I watched the Obama Inauguration; while watching the proceedings, a lot of things went through my mind, including PSNT. Here are my thoughts.
When Justice Sonya Sotomayor’s name was called, I choked with emotion, I had to get away for a few moments, and when poet Blanco said, 20 children were absent in the class room, I let my eyes well up. A few other moments of tenderness were when John Boehner was introduced as son of a Janitor four years ago, and when Barack Obama won the election on November 4, 2008 I cried. He gave hope to the minorities around the world, at least in America; everyone can be who she or he wants to be, they have the opportunity.
This is the America I had always dreamt of, an America where every human is valued, and an America where everyone has the chance to be whoever he or she wants to be, for a while I went into a different world of contrasts and felt the anguish of the minorities around the world. I hope we can be a role model to the world.
The civility of a society is measured by how they treat their voiceless, women, minorities, children and above all, how they act when they lose. A few Republicans have said every possible bad word about Obama, but today, both the Republicans and Democrats sat together, walked in together… the transformation of the power was respectful. I have witnessed that in many non-profit organizations as well; they put things behind regardless, and move on.
I received two emails, one was congratulating the PSNT, but had a few words of disgrace towards the others, and the other one had bad words for PSNT from the word go. As a moderator I have the responsibility to keep dignity of the group, so each one of you can feel proud of it, and I will not post any derogatory words about any one in our community, and we are all one community. I want to do my work with joy.
I must laud the efforts of Dr. Amer Suleman, who did not let anyone get down and dirty under his banner, under his name. Instead he took the high road to initiate another organization. Congratulations! There are 20-25000 Pakistanis in town or may be more, no single organization can serve them all, I urge both of you to do good work for the community, compete in overdoing each other, and the community will be the beneficiary. Get new members instead of fighting for the existing ones… you will be proud of new membership. After a few years, you might consider combing the efforts out of good will.
But for God’s sake put things behind. If you congratulate, congratulate with goodwill and a good heart. Let your words build the community instead of tearing each other. No one will gain from bad mouthing the other.
If I get killed in an accident today, I hope, you would at least say Inna Lillahi O inna Ilaihi Ur rajeeoon and forgive me, and if anyone of you croaks, I will do the same.
If you have the time, please attend the 6th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides. It is about Holocaust, Sikh Genocide, Bangladeshi Genocide, Stereo typing and standing up for others. Don’t judge anything, you will be sorely disappointed. Kindly note, it is a serious event and not entertainment, It requires a lot of listening and pondering without reactions. In the last 5 years we have focused on 18 Genocides, and we have another 30 to go, and we hope to cover them all in the next ten years, so no one is left unattended.
Check the site www.HolocaustandGenocides.com and RSVP (on the site) if you wish to attend.
Insha Allah, I will be writing a full article about the inauguration to be published at Washington post, meanwhile, I wrote a note about Obama’s bridge building skills at Dallas Morning News - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/01/texas-faith-what-is-americas-common-creed-and-how-do-we-forge-it-together.html/
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