Pakistan Day Celebrated

By Adil James, TMO

Food vendors Num Num Cafe, at the Pakistan Day event.

PAA President Saleem Shakoor at the Pakistan Day event in Dearborn.

August 14 saw celebrations of Pakistan Day.

The Pakistan Association of America celebrated the 67th Independence Day of Pakistan on August 14th at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in Dearborn Michigan. 

About 1,200 people attended the day-long event which began at 11AM and continued into the night, with celebrations of Pakistani patriotic songs, food, and family in an all-American gathering.

There was some entertainment for small children, with a bounce house outside, and plenty of vendors selling Pakistani clothes and food. 

The focus of the event was the ailing singer Alamgir, known as the “Elvis of the East,” a pioneering performer of Urdu music, for whom a successful fundraiser was conducted in order to pay for treatment for his kidney disease.  In fact Mr. Alamgir is in desperate need of a kidney transplant.

The current president of the PAA, Mr. Saleem Shakoor, spoke of the Pakistan Day as a “social, cultural, and charitable activity” held in Michigan since 1992. 

The PAA is an association with about 15,000 members, of whom he said about 2,000 are paying members.

The community awards for 2014 went to Nargis Khan and the late Mohammad Qasim–another award, for community support, was given to Nazima Khan, who has gone out of her way to support the community and function as a bridge between people and communities.

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