Californian Pakistanis under the Spotlight
By Dr Ghulam M. Haniff
US

On my way to Stockton from Sacramento in the mid-fifties I was compelled to stop in a sleepy little farm town by the highway as the gas indicator in my car pointed to low. When I turned into the main street I could not escape noticing that the town was called Lodi. Perhaps, it was a strange name but what struck me, as I entered the driveway of the gas station, was the strange sight of a man in a bright yellow turban, with an august beard and a dagger sash across his chest standing by the gas-pump.
As I had rightly surmised the person turned out to be a Sikh, and from his bewildered looks, concluded that he was probably a new arrival from India. He presented an unusual spectacle in the small town America, given its rural setting, of that time. That could be seen by the curious looks of the people, and honking of horns as cars drove by.
Hurriedly I got out of the car and moved in his direction as he eyed me suspiciously. Needless to say he was very glad to see me, as I was him, and had a pleasant conversation with him in a mixture of Urdu, Punjabi and English. He turned out to be a good informant for through him I found out that a handful of Pakistani ranch-hands lived in the community of Lodi.
That is how Lodi came on my radar screen despite its small size, and at that time, its off-the-beaten track location.
During the years that passed, I kept abreast of the development of a Pakistani community and noted with interest as its size increased. While only a handful of individuals came initially, the liberalization of immigration laws later on brought in a deluge of newcomers.
No one would have expected that Lodi would come under the national spotlight. So it came as a surprise to me when I saw the headlines that five people had been arrested for alleged violation of immigration laws.
The Lodi Pakistanis are not exactly a sophisticated bunch having migrated from rural villages of Pakistan. They obviously did not understand the seriousness of talking with an investigating agency without the presence of a lawyer.
When Pakistanis first began to dribble-in into the community of Lodi most of them were either illiterate or semi-literate. Some of them were probably also illegal immigrants. Today their status in both respects has changed considerably for the better. As a whole the Pakistanis are well integrated into the larger community, making contributions through their skills, and have friendly relations with their neighbors.
From the very beginning Pakistani Muslims had organized themselves into a congregation for Friday prayers. However, it was not until the 1980s and 1990s that Islamic centers were established in either rental facilities or purpose purchased buildings. As the community grew their religious activities revolved around the older, Lodi Mosque, and newer, Farooqia Islamic Center.
Today, Pakistanis number almost 3000 in a community that has a population of 62,000. They make up about five percent of the population, the largest proportion of Pakistanis of any city in the United States. It may seem odd that such a large number of Pakistanis would congregate in a rural town, but the surrounding countryside is reminiscent of central Punjab and the weather in the summer not much different.
The largest number of immigrants came during the eighties and nineties though a well-established nucleus existed from an earlier period. The new arrivals also brought a more of an activist religious orientation, and given the community’s general background of limited education, it has fomented a degree of factionalism. Reports indicate that infighting led to complains of illegality that ultimately attracted the attention of the law enforcement authorities.
Northern California has had long association with Pakistani Muslims. The first Muslim immigrants who settled in the central valley area were arrivals from the Punjab region of what was then British India. These immigrants arrived during the early part of the twentieth century, perhaps around 1908, either directly from the subcontinent or through Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.
Owing to their limited market skills in most respects, almost all of the new arrivals chose to become farm workers. They were mostly ranch-hands, though some accumulated capital, and were able to buy their own orchards. Mostly men, these got together for special celebrations in Yuba City and Sacramento. In the late thirties, the date cited is 1938, a mosque was established in Sacramento, which burned down and reconstructed at the same location in 1948.
Attracted by farm opportunities some Pakistanis even reached Imperial Valley on the Mexican border, in the thirties and forties, where a Pakistan House was set up as a community center in the city of El Centro. The facility established existed well into the fifties though it could not be sustained owing to the lack of newcomers.
In the central valley Sacramento Islamic Center has been and continues to be the focal point for the Pakistani community. Immigrants still arrive from Pakistan, though quite a few married with their wives, and some wind up in one of the other towns including Yuba City and Lodi.

 

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