By Sadef Kully
In the days after the Taliban attack on the Public Army School in northern city of Peshawar in Pakistan left more than 140 children and staff members dead, Pakistanis have gathered across the city in total shock at candlelight vigils to support the victims and their families halfway across the world.
New York City has the largest Pakistani-American immigrant population in the United States at an estimated 200,000, according to the 2010 United States Census. Most of the population lives in Queens and Brooklyn.
“The people and their feelings — there is a real sense of trauma and awe. I have been a reporter for almost 12 years now and this is the first time I have seen this level of deep sympathy,” said Mohammed Farrukh, a reporter at the Pakistan Post, an Urdu weekly newspaper based in Fresh Meadows. “This cuts deep into the Pakistani community in New York.”
In Pakistan, the attack was the most horrific to take place in the history of the country. Pakistan is a country rife with political, social, and economic disparities while battling terrorism under an Islamic banner. Pakistani news channels that broadcast in the United States showed an outpouring of anger and questions for the government, while Pakistanis and Pakistani-Americans sought some solace from each other.
“The Peshawar attack was devastating. My heart hurt for those people and I just wanted everyone to come together, unite against such atrocious acts and say a little prayer,” said Sunnya Sultan-Sheikh, who was in the midst of organizing a candlelight vigil in Union Square which many Queens residents and Pakistanis in the Greater New York area attended last Friday.
“I wanted to let the entire world know that terrorism has no religion — that terrorism does not see if you’re Muslim, non-Muslim, a kid, a baby, or an adult,” Sultan-Sheikh said.
“I feel that this event has left me torn. I had a friend who wrote to me asking if Islam was against education. I said No! How could you be so ignorant, I thought…but then again that is the message that was put out there.”
Pakistan has been at the front and center of the fight against terrorism since New York’s Sept 11 attack. The country has deep historical ties with the Taliban. Since the war on terror, the United States has conducted 405 confirmed drone strikes, which have led to more than 3,000 deaths according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Pakistan’s army has conducted several military operations to disband terrorist groups across the country, including an ongoing military offensive operation that began in June.
“This has been an overwhelmingly emotional time for Pakistanis in New York and the community has responded positively by showing up in incredible numbers in a short amount of time,” said Arshad Hussain, community organizer of the Muttahida Quami Movement’s New York chapter, a Pakistani political party that has vehemently stood against the Taliban and extremism in Pakistan. In New York, the political party operates as a non-profit community organization targeting education, poverty, and health care in Pakistan.
Hussain had organized a large candlelight vigil in Jackson Heights within 24 hours of the attacks.
“The world knows how terrible the [Taliban] are and Pakistanis are a witness to these terrible tragedies,” said Hussain, who left Pakistan during a time when extremism was beginning to spread and he felt it was not a safe place for him to build a future.
“The United States saved my life,” Hussain said. “ If I was not here, then there is strong chance I would be dead today.”
