Senate Chairman Visits
Islamic Society of Orange County
Pakistan Link Report
Senate
Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro arrives at ISOC |
Garden Grove, CA: Senate Chairman
Mohammadmian Soomro visited the Islamic Society of Orange
County (ISOC) on Friday, July 20 to demonstrate the respect
and importance that the Government of Pakistan accords to
religious institutions and places of worship. He offered
Friday prayers at the mosque and later joined community
members at a lunch in the ISOC cafeteria.
Mr. Soomro took questions from the community members and
allayed their concerns relating to a number of issues. He
wholeheartedly concurred with Dr Muzammil Siddiqui’s
observation that the mosque should promote harmony and understanding
between various groups and faiths rather than be a dump
of arms and a catalyst for violence. “Masjids don’t
have to play the role of the Lal Masjid,” he remarked,
adding, the government showed utmost restraint in dealing
with the militants to minimize casualties during Operation
Silence. He added that the people of Pakistan were by and
large moderate and peace-loving individuals and only a fringe
group made up the extremists. It was unfortunate that their
militancy served to distort the true teachings of Islam
and has given the religion a bad image, nationally and internationally.
L
to R: CG Syed Ibne Abbas, Javed Nawaz, Mohammadmian
Soomro and Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi |
Supplementing this argument,
Dr Muzammil Siddiqi, Director of ISOC, unequivocally stated:
“We condemn the use of the masjid for politics…
collection of arms in masjids is something that is not acceptable
in Islam…”.
Mr Soomro complimented the Muslims in the US who “were
doing a good job and telling others about Islam.”
He lauded the Pakistani-American community’s support
in strengthening institutions in Pakistan. “Thank
you for the support given to Pakistan.” He also served
the community with a well-meaning advice: “Your children
should go to Pakistan to keep their links with the country.”
The Senate Chairman was confident that overseas Pakistanis
could play a major role in bringing about a wholesome change
in the economy of Pakistan. He spoke of the “tremendous
opportunities” that exist for investment in a number
of sectors, including power generation, information technology,
mining, housing, and infrastructure development. “Investors
are making good profits,” he remarked, and any initiative
on the part of an enterprising businessman could be highly
rewarding.
Senate
Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro with Consul General,
ISOC officials and prominent community members |
Mr. Soomro assured the gathering
that democracy was taking roots in the country. “We
have a parliament that is elected and a President who is
elected by the parliament. The parliament approves the budget.
The legislation has to come through the parliament. It is
a democracy,” he told the community members.
Prominent among those who attended the lunch were: Dr Muzammil
Siddiqi, Consul General Syed Ibne Abbas, Shahid Tarar, Javed
Nawaz, Ismail Manju, Abdul Qadir Najjad, Dr Naqvi, Hamid
Malik, Ahmed Ali, Arif Merchant, and Karim Raza.
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