To educate the Brown community about Pakistani history and culture and to facilitate a discussion about its politics, a group of Brown students revived the Pakistani Students Association this spring.
Originally founded in 1999, the group had a sporadic existence for several years because of the fluctuating number of Pakistani students on campus. Last fall, some undergraduate and graduate students decided to restart the association, said Sumbul Siddiqui '10, the group's vice president of events.
Arsalan Ali Faheem GS, president of the group, said Brown's Pakistani students are concerned about the sensationalist media coverage of their country and hope to offer a more complete picture of its society and culture to the Brown community.
"Pakistan is home to 170 million people, but it is never really well understood by the rest of the world," Faheem said. "There is a lot more to Pakistan than just the extremists we see on TV."
American news coverage of Pakistan typically focuses on the tumultuous political situation within the country, Siddiqui said. "In the past few years, and especially after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the image of Pakistan has just gone downhill."
In an effort to repair this image, the group's members aim to spread awareness about Pakistani national and cultural identity, its art, music and films.
The group held its first event, the screening of the film "Kashf - The Lifting of the Veil," on Wednesday as a part of Islam Awareness Month.
"We aim to stimulate intellectual discussion about Pakistani culture," Faheem said. "Brown students are probably aware of the Pakistani situation at the macro level - the GDP, form of government and level of political instability, but to understand the people - you have to go beyond that."
Faheem said the group wants to collaborate with the Watson Institute for International Studies to arrange a variety of lecture series, bringing notable Pakistanis to campus. It would also like to sponsor charities in Pakistan and raise awareness about Pakistani humanitarian issues at Brown.
In the long run, Faheem said the group hopes to start a student-exchange program between Brown and Pakistani institutions.
Pakistan split from India in 1947 and has developed a "unique identity" since then, Faheem said.
"We hope to facilitate a discussion of this identity and increase understanding," he said. "In the long run, we want to promote peace and progress in the region, and ties of friendship and mutual respect."
Siddiqui, who grew up in the United States, said the group will give her the opportunity to "meet native Pakistanis who have a different perspective while sharing a common language."
The association currently has more than 40 members, Siddiqui said. Since the group is still in its formative stages, most of the members are of Pakistani origin, but membership is open to all students and to members of the Providence community.
Nearly 75 people, including students, faculty members and members of the Providence community, attended Wednesday's movie screening, and many stayed afterward to discuss the film with its director, Ayesha Khan.
Set in Pakistan, the movie deals with Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam that seeks to shed the ego to understand divinity and to come closer to God.
In response to a question about why she made a movie on Sufism, Khan said, "The mystical core of Sufism is present in many religions. They are all trying to answer the same question: who we are and why we are here."
"I have had Native Americans tell me that Sufism is so similar to their own religions," she said in an interview with The Herald after the screening.
Khan said she believes that Sufism can possibly bridge the conflict between Muslims and Hindus because it contains elements of both religions. She said she supports the Pakistani association in its effort to show a different side of Pakistan not available through the mainstream media.
Mikail Kalimuddin '09, who is not a member of the association but attended the movie screening, said, "It's always good to know more about a country."
Members of the group said they were happy with the turnout at the movie. In the future, they said they hope to continue presenting untold stories of Pakistani society than those shown to people in the West.
"We never hear about the silent millions living everyday lives," Faheem said.
