Indian, Pakistani groups focusing on younger generations
Sixty years ago the sun began to set on the British Empire, as India and Pakistan declared independence from the queen.
Immigrants from the two countries continue to celebrate that day of independence thousands of miles from where their ancestors lived.
In the Chicago area, the Indian community is holding a banquet tonight at the Meadow Club in Rolling Meadows where NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who is of Indian descent, is the guest of honor. Saturday, a group of suburban Pakistanis will celebrate in Hoffman Estates.
Larger, more formal celebrations and parades will be held on Devon Avenue in Chicago, the center of the area's Indo-Pak community. Indian residents will gather Saturday while Pakistani Americans celebrate Aug. 26.
The anniversary comes as the two countries share a high profile in world affairs -- one at the center of the war on terror and the other an emerging economic power that could rival China.
It was on Aug. 15, 1947, that Britain split the area, creating the predominantly Hindu state of India and predominantly Muslim state of Pakistan.
But six decades on, feelings have changed, and while ethnic pride continues among the elder statesmen, the torch is being passed to a younger generation with more varied attitudes.
A main theme of Saturday's Devon Avenue festivities, for example, will be encouraging second-generation immigrants to participate in cultural activities, said Iftekhar Shareef, president of the Federation of Indian Association's Chicago chapter. It's helping coordinate the Indian slate of events.
Shareef's challenge to draw in younger people is one shared by many groups, from VFWs to art commissions. That doesn't lessen the urgency he feels.
"We still want to recognize the people who were the spark of freedom," he said.
Some of Shareef's Pakistani counterparts have had success drawing young people.
Fahad Jafri, 27, of Bartlett joined the Federation of Suburban Pakistanis this year after moving to the U.S. in 1996. He's participated in federation events for the last five years and will be attending the group's celebration Saturday at the village green in Hoffman Estates.
There's more to his country than the hunt for terrorists and confrontations with India, Jafri says, adding that celebrations like Hoffman Estates' show Pakistanis in a different light.
Muzammil Siddiqui, the Federation of Suburban Pakistanis' general secretary, said the group involved students from Loyola and DePaul universities to make sure the second generation doesn't forget Pakistan's history. He thinks the majority who'll celebrate in Hoffman Estates will be under 30.
Jafri started a group on Facebook to attract more young people to the event.
Shareef, who came 25 years ago from Hyderabad, India, is also the first Muslim president of the Chicago FIA.
He sees that as a prime example of how people of various faiths mostly live peacefully in India, whose Muslim population is exceeded only by Indonesia's and Pakistan's.
"It's a living example of democracy and secularism," he said. "We take pride in that."
The Indian and Pakistani parades have become a stomping ground for politicians hoping to garner votes.
Shareef points out India and the U.S. are the two largest democracies by population. He's seen his countrymen become more politically active through the years.
"Twenty five years before when we first came, our involvement in mainstream politics was very low," he said. "I would say on a scale of zero to 10, we were at one."
Siddiqui said the Hoffman Estates event highlights the impact of immigrants.
"Our whole purpose of the event is to show our heritage, to show the struggle of what happened in 1947 and when people came over here."