News

Application of Religious Law in U.S. Courts: Selected Legal Issues

Controversy has surrounded attempts by several state legislatures to limit the consideration of Islamic religious law (commonly referred to as sharia) or religious law generally, in domestic courts. In one of the most publicized examples, Oklahoma voters definitively approved a state constitutional amendment that prohibited state courts from considering “sharia law,” but the amendment has not taken effect pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. Other states have introduced variations of this limitation, with some generally prohibiting the use of religious principles in domestic courts.

Critics have questioned the constitutionality of several recently proposed or enacted measures under the religion clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or showing preference among religions or between religion and non-religion. Read More

Promoting tax culture in Pakistan

Pakistan Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, who has earned respect for presenting out-of-box budgetary proposals for the next financial year, Friday made an impassioned appeal to the rich, legislators and media ‘moguls’ to carry out their national duty by paying taxes as per their income and capacity. Winding up general debate on the new budget, he vowed to expand the tax-net and go after the tax dodgers. We strongly believe that it is a pertinent call by the Minister and all those who are target audience of the message must listen to him for the sake of the country. Tax-to-GDP ratio in Pakistan is shamefully low but ironically those who do not pay their taxes and are known to be involved in tax evasion are in the forefront of the criticism of the Government vis-à-vis expenditure on social sector like health, education and clean drinking water. These people have no right to give sermons when they themselves are guilty of white collar crimes and have been enjoying incentives, packages, and perks and privileges under different pretexts and garbs. Unfortunately, there are some classes that not only paid no taxes but also took away a significant chunk of the taxpayers’ money ever since creation of Pakistan but resisted all attempts and plans to bring them into tax net. Read More

Beyond Bullets and Bombs - Nancy Birdsall, Wren Elhai, Molly Kinder

Pakistan’s development and prosperity matter to the United States. Instability in Pakistan is both an immediate and long-term threat to Americans’ security. That is no more or less true after the revelation that Osama bin Laden was hiding out less than two hours’ drive from Pakistan’s capital city. The Obama administration and Congress recognize that physical insecurity is closely related to economic and political instability. Since 2009, they have ramped up support for long-term development as part of a new approach to engage with Pakistan. In this report we discuss why support for Pakistan’s long-term development makes sense; how to improve the planning and implementation of the U.S. development program, which is not yet on a clear or steady course; and what substantive elements could contribute to a strong U.S. development strategy in Pakistan. Read Complete Report

Through blogs and tweets, new generation of Pakistanis push for change

Meet Pakistan’s “Teeth Maestro,” a dentist who uses his blog to get to the root of the country’s many pains. One day it might be trigger-happy soldiers. Another day it’s corrupt bureaucrats. Sometimes, it’s U.S. meddling.

The Teeth Maestro is among a growing group of bloggers, tweeters and others using the Web to influence Pakistani society and government. These activists are providing a more nuanced perspective than Pakistan’s mainstream media, where right-wing TV talk shows tend to dominate the national discussion. Read More

From software engineer to social entrepreneur – Amina Nawaz

There aren’t a lot of positive headlines coming out of Pakistan these days. Between the bombings, drone attacks, and tensions with the U.S., it can be difficult to remember there’s much more to this country than its fight against terrorism – that there are inspired, optimistic, and determined people on the ground working hard to build better lives for the nation’s most vulnerable. Saba Gul is one of those people.

After earning, not one, but two degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and landing a comfortable job as a software engineer in Minneapolis, the 28-year-old Pakistani native took an unusual step. She quit her job, and moved back home. Read More

Community Alert

President Obama Announces Series for Young Americans

President Obama met with a number of inspiring young Americans in the West Wing to de-brief on the “100 Youth Roundtables” Initiative. In that session, young folks reflected on the feedback given to the White House during the course of the initiative. They discussed issues regarding environmental regulations, community organizations, legislation that the President supports, and how to really make a difference all around. To follow up on that feedback, the President announced a new series that will take us through the summer, called, “How to Make Change.” Check out video of his announcement here. PAKPAC strongly encourages Pakistani American youth to participate in this program. This series will specifically foster a conversation between young Americans, advocates, and the White House on the issues that matter to us all. What are specific deliverables you would like to see? What tools can we offer you so that you can achieve what you set out to achieve? Let White House know!

