Pakistan Independence Day Celebrated in Northern California
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Pakistani-American community in Northern California is amongst the oldest in the United States. There are people here whose ancestors arrived here during the early 1900’s from what was then British India and several generations since then have called our Golden State home. It all started with agriculture. But newer immigrants, especially after the mid 1960’s, have added their unique presence into the mix, including those that work in high-tech in Silicon Valley and the Sacramento area. One does not have exact figures but an estimated of 50,000 people of Pakistani origin in our region would not be too far off the mark.
Each year, Pakistan’s Independence Day (August 14 th) is celebrated with a great deal of fervor and fanfare with San Francisco and recently Sacramento almost competing for the largest gatherings (often with overlapping attendance). Thousands have shown up here during events that this writer has been reporting on since the early 1990’s, especially in San Francisco. Now with many more people added there are smaller celebrations in different towns and cities. But this year due to COVID-19 such gatherings were just not possible and the contained enthusiasm had to go online or virtual. This report very briefly encapsulates just three such happenings (there were actually more). Two took place in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in the Sacramento region. One was actually held live although on a much smaller scale than the pre-COVID era.
The live event was a 10 th Annual Flag Hoisting ceremony held on Friday, August 14 th by the American Muslim Voice (AMV) Foundation at the Santa Clara County Building during which AMV communication Director Mr. Abdus Sattar Ghazali had the distinct honor to raise the Pakistani flag in the presence of a limited number of masked participants. County Supervisor Dave Cortese took the opportunity to present a county resolution to AMV Executive Director Samina Sundas, recognizing the contributions of our community to the area. Samina had youth representatives to accept the resolution.
The second online or Virtual Flag Raising event was arranged by the Pakistani American Community Center (PACC) in the Bay Area. A number of local political personalities were either present or represented in this well-organized program. State Assemblymember Kansen Chu, Supervisor Dave Cortese represented by Ms Molina, Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran, San Ramon Vice Mayor Sabina Zafar, Councilmember Javed Ellahie and Vice-Chair Ohlone College and candidate for Fremont City Council District 6 Ms Teresa Cox shared their views here. PACC’s Muneeba Zeeshan was emcee for the evening. Consul General of Pakistan in Los Angeles Mr Abdul Jabbar Memon also participated and read an Independence Day message from Prime Minister Imran Khan on this occasion. One of the high points of this event was the participation of Pakistani-American kids and youth. And the performance on guitar by Hasham Mohsin, especially his Pakistan National Anthem finale, was noteworthy.
Last but not least we are pleased to announce that a new grouping has been incubated in the Sacramento area by the name of Association of American Pakistanis–Greater Sacramento Area (AAP-GSA) which held quite a memorable program to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day. In the lead here were Naeem and Durriya along with Meer and Nadia. The honored guest here this evening was none other than Bilquis Edhi the widow of the late Sattar Edhi Sahib. She has been carrying on the wonderful work done by the Edhi organization and it was a joy to have her present here even if it was online. Consul General Abdul Jabbar Memon was here too and took the opportunity to share the official message of Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi. Also noteworthy during this program were the headline singing performances by Riffat Sultana and Rizwan Wali Muhammad. Other local entertainment contributors to the evening were Farhan Shaikh, Zaki Syed, Ali and Amna, Asif Haq, Khalid Siddiqui and Asad Khan.
In closing there were some difficulties encountered juggling the viewing of these evening events held on the same day. It was great to note that the spirit for the home country is very much alive and well in this part of California. But all is not well in Karachi and Sindh province today due to the unprecedented rainfall this past week. An appeal for donations is in order. Edhi Foundation and Hidaya Foundation could use our immediate help because millions have been impacted by flooding. Pakistan needs its Diaspora to chip in what they can. Pakistan Zindabad should be much more than just a slogan when Pakistan needs help.
