pakistanis in australia vol 4 issue 7 2014
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PIA Annual reportHarmony ChampionsPakistan day Event ReportTRANSCRIPT
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FROM THE DESK
Thank you very much for your attendance at Pakistan Day event
on 23rd March and to make it another success story.
We are also delighted to inform you that the High Commissioner
of Pakistan in Canberra will be visiting Perth next week. Our
Defense Advisor was also in Perth this week with a delegation
from Pakistan while another delegation which has been visiting
Perth on an AusAID fellowship left for home.
For WA it is also voting time again as elections for Senate will
take place on 5th April so please cast your vote.
We now will be planning for the Independence Day event on 16th
August and keeping in the tradition the plan is now to move to
City of Stirling. Any ideas/ suggestions will be welcomed. A
submission for Eidul Azha has been submitted for 10th October
for funding as advised earlier.
Finally our first Annual report is now available for you to
download following acceptance at AGM on 24th January. As you
will remember that our official term runs from January to
December. The annual report can be downloaded from
http://pakistanisinaustrali.wix.com/piainc
31st March 2014
Contents:
Page 1: From the Desk
Page 2: Pakistan Day Event
Page 4: PIA and APMA support programs
Page 5: Harmony Champions Program
Page 6: Media Release from ECCWA
Page 7: Media Release from Consul General
in Sydney
Page 9: Sadqa Dinner on 5th
April
Halal Food Bank Program
Page 10: Youth Photography Competition
Basant Festival
Adnan Sami comes to Perth
Page 11 WA Historical Society Book sale
46 Kanangra Crescent, Greenwood WA 6024. Ph. 0434841705, [email protected] @piainc
Office bearers
President: Dr. Zarrin Siddiqui
Secretary: Ms. Fatima Khushnud
Treasurer: Ms. Maria Farooq
Vol.4 Issue 7
Pakistanis in Australia Inc. is an incorporated group to support students and migrants in their settlement and to initiate projects
in Australia and Pakistan that promote mutual collaboration between two countries and promote a positive image of Pakistan
and Australia. For membership, please submit your details at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YM66H9Q
PAKISTAN DAY CELEBRATED IN AUSTRALIA Pakistani community members celebrated Pakistan day allover in Australia and arranged events to mark
the event with Pride and recommitment to support the nation. The event in Perth was well attended and
thanks to TalBees Band who performed live on songs that thrilled the audience along with performances
from Oz Entertainment Group.
Saif Ullah Farooqui opened the event with recitation from the Holy Quran. Dr. Zarrin S Siddiqui welcomed
and thanked the guests with an apology form Hon. Andrea Mitchell who could not attend the event due
to a personal engagement. Prof. Collin Roberts the Honorary Investment Councillor not only
congratulated the members but also conveyed the greetings from The High Commissioner in Canberra
and the Counsel General in Sydney.
The Deputy Mayor, City of Joondalup spoke very high of the Pakistanis in Australia as a group that has
been officially registered in the vicinity of the City of Joondalup. He congratulated the group on receiving
funding as a new activity for the residents.
Hon. Margaret Quirk, the shadow minister for the Multicultural Interests in her speech specially referred
to Lahore resolution and how it refers to protection of minorities even before the UN declaration was
passed.
Hon. Ian Britza who was representing the Minister Mike Nahan congratulated the management team on
organizing the event and that he has recently been made aware of the organisation and would like to be
kept in touch with the various activities of the Group. He also referred to the fortnightly newsletter of the
Group which was only passed to him recently by Hon. Andrea Mitchell. Maria farooq introduced the new
initiative of the PIA Group through acknowledging the Australian community memebrs and organisations
that support us.
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Our heartfelt thanks to City of Joondalup, specially Elizabeth White who assisted in the application
process, Harmony Champions Grant and Mortgage Solutions Australia with all the guests who attended
the event and volunteered their time and efforts. The photographs of the event will be available by the
weekend and will be uploaded on the web.
Figure 1: Salute from our armed forces
Figure 2: The ceremony in Canberra with Deputy High Commissioner Asima Rabbani and the High Commissioner A Malik.
A NOTE OF THANKS In February we received another donation containing packs of crayons for school kids, thanks to our
patron Ms. Juanita Perez. All of these were delivered to the students at the primary school in Sialkot.
AUSTRALIA PAKISTAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTING
PEOPLE IN THAR A huge thanks to the members who have directly deposited their donations into the APMA account.
A humble request to those who have not done so, please do so at your earliest convenience. You all must be
aware of the conditions the poor people of Thar are going through. It will be great if we could all help them in this
time of need.
Account details are here again.
Account name. Australia Pakistan Medical Association
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
BSB 062 000
ACCOUNT NO 1420 4932
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HARMONY CHAMPIONS.
On 21st March, Office of Multicultural Interests organized an event coinciding with Harmony week. Our
group was represented by members of our management committee and Abdullah Alim of Faith Inspired
Group. We also met the Minister Mike Nahan who conveyed his apology for Pakistan Day event and that
Hon. Ian Britza would be representing him.
A special event to mark the week was launch of online honour roll to acknowledge Harmony Champions
and all of our five nominees are acknowledged in the online roll. Our harmony champions are;
1. Azrah Ebrahim
2. Fatima Khushnud
3. Maryam Khan
4. Ramdas Sankaran
5. Rida Ahmed
Congratulations to all of the Harmony champions and best wishes for the great work they are doing to
promote harmony especially in WA.
