New Jersey. August 25, 2024 – Members of the Pakistani American community, in New Jersey, along with Washington based First Pakistan Global, organized a major conference in Piscataway, New Jersey, to address the ongoing human rights crisis and political instability in Pakistan. Event, titled as “Pakistan Civil and Human Rights Conference” held on Sunday, attended by more than 500 professionals, activists and community leaders from cities across the states of New Jersey and New York, was one of the biggest events of its kind in recent months anywhere in the United States. And this community gathering did something unusual. They demanded Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Asim Munir to resign!
The Pakistani American diaspora stands firmly for democracy, justice, and human rights in Pakistan.
Pakistani Americans in New Jersey, have become the first community to boldly demand resignation of Gen. Asim Munir to save Pakistan and its Army! Soon this will be slogan on every… pic.twitter.com/RoZBipHeOp— FirstPakistanGlobal (@FirstPakGlobal) August 27, 2024
Organizers of the conference, led by Tariq Khan, and Saad Abbassi, were able to collect an impressive mix of diverse opinion makers on one platform. These included Ryan Grim of Drop Site, who earned respect of Pakistani diasporas for his investigative stories as Bureau Chief Intercept in Washington and Eric Sperling, Executive Director Foreign Policy who has been helping community with HR-901 through Congress and earlier Donald Lu Hearing in the House Foreign Affairs committee.
Mr. Anwar Iqbal, Dawn’s Correspondent in Washington, Arif Ansar, Ahmed Noorani of Fact Focus and Barrister Ehetesham Amir Uddin, TV Anchor who is in the US these days were other panelists. Session was introduced by Dr. Usman Malik of First Pakistan Global and was moderated by Dr. Moeed Pirzada, prominent TV Anchor and founding editor Global Village Space (GVS) who is currently residing in Washington.
The “Save Pakistan Resolution 2024” was adopted by the Pakistani American diaspora during a “Civil & Human Rights Conference” held in New Jersey, USA.
Resolution and Charter of Demands for Restoring Democracy, Justice, and Rule of Law in Pakistan
We, the members and supporters…
— FirstPakistanGlobal (@FirstPakGlobal) August 27, 2024
This three-hour interactive panel discussion was kick started by Dr. Moeed Pirzada who began by thanking the New Jersey community and expressed his appreciation for the unusually large gathering of professionals that included physicians, businessmen and IT professionals. Panelists, starting with Dawn’s Anwar Iqbal, took turns on focusing on different aspects of Pakistani crisis, role of the Armed Forces in creating it and the unusual tolerance with which Biden Administration treated worst human right abuses in Pakistan’s history and what a possible political change in the US in November will mean for Pakistan.
Will Trump help Imran Khan?
Ryan Grim, who was following Democratic Convention and had thus joined by a video link, earned a big applause of the audience when he observed that Trump’s entry into the White House may help Imran Khan especially if his team is made to take interest in the plight of Imran Khan. However, others like Eric Sperling, Anwar Iqbal and Arif Ansar did not agree with him. They thought that such is the nature of US interest that President alone cannot change the course.
Eric Sperling explained the dynamics behind the large vote (368 to 7) in HR-901, when in a rare bipartisan consensus, members of the US House of Representative, demanded Biden Administration to urge a transparent investigation of Pakistan’s Feb Elections. But insisted that this is the beginning of the political journey of Pakistani Americans, and that they have a long way to go.
Moeed Pirzada kept on shuffling between the panelists and the audience who were frantic with their questions and comments. Most in the audience were alarmed and visibly upset on the deterioration of democratic principles in Pakistan, erosion of civil liberties, suppression of dissent, and systematic undermining of the judiciary. Many expressed their disbelief on the role played by Pakistan Army and wondered why Pakistani public is not erupting on streets like recently in Bangladesh. Anwar Iqbal, of Dawn, took lead in explaining that Bengalis are a nation, shaped by the crucible of history, with one language and culture while Pakistan is a collection of many sub-nationalities who find it difficult to unite on a common political agenda.
A significant part of the conference was devoted to discussing the role of the military in Pakistan’s current political landscape. Both the panelists and participants expressed deep concern over the military’s pervasive influence in all aspects of life in Pakistan, from business and politics to bureaucracy. They emphasized that the military’s entanglement in civilian affairs has undermined democratic governance and stifled economic progress. The discussion also explored potential reforms to redefine the military’s role, advocating for a clear separation between military and civilian spheres of influence. Examples of Bangladesh and Turkey kept cropping up.
Pakistan’s Downfall: Who is responsible?
The conference remained interactive and busy through activities running side by side along with panel discussion. For instance, organizers had, at the very outset distributed a written poll question among audience. This poll titled, “Pakistan’s Downfall: Who is responsible?” collected written responses from the participants to avoid any errors of calculation. This poll gave audience four choices: Chief Justice Qazi Isa, PM Shahbaz Sharif, President Zardari and Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir.
Press Release: Pakistani American Community Leads Civil and Human Rights Conference in New Jersey
New Jersey, August 25, 2024 – The Pakistani American community in New Jersey, along with First Pakistan Global, organized a pivotal conference at the Holiday Inn Events Center in… pic.twitter.com/Vfn1WeP8dp
— FirstPakistanGlobal (@FirstPakGlobal) August 28, 2024
By the time poll was concluded within the first hour, more than 300 had already voted in writing. Though more people were joining in and may have voted but organizers wanted to conclude to announce results. And the results, announced by the moderator, Dr. Moeed Pirzada, reading from a piece of paper, stunned many. 201 out of 305 voted to hold Army Chief, Gen. Asim Munir responsible for Pakistan’s downfall, this makes around 68%. Around 16% (43 votes) thought that Qazi Isa was the biggest problem, around 9% (21 votes) blamed Shahbaz Sharif and only 6% (12 votes). While there was no fifth option, but 9% voters, on their own, added another category, “All of the above” and blamed all the four top decision makers equally responsible for the mess Pakistan is in.
During the conference, some participants from the New Jersey community, carried around a banner with a slogan demanding that Gen. Asim Munir must resign. Later on, such banners were also seen displayed outside the conference venue. The conference concluded with the adoption of a resolution calling for the immediate restoration of civilian supremacy, the protection of fundamental rights, and the enforcement of the rule of law in Pakistan. The resolution includes a comprehensive action plan and a charter of demands aimed at mobilizing support both within the Pakistani diaspora and the international community. And has been tweeted since then along with a brief press release and some pictures.
The New Jersey Conference, with it’s huge participation and enthusiasm, proves once again that the Pakistani American community is unique amongst all Pakistani diasporas for taking a clear unambiguous position for a just, democratic, and free Pakistan. This is perhaps something to do with the egalitarian nature of American society and the structure of Pakistani community that consists of successful professional classes and entrepreneurs.