Page 19 - Pakistan Link - October 19, 2018

COMMUNITY OCTOBER 19, 2018 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19
Sacramento Mayor Visits Historic Mosque to Promote Measure U

n By Ras H. Siddiqui
lion in revenue per year comes from grown in both size and visibility as him and proceeded to give our es- Sacramento should vote “Yes” on its
the existing Measure U tax.” This it provides the much needed ser- teemed guest a background of the passage in the upcoming Novem-
he Mayor of the City of measure took effect on April 1st (no vices to the under-served and poor Muslim community of the region ber election. The money raised by
Sacramento, Darrell Stein- pun intended) 2013 and is set to ex- population of the area. The Mayor which was represented primarily by this tax goes into the General Fund
Tberg, visited the Downtown pire next year on March 31st. Mayor took his time at Shifa and appeared people of South Asian origins. Some which benefits many programs in-
Sacramento Muslim Mosque on Steinberg is now supporting a 1-cent to be impressed by the young people of these pioneers even took part in cluding those helping area youth,
Saturday, September 29, 2018 not sales tax (an additional 1/2-cent) volunteering here and by the overall India’s freedom struggle from the parks, police and fire departments
only to see first-hand some of the with a new Measure U which will contribution made to the people in British and their graves can be found and the library. The Mayor’s efforts
continuing contributions that this be on the ballot in the November 6, this city by the Muslim community in the old cemeteries of Sacramento. to target homelessness and mental
place has made to the local com- 2018 elections. which initiated this effort. The Downtown Sacramento Muslim health were also discussed. An ab-
munity but also to promote his The Mayor arrived earlier than Next, he moved up to the main Mosque was established in 1947 and sorbing question-and-answer ses-
agenda and do some outreach expected, ate lunch at the Imam’s Mosque where close to 100 people is considered to be the oldest Mus- sion followed the Mayor’s speech.
work amongst members of this office and then proceeded to greet (including Muslim ladies) waited to lim place of worship west of the Mis- Two things stood out at this
congregation. people in the Mosque courtyard as hear from him. It should be noted sissippi river in this country. event: 1) Mosques in America are
A major agenda item is known they stepped out after Zuhr prayers that the Mayor is Jewish and the The Mayor, in his speech, high- more than places of worship, they
as Measure U which was originally around 2pm. He was also given a congregation gathered to hear him lighted the importance of building are also a community. 2) That com-
passed in Sacramento in November, tour of the Shifa Community Clin- here was almost exclusively Muslim local community through the inclu- munity is tied to the greater commu-
2012 “as a temporary ½-cent sales ic attached to this religious facility (the American experience is amaz- sion of its diversity. He also shared nity around it and needs to partici-
tax to restore and protect police and where one can receive health care in ing). Imam Mumtaz Qasmi wel- with us the reasons which attracted pate within it. Additional taxes (even
fire services, park maintenance, and the Spanish, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, comed him as did Br Tahir Muham- him to seek the Mayor’s office. He ½%) are not popular but what the
other essential City services that Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, French, Ko- mad, the President of the Muslim thanked everyone for their contin- tax is for is most important for the
were cut between 2008 and 2013. rean, Telugu and Nepali languages. Mosque Association. Area leader ued support and explained the mer- City of Sacramento. Please vote “Yes”
Between $40 million and $47 mil- Established in 1994 this clinic has Brother Rashid Ahmed introduced its of Measure U and why people in on Measure U on November 6th.

number of American Muslims are Judge Dhanidina Is Raising mand he exerts over a courtroom. He has
successfully vying for public of- also leaned into his various identities, serv-
A fice or have risen up the ranks of ing as a founding member of the Associa-
their respective fields. In a continuation of the Bar in California tion of South Asian Prosecutors, as well as
MPAC series highlighting these trailblaz- a member of the Asia Pacific American and
ers, we are directing our attention to Los South Asian Bar Association.
Angeles, and specifically to the work of In rising up in his professional ranks,
Judge Halim Dhanidina. Judge Dhanidina Dhanidina has noticed that some Ameri-
was recently confirmed as a justice to the cans will take issue with American Muslims
California Court of Appeal for the Second regardless of whether they insulate within
District, becoming the first Muslim and their communities or engage in more gen-
South Asian-American justice in the his- eral public affairs. In grappling with this
tory of the California Courts of Appeals. double-bind, as well as with a personal un-
Dhanidina served as the deputy district certainty over whether “he knew enough
attorney for Los Angeles County from 1998 about his own religion to speak for it in pub-
until 2012, when Governor Jerry Brown ap- lic,” Dhanidina has realized the power of his
pointed him to a judgeship in the Los Ange- voice in articulating what Islam is and the
les County Superior Court. Dhanadina has good it serves in the world. In centering his
left no doubts about his commitment to both faith as a catalytic force behind his profes-
democratic values and the overall American sional success while also keeping his faith
experiment. separate from his judicial decisions, Dhanid-
To those with whom he works and for ina disrupts the stereotypical image of what
whom he serves, Dhanidina has won praise a Muslim looks like to the general American
for his crisp prosecutorial style and the com- public. - MPAC
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