Media Release from Ethnic Communities Council of WA
26th March 2014
Council Condemns Emasculation of Racial Discrimination Act
ECCWA President, Dr. Zarrin S Siddiqui today condemned the Abbot government’s proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act. “Balance, is a hall mark of plural democratic societies such as Australia and Section 18C (which became law in 1995 in response to recommendations from major inquiries, including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody) and section 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act is testimony to it”, she added. “The former provides protection from racial abuse/hatred by making it unlawful to commit an act that is reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate someone because of their race whilst the latter protects free speech, in that it allows comments or actions made in good faith and ‘fair comment’ if it is an ‘expression of a genuine belief’ held by the person making the comment", said Dr. Siddiqui. “Unfettered freedom of speech is merely a myth, for civil societies have laws against defamation, making false or misleading claims from a business/trading perspective, professional bodies have codes of conduct and Australian parliaments have standing orders which protects members being abuse defamed by their colleagues”. It is therefore preposterous to suggest that somehow section 18C of the Act limits free speech in a way that aforementioned don’t”, she added.
“What has been a milestone in Australian democracy and worked well for 19 years under both ALP and Coalition governments (including the long tenure of John Howard) is now under threat as the amendments proposed on Wednesday by the Attorney General which will considerably weaken the protections provided by section 18c of the current Act”, The government’s proposal to incorporate provisions to deal with racial vilification are merely to deflect criticisms against its actions for several states including WA already have tough provisions in their Criminal code to deal with it” argued Dr. Siddiqui.
“It is indeed ironic that within a week of the international community observing 21 March as Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and recommitting to eliminating all forms of racial discrimination, the Abbot government is seeking to amend the Racial Discrimination Act which will be counterproductive in this regard.” “In a plural democratic society which values multiculturalism as a public policy, political leaders should ensure that they protect minorities from being abused, insulted, harassed, intimidated etc. on racial grounds and the current Racial Discrimination Act does precisely that without curtailing informed public debate on race related matters. Accordingly, politicians have an obligation to do all they can to ensure the voices of ethnic, indigenous and other minorities are heard not lost. It is therefore vital that in the upcoming senate elections in WA, voters select candidates who send a clear signal to the Abbott government that they oppose its moves to weaken the Act” said Dr. Siddiqui. She has also urged ECCWA member organisations to raise their concerns and participate in public consultations to effectively oppose the proposed change.
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MEDIA RELEASES FROM CONSUL GENERAL OF PAKISTAN IN SYDNEY
Consulate General of Pakistan (TRADE MISSION)
Level 7, 32 Martin Place, (GPO Box # 5256)
Sydney CBD, NSW 2000, Australia
Phone: + 61 2 9222 1809 & Fax: +61 2 9222 1824
Email: [email protected] Web: www.pakistan.org.au
Consul General &
Trade Minister
Date: 26 March 2014
Subject: Crippled / Paralysed Pakistani Student Arsalan Umair Akbar Repatriated to Pakistan by the
Consulate General / Government of Pakistan.
The crippled / paralysed Pakistani student, Arsalan Umair, who had been admitted in Shellharbour
Hospital Wollongong, was discharged from the hospital on 7 March 2014 and shifted to his
accommodation in Auburn (Sydney). The doctors had opined that if he took prescribed medicines on
time and undergone regular physiotherapy, he could recover completely in next few months. He was
also advised to take complete rest and not to work until he fully recovers.
Since Arsalan was on a student visa he was earning his livelihood in Australia, by working part time.
After being crippled, it had become very difficult and expensive for him to sustain and survive in
Australia. Although the Consulate had ensured through the insurance company, Pakistan Association
of Australia and Pakistani doctors in Sydney that all medical charges of Arsalan were taken care of,
his father Mr. Akbar Ali from Lahore approached this Mission to repatriate him to Pakistan on state
expense.
Thus, the Consulate General Sydney repatriated Arsalan Umair back to Lahore Pakistan on 15 March
2014. Today, on inquiry from this Mission, father of Arsalan informed that he was getting medicines
and undergoing physiotherapy in Lahore and was improving albeit slowly.
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Consulate General of Pakistan (TRADE MISSION)
Level 7, 32 Martin Place, (GPO Box # 5256)
Sydney CBD, NSW 2000, Australia
Phone: + 61 2 9222 1809 & Fax: +61 2 9222 1824
Email: [email protected] Web: www.pakistan.org.au
Consul General &
Trade Minister
Date: 25 March 2014
INFORMATION REGARDING BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS, STREETS, ETC.
NAMED AFTER FAMOUS PAKISTANI FIGURES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad is in the process of collecting the
data on:
I. Public buildings / monuments / streets etc. in the foreign countries, which have been named after
famous Pakistani public figures / dignitaries. For instance Jinnah Avenue in Ankara, Turkey,
Jinnah Street in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Iqbal street in Heidelberg, Germany.
II. Public buildings / structure (Parliaments, Universities, Schools, bridges etc.) in the foreign
countries, which have been built with the funds donated by the Government of Pakistan. For
instance, Parliament Building in Male, Maldives.
The Ministry would eventually use this data for publication of a coffee table book.
It will be highly appreciated if the information about the above two categories, if existing in Australia,
is kindly shared with the Consulate General of Pakistan Sydney either through an email
([email protected]) or posted on the FB of “Consulate General Pakistan Sydney”. Kindly mention your
full name, contact details and email address. If you have any digital photographs of the buildings /
streets from various angles, the same may also be sent to the Consulate.
This is a fortnightly newsletter to keep community informed of what’s happening in Pakistan and in Australia with a special focus on Western Australia at this time. We acknowledge that this newsletter is disseminated from Noongar land. The earlier issues can be accessed through web http://pakistanisinaustrali.wix.com/piainc or through the group Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/pakistanisinaustralia. You can also follow our twitter account @PIAInc
Girls Association of Pakistan-Australia is pleased to announce, Melbourne's First ever Basant Festival to be held on 13th
April 2014 at Footscray Park.
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