Sacramento Celebrates Pakistan Independence Day with Grand Event
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Pakistani community in the Sacramento, California region is amongst the oldest found in North America, arriving here in the first decade of the 1900’s from British India. They were Muslims from Punjab who along with their majority Sikh counterparts found a home in California’s central valley where the land and the climate reminded them of home. These farmers faced many obstacles including in their quest to own land and to acquire American citizenship during a time when Asian Exclusion was the law. But today it is a different story. After Pakistan gained its independence in 1947 and 1965 the laws slowly became more accommodating, until immigration really opened in the mid-sixties.
When this writer arrived in California in the mid-1970s to what was to become Silicon Valley, in an era long before personal computers, search engines and social media, I did not know that more Pakistanis lived in the central valley than in the San Francisco Bay area. It was only after a show held, I believe in 1979 in San Francisco featuring the Melody Queen Madam Noor Jehan accompanied by folk singer Reshma and of course Moin Akhtar, that I saw a huge presence of this Pakistani community for the first time. I also heard then that there was a functioning permanent Mosque in Downtown Sacramento on V Street build by “Pakistanis” around 1947.
A great deal has changed since the 1990s too when three people Yusuf, Azam and this writer met with community elder Salim Khan and formally formed the Pakistani American Association of Greater Sacramento which held its first event in April 1993 (a huge thank you to Noor Lodhi, a member of the Legend band which opened the entertainment for us for helping to gather this information) at which the featured performer was ghazal great Habib Wali Muhammad. Then Pakistan Consul General Aziz Ahmad Khan was our chief guest on that occasion.
Sadly, many of the people involved in that original effort have passed away. And the association remained continually active for a couple of decades after that led by Bashir Choudhry and Shahid Saleemi. But while it exists the task of holding large events like Pakistan’s Independence Day has shifted to a newer group named the Pakistani Community Members (PCM) of America. And they are doing it bigger and better than anyone in Northern California today like the Pakistan Association of San Francisco once did when it held large events at Golden Gate Park and in front of San Francisco’s City Hall during the 1990s.
The young people of PCM Team led by its President Qumar Ashraf have been doing a phenomenal job in celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day in recent years. And in this undertaking they have been assisted by two community ladies, Anila Saleemi and Rukhsana Qumar, who put in quite an effort organizing and motivating our community kids to perform on stage at these events and more. Both ladies were honored with plaques at a “Meet & Greet” with star performer Ali Zafar held on August 11, 2026, at Royal Event Hall. Also honored at the event was Nadeem Nasir (Khalifa) for his years of community service to PCM and the community.
The Independence Day event that the Pakistani American community in Northern California had eagerly awaited took place a day after August 14 th (on Saturday, August 15, 2026) at Cal Expo one of the largest venues in Sacramento. It also hosts the annual California State Fair. And just when we thought that these PCM events could not get any larger, this one proved us wrong. As usual, our community showed up late, but it was certainly a sight to see. Estimates given range from 10,000 to 20,000 people in attendance so we will pick a middle number of 15,000, the largest gathering of Pakistani Americans (and friends) that this writer has ever seen at a Pakistan Independence Day event in California.
The evening started with the much-anticipated kids segment emceed by Laibya Qumar. The audience was then greeted by a welcoming speech by Zaynah Amir and Khalid Imran followed by a fine Qirat by Humayon Haq with Hareem Khan translating. It was also a great sight to see our Pakistani American kids on stage during the playing of the Pakistan and the US national anthems. These kids can probably relate more to the Star-Spangled Banner, but it was great for us old timers to see them show their respect for the Pakistani anthem too.
The rest of the kids segment also was inspiring. It included an Urdu Nazm (poetry) recited by Shiza Adil, the singing of Jazba Junoon by Qasim Khan and friends, followed by a great speech by Hamna Khan. The follow-up group singing of Mera Pakistan Hai was also well received with a speech in English by Anaiya and Khadija, followed by the singing of Jeevay, Jeevay Pakistan by the trio of Zaynah Amir, Hamna Khan and Zarlish Khan. This was followed by the sharing of some fun facts about Pakistan by Dua and Anaya and a group singing of Dil Dil Pakistan assisted by the now growing audience. Laibya Qamar returned and closed this segment with remarks highlighting the importance of independence and patriotism. As far as this writer is concerned the kids segment remains the most important part of this event and a huge thank you to its organizers!
The second half or grown-up segment of the event was co-emceed by Khydeeja Alam and Sohail Shahzad. Khydeeja is already a well-known member of our community both locally and at the California state level. She said that tonight is about you, and it about us (those of the Pakistani American heritage). Dil Dil Pakistan was played again as the PCM Management Team came up to the stage next setting the stage for the organization’s President Qumar Ashraf to give a short speech. He thanked the event sponsors for their support without which this event would not have been possible. He also explained why we do this event. Our kids see what Pakistan is about and understand its culture. And while they grow up here and their parents teach them at home, when they see a big crowd like this, they understand a bit better, he said.
As Khydeeja explained on stage that our community does not live separate from the mainstream she next invited candidate for US Congress Mai Vang to the stage to say a few words. Mai is in a tough fight against an established Democrat this November and asks for our support. She comes from an immigrant family herself and understands our concerns better than her opponent. And speaking of local politics, a candidate for Sacramento County Supervisor District 1 Dr Flo Cofer (file photo) also spoke on stage here. And her November opponent, Sacramento’s Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra, was also present. In other politics, two topics also highlighted at this event were Kashmir and Palestine. And speaking of the latter our adopted “Pakistani” brother Basim Elkarra of CAIR-Action was here and surprised us all by speaking in Urdu (with tech assistance).
The closing entertainment segment was also a big attraction this year as Sherry Khan (this young man can really sing), a Pakistani Michael Jackson performer (moonwalk and all), guest artiste Shehzad Sultan, and Pakistani superstar Ali Zafar performed to the delight of the thousands of attendees. Ali Zafar pulled off quite a media surprise earlier in the week with an impressive interview on local TV (KXTV/ABC10) with Mark S. Allen which gave this Pakistan Independence Day event greater visibility. Ali delivered quite a professional performance and it would be difficult to pinpoint even one bad song sung. But the high point for us was when he presented a Pakistani provincial songs tour starting with songs in Balochi, Pashto, Sindhi and ending with Punjabi. His Urdu songs are already extremely popular here as many young people knew them well and sang along.
To conclude, one needs to congratulate the PCM team for all their hard work in hosting the largest Pakistani American event that I have ever covered in 35 years of reporting in California. You have made our entire community proud!
The raffle held was extremely popular, and the closing fireworks were a fantastic addition this year. It was wonderful to see our entire community get together and enjoy great food and drink, shop, and socialize. One hopes and prays that this PCM effort will successfully continue. And to sign off with an encore from last year: Both Pakistan and America Zindabad (Dil Se-From the Heart).
