Salim Ejaz as New York City Comptroller

By Mohammad Anwar
NY Muslim Examiner


"I recently found out that Mr. Salim Ejaz is running for the New York City Comptroller’s position. Salim Ejaz as you can probably tell by the name is a Muslim. He is the first Muslim to run for the post. Being a Muslim is not his only qualification. According to his website, he is the only CPA running and has 40 years of financial expertise. Salim has also worked for a division of General Mills, a Fortune 100 company as Audit Manager/Director. He has worked as the Director Audit for Nassau County.

During his service as Direct Audit for Nassau County he exposed waste and losses of over $600 million according to his website. His audit of the legal department which handled lawsuits for property tax claims revealed losses of $430 million in a period of 4 years. He also exposed the gross incompetence in the Assessment Review Commission, where the mismanagement was causing a loss of $70 million per year. His audit of health insurance agreement exposed fraud by a Deputy County Executive which caused a colossal loss of $100 million. Salim’s efforts helped in prevent the future losses of millions of dollars.

According to his website his agenda is to eliminate waste and abuse, cut taxes, improve fiscal controls and abolish cronyism. We can definitely use some one that can help with these things. The elections will be held on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 in all 5 boroughs of New York City. There are over 800,000 Muslims that live in New York City but there hasn’t been any representation of them in City Hall. I have always encouraged Muslims to get involved in their communities and local governments. It’s great to see some people are already doing their part. There are two ways you can help Salim get elected:

If you live in New York city and are registered to vote you can vote for him on September 15th.

You can donate to his campaign or volunteer. For more information please call him at 646-784-1741.

Please go out, vote and get your voices heard. Your comments are appreciated. Please subscribe to stay in touch with what’s going on in the Islamic community in New York. (Source: Muslim Examiner)

Sal Ejaz website: http://salejaz.zshopnet.com/

Related PKonweb.com articles:
http://pkonweb.com/2009/09/02/salim-ejaz-nyc/

Related Dawn.com article: A Pakistani runs for public office in NYC
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/02-a-pakistani-runs-for-public-office-in-NYC-01

Darya Darya Hai Aur Sahil Sahil Hai

Kehtey hain keh Darya Darya hota hai aur Sahil Sahil hota hai. Na Darya Sahil ban sakta hai aur na hi Sahil Darya .

Agar Darya Sahil ko chhoo lay toh kehtey hain keh Sailab aa jaya karta hai aur agar Sahil Darya mein utar jaye tau Qehat aa jaya karta hai.

Baat bhi kisi had tak sahi hai. Har cheez ko apna hi role ada karna chahiyeh warna garbar ghutala ho jata hai! Ha Ha Ha!

Kal, Saturday Jun 20, 2009 koh mein ney kuch ex-NEDians ki Barbecue party attend ki. New Jersey keh aik haseen picnic spot Spruce Run Reservoir mein arrange kya gya tha. Har saal isi muqaam per kya jata hai. In Ex-NEDians key liyeh yeh picnic ka ihtmimam Arshad Rizvi Sahib kya kartey hain. Hamesha sey. Eid milan party bhi woh hi arrange kartey hain. Is saal bhi karengey, unho ney bataya.

Kaayee saalhon keh baad mein ney yeh decide kya keh mein chunkeh aik Ex-NEDian bhi hoon is liyeh mujhey bhi is picnic mein shamil hona chahiyeh. Mein ney phir is dafa is picnic koh attend kiya. Bohut hi mazaah aya. Kayee sarey puraney doston seh aur siyasi saathiyon sey mulaqatein huween.

Picnic keh hi doran barish bhi shurooh ho gayee. Log bhookey thay. Iss liye barish kay bawajood barbecue karney per lagey rahey. Dilchasp manzar tha. Tasveerein lin mein ney. Chand yahan paish kar raho hoon. Aik tasvir toh mein ney apney website pkonweb.com aur phir despardes.com key photo sections per bhi lagaye hain.

Mujhey raha nahi gaya jis tarha logh barbecue karney mein masroof thay.

Kehney ka matlab yeh hai keh agar koi shakhs ya kuch log yeh baat tae kar layn keh mujhe yah hamen yeh kaam zaroor karna hai ya hona hai tau aandhi aye yah toofan, woh kaam kum o baish har soorat mein mukammal ho jata hai. Aur woh kaam waqayee ho gaya. Is picnic mein!

Barbecue was done rain or sunshine, come what may!

Azm ki baat hai aur hausley ki zaroorat hoti hai. Baaqi har cheez khud ba khud apni jagha dhoond hi leta hai.

