Pakistani Americans sing songs of free country

By. Javed Ali Kalhoro

June 2, 2014
Published in Weekly Pulse magazine

Photo by Javed Ali Kalhoro
White thick layer of snow everywhere in Washington DC, the sad cold weather forcing everyone
to get back to homes as soon as possible, some of them are putting on metro train and some are
waiting for the metro bus. I am also standing under a tree using it as a shelter to avoid extreme
cold. I am rubbing my hands too quickly to make myself warmer just like everyone in there. My
body is shivering due to intense cold there. I see a person sitting on a chair in front of U.S
Capitol Hills, wearing a thick jacket and black glasses too. He keeps on watching the building
and smiling. Sometimes looks up in the sky and opens his arms just as he wants to hug someone.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. I can see him breathing so high, cold smoke coming
out of his mouth and nose. He is not well, "I thought", probably he is a beggar, but why he is
sitting in front of U.S capitol in an open ground where it is snowing so heavily. Nobody like this
snow and so do I, then who is he who seems to enjoy it. Somehow, I went bit close to him, saw
him bit closer, he seemed like any Indian or Pakistani guy in his late50s, with white moustache. I
said Hi to him, he offered me to join him for two minutes. I asked him, what he is doing in this
blazing weather. He replied, I am from Pakistan, and I am living in the United States for last
more than two decades. Before I die, he went on to say, I want to enjoy each and every moment
of my life in this country. I don't know why people are not enjoying this weather; it's indeed an
amazing weather, very clean, very independent and very friendly. Every single breath in the
United States does make me realize that I am independent. I have all rights to live independently.
This makes me realize that despite the fact that I am living here for last twenty years, but even
then everything is new to me and welcoming me in every manner. This U.S Capitol makes me
realize that the building is standing there for me, This weather makes me realize that I am its
own, this feeling of sitting alone on a chair having no body with me makes me realize that the
entire country is with me. This is the feeling that I am enjoying here, Can I ever enjoy this
feeling back in Pakistan? Can I ever sit in front of our Parliament house so long? Does Pakistan
provide me any freedom and rights just like in the U.S? Whenever I think of this, I smile and I
loop up in the sky to pay thanks to God for providing me an opportunity to breath in an
independent and pure country. He told me that his name is Aslam and he runs a hot dog
store near to National Mall in Washington.
I am a Pakistani journalist from Pakistan and I had a chance to visit Washington and met so
many Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis. I found every person here with interesting stories but
everybody carries same feeling about the United States of America that it is the country that
welcomes everyone, no matter what color or country you belong to, if you are in America, the
country is yours and you are an American just like other permanent Americans living next to
your block.
I am a Pakistani journalist from Pakistan and I had a chance to visit Washington and met so
many Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis. I found every person here with interesting stories but
everybody carries same feeling about the United States of America that it is the country that
welcomes everyone, no matter what color or country you belong to, if you are in America, the
country is yours and you are an American just like other permanent Americans living next to
your block.
Asad Choudhry, a property dealer in the same city is doing business for last many years and is a
US national now. Asad says that after 9/11 incident, dozens of Pakistanis had to leave the United
States and they sold their properties at comparatively low prices. Somehow more than 80 percent
people who left for Pakistan after 9/11 had to come back to the U.S as they felt more insecure in
Pakistan than they pertained in the United States. Asad does community work every week and he
gathers all Pakistanis together to share their problems. He also arranges meetings between the
representatives in the U.S administration and Pakistani community in order to discuss issues
related to the betterment of community. But this is a very rare practice in Pakistan where people
can meet their representative directly and discuss their issues, says Asad. We are happy that the
political leaders here in the United States listen to us. They do bother what we feel about them
and they do follow our requests on any issue related to the community or Pakistan. There is no
Sunni Shia concept here, everybody is free to practice his/her religion independently. Nobody
can raise a question on your religious affiliation. As per American laws, you cannot get in to any
other's privacy until the opposite side allows you to. You cannot interfere in any other religion at
all. Every Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Jew is treated the same way in America.
Pakistani community in the United States are defined as Asian Americans. They are considered
as the most important part of her society especially in any election campaigning. Their vote carry
equal importance as there are more than 3.5 million Pakistanis which is around 0.01% of
population of the United States (as per 2010 census). They also contribute to Pakistan's economy
by sending foreign remittances to their country, which now a days is the greatest source of
Pakistan's economy. Despite the fact that Asian Americans are now holding U.S passports, they
have right to protest against U.S biased policies towards Pakistan. They still believe that the
United States has provided them all facilities and hundreds of rights to live in a better way, but at
the same times, they are part of their native country and that is Pakistan for what they still feel
proud of.
ENDS