establishing an impartial care taker government to ensure fair and free elections.
Dr. Farooq Sattar was asked many questions related to the security situation in the country, target killings in Karachi and elsewhere, rampant corruption in the government as well as current political turmoil. He was also reminded that the overseas Pakistanis have bitter past experience with the governments in Islamabad. In 1998 about two billion dollars foreign currency accounts of overseas Pakistanis were seized while many schemes of notorious Overseas Pakistanis Foundation were proved fraudulent.
Among those who asked questions include: Rukhsana Riaz, Javed Akhtar, Khadim Ali and Surriya Syed.
At the end Khalid Saeed thanked all the participants for making the gathering successful. He particularly thanked the Kabab Corner owner Abdul Hafeez Chaudhry and Abrar Ali who did a wonderful job in operating the sound system.
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