Focus Pakistan conference held in Irving

DALLAS: Focus Pakistan Conference was held in Irving Texas to celebrate the 64th Independence Day of the country. Pakistan Council of Dallas-Fort Worth had organized the Conference and speakers had flown from far and wide.

Famed activist Shahnaz Bokhari who founded Progressive Women Association in Pakistan flew in from Florida. She presented the unfortunate situation being faced by women in Pakistan with graphic pictures of abuse and personal attacks on women.

She informed the audience on the progress being made on this issue in Pakistan. Kelli Obazee, Executive Director of Dallas Peace Center shared the American experience on women rights issue.

The second session was on Current Affairs. Aftab Siddiqui analyzed the historical relationship between USA and Pakistan and emphasized that both the countries have helped each other over the decades. He mentioned the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the past and present due to Afghan wars. He was of the view that no matter what American policy, it needed assistance from Pakistan to carry out its Afghan policy.

US Bureau Chief of Dawn Anwar Iqbal talked on the issue of Legislative Bills in Congress to limit aid to Pakistan. He was on the view that current situation looks bad for US-Pakistan relationship.

Later in the evening the business man of the year John Hamid invited all the speakers and poets for a sumptuous dinner at his house. Honored guests included Ameer Rupani, Noor Amrohvi, Dr Amer Suleman, Mudasser Tipu (Pakistan Embassy), Shahnaz Bukhari (PWA), Anwer Iqbal (Dawn) Rashid Dara , Fayyaz Hassan (PCDFW), Aftab Siddiqui (PCDFW), Akrama Khan (PCDFW) Saeed Qureshi (PCDFW),Iqbal Haider and Zahid Khanzada.