Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine met with members of Pakistani-American community at a fundraising dinner held on June 30th, a first for a DNC chairman and the community. The event raised $50,000 for the Democratic Party.
Ali Akber Mirza, one of the organizers of the event and vice chairman DNC Long Island, told reporters at a press briefing that the issue of forming a Muslim National Democratic Committee was raised during the meeting with Kaine, who served as governor of Virginia until January 2010. The Muslim community is proposing a 25-to-30 member Muslim Democratic Committee, patterned on the Jewish Democratic Committee, which has representation from all states. According to Mirza, Chairman Kaine seemed open to the proposal though no formal approval has been granted for the project.
Pakistani community raised several issues during the meeting, including the deaths of innocent civilians in U.S. drone attacks on Pakistani territory, which are giving rise to anti-American sentiment in the country, and steps to ensure greater transparency in the disbursement of U.S. aid to Pakistan and assurance that it reaches the people. They recommended the appointment of a Pakistani American to the next Democratic advisory committee for New York.
According to Mirza, the issue of immigration reform was also taken up during the meeting. They also urged Democratic Party to bring a strong challenger to Congressman Peter King (R-NY-District 3) in November elections and offered to launch fundraising campaign for the challenger. [King has maintained a strong anti-immigrant position, from co-sponsoring a bill to declare English as the official national language and for government services to be offered in English only, to support for Arizona's controversial SB 1070, and pushing for stronger border security.]
Mirza urged the Pakistani community to actively participate in the September primaries and stressed that this was the best way of showing the community's political power.
In his address at the fundraising dinner, Governor Kaine recalled his interaction with the Muslim community, beginning in 1995, when there was discussion of opening a mosque in Richmond, Virginia.
"Muslim Americans in this country are an incredibly important part of who we are. And yet, in recent years there have been a whole series of issues that have made many patriotic Muslims feel a little bit less than fully welcomed or included in the life of this country. So I'm here tonight to reach out and extend that hand just as I did as an elected official in Virginia." He said Muslim Americans contributed in huge ways to the success of President Obama in the 2008 elections.
Governor Kaine said Muslim Americans must be allowed to practice their faith without any fear and expressed a wish to work with the community on issues of religious freedom. He recalled that it was Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, who offered what was the predecessor of the first amendment to the constitution called the Statue of Religious Freedom. "He wrote it in Richmond in 1780, declaring that people should be able to worship as they please and that is a wonderful foundational value of this country. Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of a Quran and was a student of the Quran. That Quran was used by Keith Ellison when he took the oath of the office to become the member of the congress."
Governor Kaine promised to convey to President Obama the questions raised and insight offered at the fundraising dinner. "It's a very important matter and a priority for the president that we have society that fully welcomes the Muslim-American population."
He also promised to convey to White House the Pakistani community's sentiments about drone attacks on Pakistani territory. According to the DNC chairman, the Obama Administration is committed to a strong democratic Pakistan and will move forward to strengthen its partnership with Islamabad.
