Archive for category: News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PAKPAC Calls on Biden Administration & Congress to Review Concerns about Interference in Pakistan’s Election, Announces 75 Congressional Co-Sponsors on Resolution regarding Democracy in Pakistan

Washington D.C. – The Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC) joins in the chorus of concerns of vote counting irregularities by the Pakistani Election officials to overturn the clear will of the Pakistani people.

As a demonstration of the growing support in the US Congress for democracy in Pakistan, PAKPAC is also announcing that its members have secured 80 cosponsors in the House of Representatives for H. Res. 901, “Expressing support for democracy and human rights in Pakistan.”

The resolution affirms strong support for democracy in Pakistan, including free and fair elections reflecting the will of the people of Pakistan, and condemns attempts to suppress the people of Pakistan’s participation in their democracy, as well as any effort to subvert the political, electoral, or judicial processes of Pakistan. H. Res. 901, introduced by Rep. McCormick (R-GA) and Rep. Kildee (D-MI), urges Pakistan’s government to uphold democratic institutions, human rights, and the rule of law. The resolution also calls on the President and the Secretary of State to work with the government of Pakistan to ensure democracy and human rights are upheld.

Given the recent strong statements by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, and other prominent lawmakers in support of Pakistani democracy, we urge the Biden Administration and Congress to look into strong concerns of vote counting irregularities and ballot tampering.

The discrepancy between the preliminary and final results raises serious concerns about the fairness of the elections and threatens the democratic principles we hold dear.  We urge the Biden Administration and Congress to advocate for transparency and accountability in Pakistan’s electoral process, supporting the people of Pakistan in their demand for a just electoral outcome.

PAKPAC

Pakistani-American community leaders from across the nation have been hard at work urging their members of Congress to support H.Res.901.

Since the bill was introduced late last month, the following member of Congress have signed onto the resolution:

Recently, The Intercept, a US-based non-profit news organization, broke a story obtained from classified Pakistani diplomatic documents which describes how in 2022 the US State Department met with representatives of Pakistan’s embassy in DC and encouraged them to depose then Prime Minister Imran Khan.

PAKPAC is taking a leading role in condemning these efforts to remove Imran Khan and we are doing our part to encourage Congress to investigate America’s role in regime change in Pakistan.

Using our software which automatically finds and writes your member of Congress we implore you to write to your representative and urge them to investigate the Biden administration’s involvement in the regime change initiative in Pakistan.

Please write to your representative by clicking here.

(Top Left) PAKPAC National Board Member Dr. Umar Farooq and Pennsylvania Pakistani-American community leader Dr. Imran Amir with Congresswoman Madeleine Dean. (Top Right) PAKPAC National Board Member Ijaz Chaudhry, Congresswoman Dean, and Dr. Farooq. (Bottom) Congresswoman Dean and Pennsylvania Pakistani-American youth leaders.

PAKPAC is spotlighting some of our numerous state chapters and there is no better place to start than in Pennsylvania – the quintessential swing state which will play a decisive role in the upcoming 2024 election.

Since PAKPAC‘s founding in 1989 we have always had strong roots in Pennsylvania. These roots were permanently cemented this year through the founding of our Pennsylvania chapter, The founding of this chapter would not have been possible without the leadership of Pennsylvania Pakistani-American community leader Dr. Imran Amir.

PAKPAC has two key board members from Pennsylvania:

• Ijaz Chaudhry, an accomplished lawyer and member of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee who has devoted his law career to strengthening civil liberties for all Pennsylvanians.
• Dr. Umar Farooq, board certified in internal medicine, is a Certified Medical Director, and Civil Surgeon for USCIS. Dr. Farooq was elected as a Member of the PA Democratic State Committee in May 2022 and is the Chairman of the PA Dems New Americans & Ethnic Coordinating Caucus.

PAKPAC also funds the campaigns of a large number of Congressional champions of the Pakistani-American community in Pennsylvania such as:

• Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) [Pictured below speaking at our 2019 Bipartisan Open House]

• Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
• Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA)
• Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-PA) [Learn more about her in our member of the week spotlight below]
• Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
• Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA)
• Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA)

In 2020 the election was in-part decided by the vote in Pennsylvania and many analysts expect it to be close again. PAKPAC‘s Pennsylvania chapter is perfectly situated to get out the Pakistani-American vote in a big way this 2024 and make our communities voice heard louder than ever.

We can’t wait to see what this chapter can accomplish!

Election 2024 Discussion with
Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY) Recap

PAKPAC extends a huge thank you to Congresswoman Grace Meng and the 40+ PAKPAC members who joined us for this important discussion. Among the topics discussed were the upcoming election, the political situation in Pakistan and what the Congresswoman is doing to alleviate Democratic backsliding and human rights abuses through her position on the House Appropriations subcommittee for Foreign Operations, the unfolding situation with the Speaker of the House votes, and the crisis in Gaza.

It was an enlightening discussion and we hope you learned as much as we did. Stay tuned for more Election 2024 Zoom Discussions like this with PAKPAC champions as we continue to inch closer and closer to the next election.