Viewpoint

American aid: myth and reality -Imtiaz Gul

"We provide more support than Saudi Arabia, China, and everybody else combined, but I will stand here and admit that I’m not sure many Pakistanis know that,” US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in Islamabad on May 27. She was talking to the press after meetings with Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership. At the same time, she delivered another warning: “America cannot and should not solve Pakistan’s problems. That’s up to Pakistan. But in solving its problems, Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make problems disappear. It is up to the Pakistani people to choose what kind of country they wish to live in and it is up to the leaders of Pakistan to deliver results for the people.”

This warning got lost in the verbose pronouncements that Clinton and Admiral Mike Mullen made during their interaction with the press. The crux of the message was, if you don’t play ball, don’t expect anything from us either.

The reject-US-aid chorus from Nawaz Sharif and other right-wing parties the next day therefore came as no surprise. These leaders believe that Pakistan can survive without US aid, as it did for several years after the post-nuclear sanctions after May 1998.

Considering the influence that the US has in the international finance institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, the demands to shun American aid altogether and get tough with Washington sound naïve and emotional. This jingoistic view is disconnected from the harsh realities of international relations as well. After directly confronting the US, an embattled Pakistan can hardly curry favor with other major countries, such as leading members of NATO.

Having said that, one also has to scrutinize the claims of billions of American dollars being “dished out” to Pakistan and figure out their impact.

US figures reveal that between 2002 and 2010, security-related funding, including the Coalition Support Funds, amounted to about $14.14 billion. That included the operational cost of the 140,000 Pakistani troops deployed along the 2,560 kilometer border with Afghanistan and training programs for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. These figures also underscored the sharp contrast in the spending patterns in 10 years; almost two-thirds of the amount going into security-related heads, while the social sector and economic infrastructure received the remaining one-third.

The USAID and private contractors spent more than 70 percent of the funds allocated for socio-economic development on their own support infrastructure in the recipient country. Half of the money never leaves the company accounts in the USA. The same is true for such operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hence poor visibility of the much touted “billions of dollars being spent on the well-being of Afghans and Pakistanis”.

This prompted the Ministry of Finance officials to seek US clarifications on how $488.537 million being provided under the Kerry Lugar Law Burmen (KLL) were being spent.

Documents, according to a national newspaper, disclosed that the KLL provided for two modes of assistance: a) ”the budget money worth $1,025.335 million for the year 2010-11, and b) “off the budget” $488.537 million.

Of the $488 million earmarked for “off the budget” assistance, The USA plans to spend $170 million for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE), $106.387 million for Office of Transition (OTI) and $60 million for humanitarian assistance, OTI chief mission (small grants funds) and the prestigious Aga Khan University. The remaining amount of over $240 million will be spent through international NGOs and local NGOs. Pakistani authorities did not know details of this spending.

According to Sartaj Aziz, a former finance minister, “as long as the multilateral aid continues, it won’t impact Pakistan’s economy.” Out of $1.5 billion per annum authorized by Kerry-Lugar-Burman Act, actual disbursements have been $275 million and $676 million during 2009 and 2010 respectively (including the $500 million for relief and recovery after the floods of last summer).

US-Pakistan Ties: Uneasy and Essential - Deborah Jerome

The already fractious relationship between the United States and Pakistan has been further strained in recent days by a series of developments: Pakistan's reported arrest of several citizens for allegedly assisting the May 1 raid by U.S. forces that killed Osama bin Laden; a surge in U.S. drone attacks that have killed suspected militants in Pakistan (Boston Globe); and reports that intelligence shared by U.S. authorities with Pakistani counterparts about bomb-making factories resulted in a tip-off to the bombmakers (UPI), helping them elude capture. Read More

Goldilocks and Afghanistan: How Big a Withdrawal – Donald M. Snow

President Obama’s stated promise to begin the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by July 2011, a commitment he made when he committed 30,000 additional troops to the war early in his presidency, is coming near. The major question is how large a withdrawal he will order, and what the consequences of whatever size drawdown he chooses, will be. He is, of course, suffering from no shortage of advice on what his decision should be, much of it tinged liberally with partisan political and ideological/strategic underpinnings. When one thinks about the prospects, an analogy between the situation and Goldilocks assessment of the three bears’ porridge may not be inappropriate. Read More

Events & Activities

Ambassador Marc Grossman meets with Pakistan American Community

Ambassador Marc Grossman US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan met with members of Pakistan American Community in Washington DC. Grossman was joined by Tim Lenderking, Director Pakistan Desk at State Department. PAKPAC was represented at the meeting by Dr. Salman Malik and Irfan Malik.

