The green-crescent-and star was raised on Wednesday at Bowling Green, a historic spot in New York City, to mark Pakistan’s 76th Independence Day, with Ambassador Masood Khan telling community members that the country is on course towards attaining political stability and economic viability.
“Pakistan is a great country, a resilient nation,” he told the cheering gathering in which Mayor Eric Adams and his administration’s top officials, including Pakistani-Americans, were present.
Bowling Green, the City’s oldest park, was the venue where the British colonial flag was lowered and America’s Stars and Stripes was raised in 1783. Last year Mayor Adams raised — for the first time — Pakistan’s flag, alongside the American flag, at the same spot on the country’s 75th anniversary.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Ambassador Masood Khan hoisted the Pakistan flag, while Mayor Adam raised the US flag.
Organized by the mayor’s office, the ceremony was conducted by Asim Rehman, a Pakistani who is New York City’s commissioner and chief administrative law judge of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). Rehman is the first Muslim-American and the first person of South Asian descent to lead OATH.
Also present were other senior City government officials of Pakistani origin– Ahsan Chughtai and Atia Shahnaz.
“I’m proud to see that today so many Pakistanis are prominent in the city government,” Ambassador Masood Khan said, noting that New York is known as the capital of the world as it hosts the United Nations Headquarters.
“I see Pakistanis present here — many of you in traditional Pakistani dresses in the colours of the Pakistani flag,” the Pakistani envoy said under bright sunshine after days of wet, cloudy weather.
The Ambassador told them not to pay attention to rumours that Pakistani Americans have given up on Pakistan’s economy. “Don’t lose faith in Pakistan,” he said, stressing that the U.S. is “your homeland, but Pakistan is your motherland– and that strong bond will not be severed”.
Pointing out that Pakistani-Americans had re-mitted $3 billion to Pakistan in the past fiscal year– the same amount they sent the previous year — he said that fact belies the claims that the Pakistani-American community had lost faith in the country’s economy.
“There is no room for despair and despon-dency”, Ambassador said, urging the community members to seek authentic information about Pakistan, not pay attention to “fake narratives”.
A resilient country, Pakistan would have an impressive growth rate this year, and is poised to take off, he said amid “Pakistan Zinda Bad” slogans. —APP
