Michael Preston

Mr. Ashgar Choudri is the Executive Director of the Pakistani-American Federation of New York.  Originally from Lahore in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, he has lived in the U.S. for over 35 years.  He is married with four children.

New York City News Service: Can you explain to me briefly what the Pakistani-American Federation does?

Choudri: We try to help the people – new comers – get their children for the schooling, try to solve if they have any problems with the different parts of the agencies – government agencies we call them.  We try to help them and try to make their life easy in the new country they come in.

NYCNS: So, is the organization specifically for new immigrants?

Choudri: No. We are all immigrants here. This is not for new immigrants. Whatever the case is for these people coming here, settling here.

We do a festival every year in the month of August – 70 to 80,000 people come here and watch the festival – that’s the Pakistani independence day and we have a stage there, we have stalls, we have all kind of things so that we should promote this area for business people.

NYCNS: Are you referring to a specific area in Brooklyn?

Choudri: We call it Little Pakistan – this Coney Island Avenue and all the surrounding streets and wherever.

NYCNS: What is the immigration trend at the moment from Pakistan to New York?  Are people still coming here?

Choudri: Not too many.

NYCNS: Do you have any idea how many would be coming?

Choudri: No, I don’t know, I can’t tell you this but we are not having too many newcomers coming here.  In our information they are very strict now, giving them immigrant Visas.

NYCNS: The Pakistanis that are already here, are they mostly legal or are they undocumented?  Are they citizens or what is their legal status?

Choudri: There were a lot of undocumented people before 9/11, so after 9/11 a lot of people are deported; they left on their own will to different countries, back to Pakistan.  Now the majority of our people [that] are here are legal and a lot of them are citizens.

NYCNS: And do they find it hard or easy to become citizens?  Are there any issues with that?

Choudri: Yes, they had a hard time to get citizenship due to their Muslim name and they have to search and find out their background and this and that. They were waiting for two years, three years.  Now they say it’s easing up.  We talked to the immigration people – they said they were short of staff.  They said the FBI is not clearing their fingerprints and this and that.  Now we ask the FBI, the FBI said we were short of hands, now they said we are having more people, more technology, we are trying to – you know – clear them faster than usual.

NYCNS: Do you think there are cultural or other barriers for Pakistani people living here in New York that they need to overcome?

Choudri: There is a cultural barrier because we are from a different culture.  They came here and the Americans, when they came here they did not know.  So in the beginning, always, whenever you go anywhere – when the Americans go out to Europe they have a problem to mix up with the culture but slowly and steady…..

For our coming generation it will be okay but at present we have a cultural barrier, we have a language barrier.

NYCNS: A language barrier.  Is that the main barrier or are there….other issues?

Choudri: No, the main barrier is this.

NYCNS: What kinds of government or community organizations are available for the Pakistani community to help them?

Choudri: Help them in what?

NYCNS: In language barriers or health services….

Choudri: Our women are mostly having the problem.  Because our women stay in the house – they come from a different culture  – they can’t speak English very well.  And mostly they come from the country where they were not mixing up with men and here they have a different culture – men and women together but they are not used to it so this is one of the barriers – because women are not used to it.  Second, they can’t express themselves in English so they have a problem to mix up with other people.

NYCNS: In terms of the Pakistani community in Kensington, I understand that they live very close by the Jewish community.  Are there any problems between the two communities?

Choudri: No. We don’t have any problem with the Jewish community. We live together a long time – since we started living in this neighborhood. We are living together. There is no problem.

NYCNS: Why do you think there is no problem, because isn’t there traditionally some conflict between the two communities?

Choudri: Why should we have a problem? We don’t interfere in their affairs, they don’t interfere in our affairs.  And we don’t have any way to…you know…to….create any differences.  We don’t have any differences; we are very close.

NYCNS: Close in what respect?

Choudri: In every way. That’s what I’m saying. We are not intermixing with each other. Second thing, we are living one side, they are living on one side.  The Jewish people are very…you know… they are a peaceful people; we are a very peaceful people so they are living along very good.

NYCNS: Are there big differences between your faiths?

Choudri: We don’t have too much difference in our faith.  Maybe people don’t understand [that] we are a very close religion also.  They eat this…what’s it called…kosher meat, we eat halal meat.  Our people can eat kosher because they don’t want to eat meat from the supermarket.

NYCNS: What’s the one thing you’d like people to know about the Pakistani community – the one thing you think is most important?

Choudri: The Pakistani community is a peaceful community.  They are Muslims and they are Islam – it is their religion – and they are really peaceful because Islam teaches peace and harmony and we teach everybody and we want to live together.  The people who don’t understand, they should try to mix up with us and we try to mix ourselves with them and that way they should understand each other.