Logon ney baarish keh bawajood barbecue chicken tikkey, bun kabab, hot dogs aur deegar items barey mazey ley ley kar banaye aur phir khaye.

Tae yeh huwa hai keh August 8 koh hum sub phir milengey.

Dekhteh hain aisa hota hai keh nahin - koi wajha nahin kay aisa naa ho. Kyun kay naa tau yahan koi load shedding hoti hai na koi pahia jaam. Sirf mausam ka dar rehta hai laikin. Siyasi mausam ka nahin asal mausam ka. Triple one brigade ka bhi nahin na 'Aye Hamarey Hum Watanon! Ka aur naa hi us mashhoor jumley ka kay ji 'Mein bhoool gaya thaa'.

Ajeeb baat hai keh is dafa mujhey Pakistan kay do trips ki aik baat bohut zyada yaad aayee.

Logon ka har waqt kehna: Aao Baith Kay Baat Kar Letey Hain (ABKBKLH).

Is picnic mein aisa koi jumla sunney mein nahin aya. Kisi ney ABKBKLHing nahin ki.

Choon kay sub kum aur baish aik hi age group kay thay is liyeh ya toau cholesterol level, sugar ki position aur blood pressure ka haal poocha ja raha tha yaa phir naukri mein ya karobar mein kya ho raha hai woh poocha ja raha tha.

Uss kay baraks Karachi mein aisay hi group ki daawat mein caroron ka ghar bananey ki baatein ho rahi theen ya caroron ka ghar bana kar us ki baatein ho rahi theen.

Farq saaf zahir hai.

Wahan paisa lifestyle hai aur yahan lifestyle hi paisa hai. Kya khayal hai aap ka?

"Know Yourself" Maliha!

Had lunch with my daughter Maliha this Sunday at Sahara Restaurant, in downtown New Brunswick, NJ. We visit this eatout frequently. The food is excellent - Mediterranean Cuisine with a Turkish twist. And the ambiance is cool, has an informal setup, very close to Rutgers University where my son is studying. Me and Maliha love the place.

The young and pretty girl waiter was from Turkey having come to USA to "learn English". Wonder if any Pakistani would ever get a visa to come to USA just to "learn English. Ha Ha Ha!

I guess you have to be like Turkey - to get there. Our establishment and "moderate politicians" are working on it though. While the establishment seems to be doing so unwillingly, the 'moderate politicians' have no choice but to be gung ho about it. It is a matter of their survival.

Even if we become another Turkey I doubt if we will still be able to come to the USA "just to learn English". I think you need to be 'kinda European' to get there. And frankly speaking we are not nor can we become one ever. It is but true that politics and "strategic interests' can create any kind of rule sets for an effective period. May be new rules will let Pakistanis come to USA just to learn English. Time will tell though.

By the way the girl, whose name is Gul, had something tattooed on her left arm that caught my imagination. I took its picutre and asked her what it meant. Gul said it meant "Know Yourself" in Spanish. I Blackberried it here even though Maliha made a face.

My daughter and me have a cultural "no fly zone" in between us. I am still draped in a Pakistani flag. And she is counting her beans, loves New York, won't move out anywhere else, but she is a pure ABCD, I mean an "American Born Confused Desi". I am very positive that she knows she is a ABCD, but she never talks about it with me though. Some day she may talk about it in her own style and manner. There is nothing wrong being an ABCD if you can make the best out of it. After all look at Obama. He got there, did it. Yes we all can too!

Love you Maliha!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Zaidi being flown to Missouri?

Latest news is that on September 11, Nayyar Zaidi was officially served papers which orders him to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

According to his wife, Zaidi may be flown to Missouri where he will undergo monitoring and evaluation by a jail psychiatrist.

Based on the psychiatrist's evaluation, the court will then decide if Zaidi is A) capable of undergoing trial. B) if he should remain under psychiatric evaluation until he is capable of appearing in the court.

Under US law a judge may order that an accused be evaluated for mental and psychological fitness in order to undergo a trial. Same yardstick applies if the accused wishes to represent himself or herself.

Zaidi had requested the court that he be allowed to represent himself. But latest information is that he is seeking legal help and has also appealed to the jousnalistic and media organizations to assist him.

Zaidi To Be Evaluated By a Shrink; Trial Postponed

Got a call from Nayyar Zaidi today from the Northeast Ohio Correctional Facility where he remains detained for alleged teen sex crime. It was a followup to his handwritten notes that were faxed to me yesterday by his wife Shaheen.

