I came across a news item that Congress is awarding a Pakistani American the “Doctor of the Year Award.” It was heartening to know that at least one of our fellow Pakistanis is being honored for his contribution to science and professional excellence. Reading further, I realized that the award, given by one of the dozens of committees of the Republican Party, was for the role the doctor played in the passage of President Bush’s tax bill and for raising funds for his election campaign.
The doctor deserves my praise, for he is being honored during these difficult times -- in his State of the Union address, President Bush made special mention of stepping up the siege on the doctor’s compatriots who live in this country, through the US PATRIOT ACT-II.
That’s great! The contributions collected by the doctor shall be used for the passage of this act in the Congress, according to the news item, which mentioned that this award is given to individuals who work to strengthen the Republican Party in the U.S. Congress. I also congratulate all those friends who have either been nominated to a committee or have been invited as special guests to any convention. But the million dollar question is: Will our nation’s and the Pakistani community’s problems be resolved by receiving such awards?
The Republican Party is not doing anything special by rewarding those individuals who have handed hefty contributions to the party. Pakistani Americans were also honored by the Clinton administration, when Dr. Mubashir Chaudhary was made a member of a Presidential advisory committee.
It is true that in all countries, people who help political parties are rewarded in some way – irrespective of their nationality or race. Political parties are run with the money of the rich class, who are members of the same club -- their color and racial background are immaterial. The question is: Why is the Republican Party giving so much importance to a few Pakistanis and what should we, the common citizens, do?
Different sources have indicated that President Bush and his advisers fear that this time, Pakistani Americans and other Muslims will give their vote to the Democrats. It was clear during the last election when President Bush won by a margin of a few hundred votes, that Muslim votes also contributed to his narrow victory. As per expectations, if the elections are tough this time too, the Muslim vote would gain more importance.
President Bush’s advisors believe that they can compensate for the Muslim vote by winning over a large number of Jewish voters, with the U.S.’s unconditional support for Israel. At the same time, they don’t want to lose the Muslim votes completely. Probably this is the reason that the Republican Party is rewarding a few Pakistanis to satisfy the Pakistani community at large and temper the also level of hatred provoked by the PATRIOT Act.
In a society as free as the American, everyone has a right to choose their party as they see fit. And Pakistani Americans also have the right to fulfill their personal or societal agendas within the Republican Party platform. But there is no denying the fact that the laws passed by President Bush have been specifically targeting Pakistanis and Muslims. The highly discriminatory PATRIOT Act was passed by the present Congress, which was elected with considerable support from our Republican Pakistani brothers.
President Bush wants the PATRIOT Act-II passed by the Congress. The PATRIOT-II, one of the toughest legislations in American history. Under this law, if the government arrests a suspect, there can be no bond posted or appeal made against the arrest; no one would have the right to ask about the individual’s fate. Obviously, Pakistanis and other Muslim immigrants would be the target of this law. Do we want such a president?
This is not a question of liking or disliking the President. It is an issue of confronting problems. As Pakistanis, our biggest problem is the imposition of discriminatory laws specifically targeting our community. The position taken by President Bush and the Republican Party in this regard is very clear. We should also remember that the Republicans are supported by extremist Christian organizations, lead by ministers like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who are notorious for their anti-Islam diatribe. When these two gentlemen talked nonsense about Islam, even a newspaper like the Washington Post had to question President Bush’s silence over this issue. Why would the President stay silent? He needs their support in the elections. The President’s desire to win their support was instrumental in his decision to allow religious organizations to bid for federal government contracts.
President Bush’s enthusiasm for the PATRIOT Act is not just because of national security considerations, but also to please these extremist organizations, which are no different from Muslim extremist organizations. Both of them sow the seeds of hatred and cut the roots of love for humanity and tolerance. We need to take these things into consideration when analyzing President Bush’s beliefs, and before contributing to his campaign or accepting awards from him.
A look at history will give us some answers to questions like: Why is the Republican Party considered the party of wealthy white American men? Why do Blacks, Hispanics and Jews -- important minorities -- take refuge in the Democratic Party? Why do the poor and women stay away from the Republican Party? Why has the Republican Party failed to win over the minorities’ vote for several decades?
Obviously, when a party targets minorities with discriminatory laws, why would the minorities support it? So far, close to 130 cities across the United States have rejected the PATRIOT Act. It is no big surprise, either, that the majority of the local governments where this act was rejected are run by Democrats. Is it just an accident or an irrefutable historic fact?
