National Anthem and the Retired Chief Justice Ahmad German, Sacramento, CA

Retired Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was in Sacramento recently and during his stay paid a visit to our mosque.  Before his speech, Maulana Sahib recited the Holy Qur’an, and after the recitation, he sang our national anthem.

Believe it or not, none of the Pakistanis present in the mosque stood up, not even the ex-Chief Justice, in respect of the national anthem. I was the only one to stand up and, following me, three more Pakistanis from among the gathering stood up.  I got quite upset and left. But before leaving I duly remarked that it was hardly warranted to listen to the retired Chief Justice, and it was truly embarrassing to see Pakistanis paying such scant respect to the national anthem.

I hope the Pakistan Link representative in Sacramento will give due coverage to this omission on the part of the Pakistanis in the mosque and, if he doesn’t do so, he wouldn’t be doing justice to his job.