Pakistan Link Writer Wins CAIR Media Award
A Pakistan Link Report
Pakistan Link’s very own Ras H. Siddiqui was the recipient of this year’s CAIR (Sacramento-Valley) “Fairness and Integrity in the Media Award” at their annual event in Sacramento on Saturday November 23rd. Introduced by Phil Pasquini of the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, Ras was recognized for his many years of contribution to Muslim-American journalism in Northern California and especially the Sacramento area.
In his acceptance speech before almost 1000 people in attendance Ras thanked CAIR (Sacramento-Valley) for the pleasant surprise and honor which he shared with his wife Farah because his journalistic endeavors would not have been possible without her support (since she always held the fort at home while he drove all over the region to cover events).
Ras thanked the Pakistan Link newspaper for always being there for the community for over two decades. In addition to the Link, he thanked Siliconeer Magazine, TwoCircles.net and India Currents for their support along with India West and the India Post.
He said that he started writing about the American-Muslim experience about 20 years ago and that it was much easier then because he still had his youth (and his hair) at the time, and it was pre-9/11 America. But everything changed and the level of difficulty increased since that horrible day when the twin towers were destroyed.
L to R: Mehdi Hasan, Ras Siddiqui and Wajahat Ali
Ras added, “Let there be no question that Muslim-Americans are net contributors to this great country. The violent people you read about in the headlines are the exception and not the norm. We are the norm. Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving everyone.”
Along with the people and publications already mentioned Ras would like to thank three educational institutions which have made his journey as a writer possible. First Aligarh Muslim University in India from where his father graduated (which deeply influenced his home life), second, Saint Joseph Higher Secondary School in Dhaka, Bangladesh where he actually caught this writing bug. And last but not least Karachi Grammar School in Pakistan.
Present at the CAIR event were many members of the state, county and city government including California Assemblymember Mariko Yamada. And from amongst the Muslim media, Mehdi Hasan from the United Kingdom (whose speech at the Oxford Union recently went viral) and Wajahat Ali both from Al Jazeera headlined the event.
It is our Editor's conviction that Pakistan Link derives its strength from writers like Ras Hafiz Siddiqui who contribute to the paper with unfailing zest. His work deserves the best superlatives. Thank you, Ras, for your consistency, hard work and fair play.
