PAKPAC Endorses Candidacy
of Zahid Ali Syed
for NY State Assembly
According to a press release received
by Pakistan Link, the Pakistani American Public Affairs
Committee (PAKPAC) is proud to announce the candidacy of
Mr. Zahid-Ali Syed for New York State Assembly (AD17).
Mr. Zahid Ali has been a PAKPAC supporter and friend, and
a very active community member working for the rights of
all people. He received and accepted the nomination from
the Nassau County Democratic Party and the Working Families
Party to be a candidate for the New York State Assembly
in the Special Election scheduled by Governor George Pataki
for February 28, 2006.
He is a candidate for New York State Assembly District 17
that includes parts of East Meadow, Merrick, North Bellmore,
Garden City, New Hyde Park, Floral Park and Uniondale, Long
Island, New York.
His nomination is a validation of his dedicated 15 years
of work he has done as a community and labor activist fighting
for the rights of fellow working-class citizens. He has
represented the community well as a Commissioner in the
Nassau County Human Rights Commission and as a Labor Union
Representative with RWDSU Local 338, one of the largest
unions.
PAKPAC urges all Pakistani Americans, American Muslims,
and all immigrant organizations and people that they represent
to join us in fully supporting Mr. Zahid Ali Syed.
In this race, timing is of essence as there are only a few
days left to make a difference and win the elections.
We ask you to start by doing the following:
A) Send your contributions as soon as possible with checks
made out to: Friends of Zahid-Ali Syed
and mail to : 69 Lloyd Court, East Meadow, NY 11554:
For your benefit contribution sheet can be downloaded through
this link:
B) If you are in the 17th
District, PLEASE Register to vote:
The last day to register to vote in person is February 17;
applications being mailed should be postmarked no later
than February 8. The last day to postmark an absentee ballot
application is February 21
Link to Nassau County Board of Elections
C) Please as call other community members to join in to
help. If interested in volunteering, please call:516 832
6151
D) On the day of election Feb 28th, 2006 the polls open
from 6AM to 9PM. Make sure you go out to vote in the district
and encourage family and friends in the district to go out
and vote form him.
Stanford Pan-Asian Music Festival
The second annual Pan-Asian
Music Festival (February 11 – 18, 2006) brings the
sounds and scenes of South Asia to Stanford University with
a rich variety of concerts, lecture/demonstrations, and
films.
The Festival presents renowned artists and speakers in a
program that promises to thrill music lovers, film buffs,
and scholars alike. Presented by the Department of Music
and the Asian Religions & Cultures Initiative with Prof.
Jindong Cai as Artistic Director, including collaborations
with Stanford’s Film Studies Program and Stanford
Lively Arts, the Festival is set to become the premier event
for Asian music in the country.
Prof. Cai, Director of Orchestral Studies at Stanford, had
long dreamt of producing a festival that specifically celebrated
the music of contemporary Asia. When he joined Stanford
last year, he saw it as a wonderful setting as the cosmopolitan
and sophisticated audiences in the Bay Area would be likely
to embrace a music festival that features high-caliber performers
and participants.
The week begins with a symposium on Sufi music and the place
of music in Islam (Feb 11-12) and a concert by one of Pakistan’s
greatest qawwali ensembles, Farid Ayaz Qawwal and Brothers.
The ecstatic devotional music of Sufi Muslims, qawwali integrates
love poetry, devotional imagery, musical rhythms and melodies,
gesture and movement, to spur moments of mystical rapture
and insight. The ensemble has performed around the world.
Salman Ahmad will perform “Sufi Rock” with his
US-based band Junooni on Feb. 13. He will sing lyrics of
traditional Sufi poets as well as more recent Sufi poetry,
in a rock idiom.
An extraordinary valentine arrives on Feb. 14 in the form
of A.R. Rahman, India’s most renowned composer of
film and pop music. A child prodigy, Rahman has composed
music for over 100 films in several Indian and international
languages and has received the high honor of “Padmashree”
from the Indian government, all before 40. To quote noted
critic Richard Corliss: “His songs were recognizably
Indian but paraded a world of musical influences, from raga
to reggae, from Broadway to Ennio Morricone, with each tune
heightening the film’s drama. It was an astonishing
debut.”
Tickets can be purchased through Stanford Lively Arts: http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/,
Stanford Ticket Office: 650-725-ARTS (2787). A Festival
pass for the whole week’s events is available for
$85. A Festival pass excluding the sitar concert on Feb
17 is $50. For further details on all events, see http://panasianmusicfestival.stanford.edu
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