Eid and Local Politics at a Unique Event in the San Francisco Bay Area
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Saturday May 14, 2022, has to be chalked down a day when history was made at the Chandni Restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Newark as over 400 people gathered to celebrate old friendships, Eid al-Fitr and participate in the American political process all at the same time.
In a well-planned effort led by the Mayor City of Monte Sereno, Javed Ellahie and assisted by Arif Maskatia, Azmi Gill, Erum Choudhary and Muhammad Jawaid along with many volunteers, this event brought together predominantly South Asian Muslims (and their friends) who are either elected, appointed to public office, or aspire to get elected during the mid-term elections to be held in November this year. But before we get to November, we need to remind everyone that the primaries are going to be held on June 7, so please vote (mail in ballots have already been received).
Before going into the event itself in this report some name dropping is necessary of the attendees or invited guests. On the elected council list (besides Mayor Ellahie) we had Waseem Ahmed (Chowchilla), Shak Khan (Lodi), Omar Din (Sunnyvale), Sabina Zafar (San Ramon), Sam Hindi (Foster City) and Mariam Abudamos (American Canyon). On the commissioners list we had Babar Chughtai (Union City), Alia Kazmi (Alameda), Dr Sonia Khan (Fremont), Kashef Qadri (Dublin), M. Waqar Rizvi (Stockton), Raeena Lari (Santa Clara), Razi Mohiuddin (Saratoga), Aidan Ali (Hayward) and Shahnawaz Saigal (Santa Clara). Other elected/appointed officials were Aziz Akbari, Maimona Afzal Berta and Harris Mojadedi. Most, but not all on the list mentioned above, were present in person here.
The active candidates running for future office are Sajid Khan for District Attorney, Aisha Wahab for California State Senate, Kashef Qaadri for Dublin City Council, Belal Aftab for Saratoga City Council, Cheryl Sudduth for US Congress, Jamal Khan for California State Senate, Sabina Zafar for Mayor of San Ramon, Rizwan Rehman for Lodi City Council, Waqas Khan for Tax Commissioner Lodi, Khalid Jafri for US Congress, Mushtaq A. Tahirkheli for California Assembly, and Muhammad Arif for Lieutenant Governor of California.
With so many individuals to meet or listen to, including an honored guest who will have to be the focus of a separate report, the reader can understand the challenges faced here in this article. With three emcees (Arif Maskatia, Asghar Aboobaker and Naveeda Ellahie) and an evening filled with so much activity, one had to choose just a couple of individuals to focus on here.
Dinner was served first. The formalities started off with a customary invocation, a fine recitation from the Holy Qur’an. Arif Maskatia next invited Javed Ellahie to the stage who proceeded to welcome everyone and thank the event sponsors which included a list of friends that this writer has known for almost five decades. It was good to meet Grand Sponsor Zafar Jafri after such a long time along with sponsors Zain and Farzana Jeewanjee, Asghar Aboobaker, and Dr Mobasher Rana. Other sponsors included Inprintz, Chandni Restaurant, Palo Alto Legal Services, Mokha Institute, Alia Associates and OPEN Silicon Valley (spotted Mr Naveed Sherwani and Shama Khan here).
Mayor Javed Ellahie proceeded to share both his thoughts and experiences on running for political office. He pointed out that it was no easy task (one must walk the walk and talk the talk) and he had to knock on many doors, and challenges starting with people curious about his looks and his name Javed. You have to get over that, he said. He added that it is amazing as to how many people from our community are now running for office. He also added that he wanted to leave us with one message. “Don’t hesitate, participate.”
The second emcee for the evening, Asghar Aboobaker, used his past experience as a Senior Executive in Hi-Tech to manage the long and formidable lineup of political officers and candidates whom he introduced. He made it clear that each individual would have just three minutes to speak (to introduce themselves and their campaigns to us) and a device was placed on the podium to enforce that rule, which indicates that some in politics can be long winded! But as we observed, whether the timer on the podium worked or not, Asghar was certainly on top of the schedule. And as mentioned earlier, due to article length constraints, out of the many people that spoke, we can highlight just candidates (both women) in this report.
From the already elected and running for higher office we had San Ramon City Councilmember Sabina Zafar who aspires to become the mayor of the city next. Sabina started off by thanking Mayor Javed Ellahie for his efforts in putting this event together. She also thanked everyone who believed in her over the years and has been part of her political journey in the last 5 - 6 years. She said that she got elected to the San Ramon City Council in 2018, and that her real day job is in technology, but she has had a passion for public service. She said that to everyone in the room who thinks that they cannot get elected, she is an example that it is very much possible. She also thanked the Interns in her office for their dedication. Sabina added that she is terming out of her position on the City Council, is now running again, and hopes to become the first Asian American Mayor of San Ramon and that she would love our support. From the applause that she received here one can be sure that she has it.
Afghan American Aisha Wahab is running for California State Senate. She is a real trail blazer who defeated many odds to become a Hayward City Councilmember. Hers is a real fighting American story. Born in New York city, her Afghan father was murdered, and her mother died at an early age. She was adopted by a family in the Bay Area and since then her list of achievements include being the first Afghan American woman to be elected to public office in the United States. Wahab began her talk by wishing everybody Eid Mubarak. She shared some of her journey (her family fled Afghanistan when the Soviets invaded). She said that she was fortunate to have been born in New York city. After tragedy struck her family she and her sister grew up in foster care with different people and environments until they were adopted by a family here. She added that it does not matter what your name is, what you look like, this is a country of opportunity. She also said that people were skeptical of her running for office, but she ended up being the top vote getter. It is no accident that Aisha has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party and friends like former California Senator Jim Beall. If elected, she could become the first Muslim American woman elected as California State Senator. All one can add is “Go Aisha”!
To conclude, one must mention that the organizers thought of everything. They included some lively entertainment to close the event by the very energetic singer Komal Rizvi who was introduced by Mrs Naveeda Ellahie. It was great to see both old and young celebrate Eid by having some fun and dancing, because one cannot live on politics alone.
