Sarwar Foundation Fundraiser in Sacramento a Huge Success
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Sarwar Foundation (https://sarwarfoundation.org/) is a remarkable organization doing some great work in Pakistan. It has been active for some time now and is addressing a variety of issues that are in need of attention in the country including clean water, health, women’s empowerment and education. In a country where these issues have been sidelined for too long due to financial limitations many organizations have taken up this challenge. Sarwar Foundation is certainly one of them.
What is really unique about this foundation is that it was founded by the first Muslim to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Britain, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, who is also the current Governor of Punjab province in Pakistan. One does not know if there is, or has been, another person like him, one who has been both a member of the British Parliament and an elected Pakistani Senator, but he seems to have succeeded in capturing the imagination of people in both countries. Born in the Faisalabad area of Punjab and belonging to the Arain clan, Sarwar went and settled in Scotland in 1976 and was extremely successful in launching a cash-and-carry business chain there. He also became a British citizen and made an equally successful political career in the process. As a member of the Labor Party from Glasgow, he represented the area from 1997 to 2010 and retired that year to move to Pakistan. He subsequently gave up his British citizenship and became the Governor of Punjab (2013 to 2015) when he was a member of the PML-N and became a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2015.
A fundraiser for Sarwar Foundation was arranged on April 14, 2019 at the Hilton Sacramento by prominent members of the local Pakistani-American community and it was extremely well attended. The event emcee was Tariq Mirza and the recitation from the Holy Qur’an and translation were provided by Imam Aamir Hussain. Many local and regional leaders of the community attended this program and some including Javaid Akhtar, Deputy Consul General Shoaib Sarwar, Gurjatinder Randhawa from the Sikh community and Arshad Farooq amongst others spoke on the occasion, but due to space constraints this report will focus on what was said by Punjab’s First Lady Mrs Perveen Sarwar and the Governor. And before we get to that one is happy to report that this event had a substantial representation from the Sikh community from the region, a welcome sign for all of us.
Mrs Sarwar thanked the gathering for their presence and spoke of the decision-making process in her household on their move back home from Britain. She asked (Sarwar) how she could leave her children and move back to Pakistan. They discussed the plight of many children and women in their home country and said that they made up their minds on that basis (to applause). She said that when she arrived in Pakistan, she was a little scared in the new environment (very different from Britain), and even her Urdu skills she thought would be questioned. But seeing the need that exists changed her perceptions as she embarked on a path to help and create Hunargahs (skill training centers) for women. She said that people wanted to educate their kids but had to make difficult choices (sometimes between food and education) due to their abject poverty. Water-borne diseases are also a major issue along with childhood diabetes (children living on only cheap Gur and Rice diets). She added that Hepatitis is also a major challenge which Sarwar Foundation is trying to address with some of its limited resources. Mrs Sarwar thanked those in attendance and praised the Pakistani-American community for their successes in this country and their continued generosity.
After a short video on Sarwar Foundation’s work, Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar arrived on stage and delivered a memorable half-hour keynote speech in Urdu, Punjabi and English. It is now no surprise to us now that he became the first elected Muslim in the British Parliament and how he got the Scots to vote for him. He thanked all the dignitaries present, especially PTI supporters and workers and started his speech with both the (Muslim) Salaam Alaikum and (the Punjabi Sikh) Sat Sri Akal. It needs to be noted that the Governor has been a strong proponent and supporter of the Kartarpur Initiative recently launched by Islamabad to ease access of holy sites located in Pakistan for the Sikh community.
Governor Sarwar highlighted quite a few topics when he spoke and it needs to be said that the translation here may not be literal or precise. He thanked everyone including some specific individuals for making this visit to the US successful. He also added some humor to his address which was appreciated by all. He built up on the Sadqa-e-Jaria message that Imam Aamir had earlier mentioned (in Islam it has been defined as an act of "Giving something to somebody without seeking a substitute in return and with the intention of pleasing God). He said that our life on this earth is short and the return on charity lasts much longer than we do. On giving he also spoke on the contributions of Sikhs, some 10,000 of whom were here in California in the early 1900’s and out of which a great many went back to India to fight for its independence. We need to thank those people for making sacrifices, he said.
Sarwar said that we should learn from incorruptible people like Quaid-i-Azam M. A. Jinnah on what leadership is supposed to be. He added that a place like Toba Tek Singh in Pakistan still retains its name till today because of the human generosity and good work of Tek Singh the Sikh whom it is named after. Legend has it that Tek Singh served water and provided shelter to tired and thirsty travelers passing through the area. He said that anyone who has done good work for humanity irrespective of their faith needs to be honored and their name preserved in history. And he added that those who commit violence in the name of faith need to be condemned.
Governor Sarwar concluded his speech on a strong Muslim-Sikh brotherhood note. We will end this report on that too and hope that the work of Sarwar Foundation will continue to be assisted by people of all nationalities and faiths, so that the insanity of Toba Tek Singh described by Saadat Hasan Manto does not consume us all in South Asia. From the last reports received around $240,000 was collected this day in Northern California.
