Immigrants All

In one day I encountered the very rich and the very helpless

desis in New York without my really seeking them. It just so

happened and I wonder what is the connection I felt between the

two that day. Its an elusive idea since its hard to figure out if the

rich have anything to do with the poor.

First the fun part, watching the rich. I found myself at the wedding

of Sant Chatwal's son. Mr. Chatwal owns hotels upon hotels.

Several on Times Square and I believe many more all over the

US.

Pamela Godredge was a guest, so was Sharad Pawar. As was

Subhas Chandra of Zee. So were elephants and dancing

horses. The animals were flown in from the Oklahoma Circus.

Congressman Richard Gephardt, the House Democratic

Leader, Senator Hillary Clinton and President Clinton were there,

as Mr.Chatwal is a contributor to the Democratic party.

The party was at the Tavern-on-the-Green in Central Park. This is

a glass palace in the middle of the park, the park around which

live the richest people in the world. (One of the joys of living in

New York City is that in certain parts of town, say the upper West

Side, you can be on street level with billionaires.) When I once

walked in that part of the park, 67th Street and Central Park West,

I felt very small, the Tavern felt very big, and the faces behind the

glass seemed rich and white.

This occasion at the Tavern was more joyful: I could see

Sardarjis bhangraoing to Daler Mehndi and the soundtrack of

Monsoon Wedding.

The idea of the rich, the picture in your head, is better than the

sight sometimes. Frankly the Sardarjis, the Chatwal extended

family, were the only attractive desis in the crowd. Dancing

sardaris in all shapes and sizes looked better than the rest. Any

one of the women could have been wearing any one else's

jewelry, or sari for that matter. It was all one sheen before my

eyes. The level of fitness was low, men with paunches, heavy

jowls and unimaginative haircuts. My sister, who is in

advertising, tells me that these days it is all about the body. The

gora rich know it and look it and I was disheartened our very own

were not up to date.

Gephardt spoke, Hillary spoke. Clinton was the show. He is tall,

has a huge face, big white man. And he is all hip-hop. Entering

the party he immediately moved to the stage area where dancers

had finished performing and posed with them. Three women to

each side of him, his arms all embracing.

I had crashed the party because I was "helping" a friend make

the wedding video. It was all fun and games until I ran into a

blue-eyed, dark-haired man at the bar who introduced himself as

an FBI agent named Ayub. What stood before me was one half of

my afternoon of research.

I had been reading Urdu newspapers, there are eight weeklies

that come out of the New York region, that are full of news of FBI

and INS raids on Pakistani communities in Queens and

Brooklyn.

Here is an excerpt a story from the Pakistan Post of July 31st

2002.

"Raids are occurring in Brooklyn at a terrifying rate. Yesterday at

7:00 am FBI raided the apartment of Colonel Mohammed Latif in

a building at Avenue K and Street 13. They searched the house

without a warrant. At that point most people in the house were

asleep. When Mrs. Latif opened the door, 6 men barged in

without identifying themselves. They went into the living room

picked up a displayed photograph and claimed that it matched

who they were looking for. They started asking questions.

Colonel Latif tried to calm them down by saying that the

photograph in question was of their son who, at that time, was at

work. Colonel Latif was asked to produce identification. Other

men took the lady to her bedroom and demanded identification

papers. They checked the bathrooms as well. Before leaving

they produced a picture of a "Mr. Khan," and asked questions

about him.

A few days before the raid at Colonel Latif’s the police raided the

same building and without a warrant raided several apartments.

They woke people up, asked about other residents in the

building on the pretext of inquiring about a certain "Zafar

Mehmood."

The same day at building number 1360 on Ocean Avenue,

between H and I, the police arrested a man for holding two

identities.

On 86 Street officials arrested three men for illegal status. When

a legal resident living there protested at the officials entering the

house without a warrant the authorities bid him to be patient.

The next day they came with a warrant for him and arrested him.

In another incident immigration officials arrested the proprietor of

Honey Locksmith on charges of immigrating under a false

name. They confiscated the papers of his American citizen

brother and family. The younger men of the household protested

and told the officials to get out since they had no warrant. The

officials came back a few days later and questioned the family

about how they became legal. At this point the head of the family

said that he would call 911 (the police emergency number) and

say that people have barged into his house and are stealing his

legal documents. At that moment the officials conferred together

and then gave them back their documents.

American officials are continuing their campaign against US

based Pakistanis, citizens of a country that is allied in the war

against terrorism. More than 1700 Pakistanis have been

detained in this country on charges of illegal residence. Many

have been deported. Of those deported many have families with

young children who are still here and helpless. Not one

Pakistani arrested has been charged with terrorism."

---

Back at Tavern-on-the-Green. Clinton began his talk by saying,

"We are all immigrants." There was audible relief in the crowd.

Clinton had did it again, knowing exactly what to say to whom.



Rehan will be teaching "Introduction to Indian Cinema" at the

New School University (Department of film and communication)."

Starting Sept 19th.

http://www.nsu.newschool.edu/fall02/comm5.htm#NFLM3441