Page 19 - Pakistan Link - November 15, 2019

COMMUNITY NOVEMBER 15, 2019 – PAKISTAN LINK – P19
Muslim Democrats Make History in Virginia Elections Faith over Law: Indian Americans
Babri Masjid Judgement Prefers

n By Dominique Mosbergen would have to pull mace and that he Indian American Mus-
it would escalate and devolve into lim Council (IAMC), an
emocrats Ghazala Hashmi everything it was that night, over a Tadvocacy group dedicated
and Abrar Omeish made minor traffic violation,” she said. to safeguarding India’s pluralist
Dhistory in Virginia’s elec- A Fairfax County police and tolerant ethos, has expressed
tions on Tuesday. In a surprise vic- spokeswoman told the Post that dismay at the Indian Supreme
tory, Hashmi unseated incumbent Omeish “actively resisted arrest.” Court’s ruling that a Hindu temple
Republican Glen Sturtevant in the In an April blog post on Medi- be built on a site where the Babri
state Senate, and Omeish clinched um, Hashmi described her terror as Mosque stood for five centuries
one of three vacant seats on the she watched the Trump administra- until Hindu extremists razed it 27
Fairfax County School Board. tion roll out its racist immigration years ago.
Celebrating her win, Omeish, agenda - and how that fueled her Calling the judgement a mix-
24, said she was the youngest wom- desire to run for office. ture of glaring contradictions,
an to hold elected office in Virginia’s “What triggered my panic was IAMC has urged Indian Muslims
history and also the first Muslim not so much the deliberate and cal- to pursue legal avenues such as fil-
woman to be elected in the state. She lous way the administration sought ing of a review petition before the
shares that second accolade with to criminalize people and commu- Court. The Supreme Court’s ruling
Hashmi, who is also Muslim. nities on the basis of their faith, but emboldens the decades’ old project
Hashmi is the first Muslim to rather the casual ease with which we of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
be elected to the state Senate, the were now willing to accept — as le- Hindu extremist Rashtriya Sway-
Richmond Times-Dispatch report- gitimate legal action — this assault amsevak Sangh (RSS) — whose
ed. Two Muslim men - Democrats on our democratic values. And I had thousands of members had crimi-
Ibraheem Samirah and Sam Rasoul to wonder: do I, a Muslim Ameri- nally razed the mosque in 1992 and
- currently serve in Virginia’s Gen- can who has lived in this country who were yet to be punished for it
eral Assembly. otherwise not been engaged by reg- cratic Rep Ilhan Omar of Minne- for close to 50 years, have a home in — to make India a Hindu Rashtra
Hashmi’s win was part of the istering 1,500 new voters and train- sota, Omeish said she hadn’t antici- this country any longer?” she wrote. (nation) and turn India’s 200 mil-
blue wave that swept Virginia on ing hundreds of new volunteers,” pated the baseless “ignorance and “I decided to run for the State lion Muslims, who are its largest
Tuesday. Democrats successfully Omeish’s campaign said in a state- animosity” she’d come up against. Senate because in 400 years of the minority, into second-class citizens.
flipped both houses of the state ment celebrating her victory to an “I underestimated how much General Assembly — the oldest leg- “The Supreme Court’s ruling
legislature. The election has been at-large seat. diversity and being a minority for islative body in America — Virgin- is of a piece with the Modi govern-
described as a possible “watershed” “She strives towards facilitating me has shaped how I think about ians have never elected a Muslim ment’s revocation of special status
moment for the once-conservative a school system that believes fully in others. So it surprised me to see woman to office,” Hashmi contin- of Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only
Southern state. the potential of the leader in every how shameless people can be in how ued. “I decided to run for the State Muslim-majority state, and the de-
“Today we sent a message that child and believes that the invest- they behave or express themselves Senate because if marginalized com- cision to incarcerate half a million
the status quo is no longer accept- ment in that child is worthwhile no against me,” she said. munities like mine don’t stand up Muslims in detention centers in the
ed,” a victorious Hashmi wrote on matter their race, ethnicity, socio- Earlier this year, Omeish made for ourselves, we can’t expect others state of Assam,” said IAMC Nation-
Twitter. economic status, religion, gender, headlines after she was allegedly to do it for us.” al President Ahsan Khan.
Omeish, along with Democrats sexual orientation, or immigration pepper-sprayed and forced to re- Elsewhere on Tuesday, Safiya It is bizarre that although the
Karen Keys-Gamarra and Rachna status,” the campaign continued. move her headscarf during a routine Khalid became the first Somali- Supreme Court accepted that Hin-
Sizemore Heizer, won the three Omeish has been open in the traffic stop. American to be elected to the Lew- du extremists had illegally installed
open seats on the Fairfax County past about the discrimination she’s She told The Washington Post iston City Council in Maine; and idols inside the mosque in 1949,
School Board. faced and the challenges she’s had to in June that she had committed a Nadia Mohamed became the first and then also illegally demolished
“Abrar’s campaign worked hard overcome as a Muslim woman striv- traffic violation - turning right on Muslim and Somali-American to the mosque in 1992, the Court has
to elevate young voices and those of ing for elected office. a red light- but said the officer used be elected to the St Louis Park City nonetheless chosen to award the
underserved and underrepresented Speaking to HuffPost in May in unnecessary force. Council in Minnesota. site’s possession to these very claim-
communities, proactively reach- the aftermath of President Donald “It makes no logical sense to me This article originally appeared ants.
ing out to constituencies who have Trump’s public attacks on Demo- that, within three minutes, an officer on HuffPost. JUDGMENT, P28
Pakistani Americans Express Support for Al Mustafa Trust’s Healthcare Work

gathering of Pakistani- preneurs, and members of the com- services through state-of-the-art fare work the Trust has been doing fraz, a member Council of Trustees,
Americans expressed their munity. equipment with a team of dedicated for the past two decades. informed the gathering about the
A wholehearted support for Chairman of Al Mustafa Trust, volunteers and medical practitio- He said the Trust will be “add- progress that Al Mustafa Trust has
the primary healthcare work that Muhammad Mustafa Khan, who is ners in remote areas as well as major ing more facilities and equipment to made over the years and highlighted
Al Mustafa Trust is providing to in the United States for a series of medical centers. Currently, the Trust our existing network”. the transparency and effectiveness of
the underprivileged across Paki- events to introduce the work of the provides primary healthcare to one He also spoke about how the its working.
stan. organization, apprised the gather- million people annually. Trust is filling the missing links in Syed Shahid Ahmed, Trustee of
M. Rao Zubair, a community ing of the services provided through Khan, who is a retired general, Pakistan’s healthcare services, par- Al Mustafa Charitable Trust USA,
member, hosted the fund-raising medical centers, dispensaries, and appreciated the Pakistani-American ticularly in remote areas, where a said the Trust is a registered 501(c)
event, attended by California-based mobile vans. community for their keen interest timely diagnosis can save many lives. (3) non-profit charitable organiza-
Pakistani-American doctors, entre- The medical facilities provide and expression of support for wel- Brigadier retd Muhammad Sar- tion.
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