Ambassador Grossman accepted that US Pakistan relations have hit several roadblocks in the past few months, however he is hopeful that relations are now getting back to normal, and a planned future tri-lateral meeting between US, Afghanistan, and Pakistan would further improve relations. Of particular promising are improving Pakistan trade relations with its neighbors Afghanistan and India.

Pakistan American Community brought to the attention of State Department officials of disconnect in the American and Pakistan media on the amount and benefit of US economic assistance to Pakistan. They also reiterated the need for more trade and less assistance. Community members also pressed on delays in US visa issuance for Pakistani students and medical doctors.

Ambassador Grossman reminded the audience that US has the largest exchange program for Pakistani students, academics, journalists, and businessmen. He also expanded on  US assistance in the areas of agriculture, child immunization, and control of narcotics. He  talked about replacing the US-Pakistan current retail relationship of government-government to more people to people connections, commerce, education, tourism, and exchanges.

Grossman reiterated a common theme emerging from State Dep’t and USAID of doing  large scale energy projects in Pakistan with requirements of the project being long lasting, create jobs in Pakistan, and has a “Made in USA” stamp.

Senator Ayotte meets PAKPAC President Elect

PAKPAC President-Elect, Salman Malik, met with Senator Kelly Ayotte(NH) to discuss issues important to the Pakistani-American community.  Kelly Ayotte currently serves as the junior Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire.  She is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  A number of issues were discussed, especially the growing Pakistani-American community and its role in American politics.

Dr. Malik requested a “Meet and Greet” for the senator with the Pakistani-American community in New Hampshire.  The relationship between a political leader and its constituents is a two-way street.  One cannot exist without the other.  The Pakistani community in New Hampshire is a microcosm of a trend occurring in the US.  That is, the Pakistani-American youth is growing and is learning politics at the grassroots level.  A good leader must recognize this and learn to make it a positive force.  

With Pakistan in the news everyday, PAKPAC feels it is imperative that our leaders in the US understand the Pakistani perspective.  US-Pakistan relations cannot be ignored.  Part of the problem lies in the lack of adequate communication between the two nations.  Our Pakistani-American community can play an important role in educating our Senators and Congresspersons about what the average Pakistani thinks. 

PAKPAC requests its community to meet its leaders on a regular basis.  We must get involved.  Let your leaders know who you are.  PAKPAC can help with the agenda for the meetings.  Let us know if you have any interest.

PAKPAC pushes for timely issuance of US visas

PAKPAC attended the quarterly Civil Rights Interagency meeting held by Department of Justice in Washington DC. PAKPAC spoke with State Department officials regarding visa delays for Pakistani immigrants who need to arrive in USA on specific dates, like Medical Doctors joining residency programs or students coming for further studies. PAKPAC presented a list of medical doctors who are at risk of losing their spot in residency program unless they can travel to USA before start of residency program. The stakeholders at the meeting discussed a number of issues, including law enforcements response to hate crimes, allegations of profiling by Capitol Police and inappropriate questions by Customs and Border officials towards individuals of South Asian descent.  

Pakistani American meet with Law Enforcement Officials

Leaders from the New Hampshire Muslim community met with the FBI and the US Attorney’s office on May 11th to discuss the role each side should play in combating extremism and alienation.  PAKPAC President-Elect, Salman Malik, and Supervisory Special Agent, Kieran Ramsey from the FBI, helped to organize this effort.  The objective of the meeting was to have local Muslim leaders sit with federal authorities and figure out a way to mutually help one another.

Because of the dual identity of our children, marginalization along with bullying and alienation has become a concern in our community.  The constant barrage of negative news in the media with hate speech by so-called “experts” has made it increasingly difficult to see anything positive coming out of Pakistan or the Muslim community in general. 

PAKPAC wants to make sure that our community members are not being bullied or harassed.  It wants to combat collective guilt and deter hate crimes against the Pakistani-American community.  One of the participants was U.S. Attorney John Kacavas, who offered his assistance in making sure that the Pakistani-American, as well as all Muslims in the community stay safe. 