Zaidi said he has been told by the Federal Court judge that in order to determine if he can represent himself, he will have to undergo a competency test as well as a psychiatric test to determine his competency to stand trial.

The October 6 hearing has thus been postponed until the court determines if he is "fit to undergo trial".

Zaidi appeared before Judge Kathleen McDonald O’Mailly on Aug. 26 for a hearing following a motion he had moved requesting that he be allowed to represent himself as he said he had no confidence in the court-appointed defense lawyer, Craig Weintraub's ability to represent him satisfactorily.

He has refused to hire an attorney to plead his case, citing financial constraints.

The Federal judge told him that she would approve his request only after a competency test to determine if he was competent to represent himself. She also said his competency to stand trial would need to be determined first.

Zaidi said he is “alarmed” by the judge’s verdict because in case the psychiatric test he is administered finds him not competent to stand trial, he could be committed "for life" to a psychiatric detention facility until it is determined that he is fit to undergo trial. That could mean a lifetime, Zaidi said.

The competency test is part of the due process of U.S law for those individuals who wished to defend themselves in court.

Zaidi thinks it should not be meant for someone like himself, a highly educated man and one of Pakistan’s best known journalists and broadcasters who has been associated with the Jang Group of Publications for over 30 years.

It is possible that this latest development may suggest that the prosecution’s case against him– crossing state lines with the intention of committing a felony involving an underage female – is weak, said one observer.

Zaidi has written to his home state Virginia's Senator including some others as well as to Virginia Governor. He has also appealed for help from CPJ, ACLU, PFUJ and wishes that U.S. correspondents and U.S Senators be informed by the media about his predicament.

Nayyar Zaidi is Washington Correspondent or Washington Bureau Chief of Pakistan's Geo News TV (Geo Television Network), The News International (English newspaper) and Daily Jang (Urdu newspaper). He was arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the state Police on Thursday, 20 March 2008 in Ohio, USA, on alleged teen sex crimes charges. Since he crossed state border, he has been charged with a Federal crime. He remains under detention in an Ohio jail since March 2008 pending court hearing. He has been refused bail, he said.

Nayyar Zaidi Trial Set for Oct 6, 2008

Renowned Jang/GEO Correspondent and Columnist Nayyar Zaidi's trial is scheduled for October 6, in Ohio, where he remains detained without bail since March 2008.

He was twice rejected bail, according to his spouse. But it is unclear why he was refused bail, and what the grounds were. My understanding is that on such matters it may be possible to obtain bail unless it is set so high that it cannot be obtained by the affected individual.

Another reason for bail refusal could be if the alleged crime is piggy-backed by another alleged crime which gives the prosecutor more strength to ask the Judge to reject the bail application.

Mr Zaidi, on August 5th, sent me thru his wife, a 14-page handwritten explanation on his incarceration and his defense. It is being made available on DesPardes.com website at: http://www.despardes.com/zaidi-papers-aug5.pdf

Since the matter is subjudice before the court, we need to be careful not to comment on any aspect of the case, specially on its merit.

In his handwritten note, Mr Zaidi says, "I was working on a story which was part of a bigger journalistic project, on the invasive nature of the internet and the political and social changes it is bringing. I was inspired by Marshall McLuhan's 1960 book :Understanding Media". He adds, "Sexual exploitation of minors is a big issue. I named the project, "PARENTS AS PREDATORS." After my arrest one minor case in Italy and one is Austria came out in news."..."But internet is fantasy land...nothing is authentic (not news but chats)...."

"As journalists we know that first-hand accounts are the most authoritative..It was natural for me to try to establish real-time contact with some one who claimed to be in a "Parent Predator". As you all know, I am. perhaps, the only (Pakistani) journalist whose name is well known is U.S. and Pakistan. There is a market in Pakistan for stories that do not start with, "Mr Boucher said..."

Mr Zaidi also claims in his faxed notes to me that he was the first journalist to break the story of CIA providing potable labs to Afghans (during the Afghan Jihad War) to make Heroin.

"U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphael, was outraged that he told the State Department to terminate my 17-years contract with the Voice of America(VOA)," he added.

One newspaper report (Daily Times) has said that Mr Zaidi and his spouse refused embassy help on grounds that Mr Zaidi was an American citizen and was "not in jail". I know for sure he is in under detention, based on his and his spouses's phone calls to me during the last few weeks. I am not sure why there is still need to hide this critical fact. Why not let people know and possibly help?

Besides, Pakistani-Americans automatically enjoy dual nationality status. So what's the harm in reaching out for all available help if one is innocent?