This will be a collaborative effort where both the community and the authorities will work together.  Nabil Migalli, from the Arab American Forum, and Dr. Mahboubul Hassan, President of the Islamic Society of Greater Manchester, were both present and offered to have a series of meetings at the local Masjid.  These open meetings will be designed to allow community members to speak their mind and also to learn how to work with the authorities to identify suspicious behavior.  The goal is to allow Pakistani-Americans know that they are part of the system.  PAKPAC encourages its community in the US to get involved and be heard.  Hiding our heads in the sand will only lead to further alienation.

Fundraiser

Babur Lateef Fundraiser

Ambassador Raft Mahmood held a reception for Dr. Lateef Candidate for the office of Chair of Supervisors in Prince William County, VA. Dr Lateef told the audience of young Pakistani Americans how he wants to leave a legacy for next generation Pakistani Americans by entering the political arena and running fro local offices. PAKPAC Directors Dr. Parvez Shah and Irfan Malik attended the event. To support Dr. Lateef’s efforts please visit his website www.lateefforchair.com.

Religious Freedom

President Obama Appoints Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, to the USCIRF

President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, Founder and Chair of Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). After the announcement of her appointment to the two-year term, Leonard Leo, the Chair of USCIRF, remarked: "My fellow Commissioners and I are most pleased to welcome Professor al-Hibri to the Commission. She comes with a distinguished record of service as a human rights advocate devoted to the protection of freedom of religion for people of all faiths, and we look forward to working with her".

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibility is to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. Read More

Future Activities

PAKPAC to organize Advocacy Event at APPNA summer meeting

PAKPAC is organizing an event on the benefits of organized Advocacy for the issues faced by Pakistani Americans, and American Muslims. At the event audience will learn about the tools available for organized advocacy, and how to get maximum benefits for your efforts. The event will take place at AAPNA Summer meeting at Convention Center, St Louis, MO on Saturday July 2nd at 12 noon. Room Number TBD, See APPNA program for more details.

Secretary Clinton On US Pakistan policy

Evaluating Goals and Progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Secretary Clinton Presentation at U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Date: Thursday, June 23, 2011; Time: 10:00 AM; Location: 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building, US Capitol, Washington DC

Guest Corner

Overpopulation is Pakistan’s worst enemy-by Shaukat Malik CPA

Every child born through nature’s miracle whether planned or unplanned has certain inherent and inalienable rights. It is not the child’s fault that his parent’s cannot provide for him. Invariably he will end up in a Madrasah and become a target for those who make their living from the evil of terrorism or exploitation of the vulnerable.

Pakistan cannot regain its economic footing without controlling population growth. On average a Pakistani women has four children. This is much higher than Iran at 1.8 and Bangladesh at 2.4 children per woman.  If this is not stopped, Pakistan’s population will expand from today’s 180 Million, not counting Afghan refugees to 335 million by 2050—that is more people than the United States squeezed into a country not much larger than Texas. Pakistan has more children under the age of 14 than the United States. This presents a serious infrastructure challenge to a poor country. Read More

About the Author – Mr. Malik is a certified professional accountant and concerned Pakistani, moved from Potomac MD to Islamabad to make a difference in Pakistan’s struggle for developing good policy and governance.

Announcement

Job Announcement: Foreign Service Information Management Specialists

State Department is now accepting applications for Foreign Service Information Management Specialist positions. Please click here (http://careers.state.gov/specialist/vacancy-announcements/ims) learn more about qualifications and requirements, and to start the online application process.

The deadline to submit completed applications for this position is July 29, 2011.  

CEQ Internship

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) interns are given a wide range of assignments including conducting research, managing incoming inquiries, attending meetings, and writing memos on a variety of environmental issues.  Interns have the opportunity to be involved in groundbreaking projects, working closely with staff from all levels and a variety of backgrounds.  The pace in the office is fast, so accuracy and attention to detail are absolute requirements.  Interns can expect to begin with the basics and gradually add more specialized projects as they gain experience.

We strongly prefer candidates who are available to work full-time, but will consider applicants who cannot.  CEQ will work with interns who are attempting to arrange credit with a college or university to help fulfill academic requirements.   All internship positions are unpaid. Deadlines for applications are March 1 (Summer), July 1 (Fall), and November 1 (Spring). Internship Application: Download the CEQ Internship Application (pdf)

Upcoming Seminars at Think Tanks

To get information about future seminars and events relating to US-Pakistan relations, please visit the following websites

Atlantic Council

Brookings Institution

Council on Foreign Relations

Heritage Foundation

Middle East Institute

SAIS

Woodrow Wilson Center