Come December 1999, Faiz became the first Pakistani-American journalist to interview General Musharraf, the CEO of Pakistan Incorporated at the Army House in Rawalpindi. Later, in the year 2000, Musharraf's mother obliged Faiz with a mini interview in New York. In short, Faiz's destiny has been taking him to people, places, news and happenings.

Today, Faiz no longer manages Pakistan Link, but directs Pakistan's frontline diplomatic "Sherman Tank, aka Al-Khaled Tank" at Washington DC's Capitol Hill. In short PALC, which stands for Pakistani American Liasion Center.

And who says Washington DC is a no-fly zone....Faiz has managed to taxi and park himself and his organization at the gates of Capitol Hill along with 68 members of US Congress as part of the Pakistan Caucus! Not a small feat by any standards. The numbers keep growing as Rehman and his colleagues keep their assault on Capitol Hill delightfully smooth but result-oriented!

Despardes.com Editor Mr. Irshad Salim chatted with him online recently in order to understand what he has been doing on the Hill for Pakistan. Having been a news breaker in the past and now a newsmaker, Faiz Rehman spoke freely and candidly with Mr. Salim.

Following is an edited version of the chat. Every attempt has been made not to change its form and substance:


despardes.com: Irshad Salim from despardes.com here

Faiz Rehman: Ji janab, salam arz hai

despardes.com: being an activist and a journalist how did u manage to head Pakistan's political outpost in Washington...call it so...but officially it is PALC (Pakistani American Liaison Center) right?

Faiz Rehman: Well, it is sort of a continuation of my work since my days at Pakistan Link, which I founded in Feb., 1991. I have been deeply involved in community activities for the last 20 years. PALC is not "Pakistan's political outpost in Washington." It is a community founded and funded group of a few dedicated Pakistanis. However, in order to build a Caucus in US Congress, you need the consent of your embassy, especially if the Caucus represents a country, called a country caucus. This is sort of an unwritten diplomatic rule.

despardes.com: tell me what is a Caucus in US Congress and the follow-up question is what is Pakistan Caucus in the Congress. Our readers would like to know this very important thing.

Faiz Rehman: A caucus is a group of members of lawmakers in Congress who identify and sympathize with a particular cause, i.e, the Black Caucus, the Democratic Caucus, the Armenian Caucus, or India Caucus. Pakistan Caucus is an informal group of members of the House, it is only on the House side not in the Senate, with now 68 members. These members have joined the Caucus because either they have supporters in their respective constituencies or like what Pakistan is doing and stands for. Membership in the Caucus is not binding.

despardes.com: when was it formed and how does PALC relate to?

Faiz Rehman: The Caucus was formally launched by President Musharraf on Sept 22, 2004 at a Capitol Hill ceremony. He came to Washington from NY for only 8 hours to inaugurate the Caucus.

despardes.com: what has caucus to do with PALC?

Faiz Rehman: Most of the times for a country caucus, the members themselves do not take very active part. To keep the Caucus active and hold activities on regular basis you need a community organization which helps members hold events and communicate with their constituents. PALC's function is to liaison between the Pak community in the USA, the caucus, and the embassy.

despardes.com: So PALC stands for?

Faiz Rehman: Pakistani American Liaison Center

despardes.com: so u head this organization?

Faiz Rehman: Yes, as Executive Director. We do not have any other titles in the group with only 19 members. You can see it is not a grassroots organization.

despardes.com: are these 19 members Pakistanis?

Faiz Rehman: Pakistani Americans.

despardes.com: so this is a self-sustaining organization with no funding from elsewhere?

Faiz Rehman: Absolutely. We have a 10-member board. Each member contributes $10,000/year to remain on the board. The other members, Regional Directors, pay $1,000/year. The budget is enough to run a small office in Washington.

despardes.com: so u r a paid officer of the PALC?

Faiz Rehman: No. But I devote a lot of time as volunteer Executive Director.

despardes.com: tell me whose idea was PALC? and the Caucus?

Faiz Rehman: A few of us on the board conceptualized it.

despardes.com: ok so u r one of the founders then?

Faiz Rehman: Yes I am a founder.

despardes.com: ok did PALC idea and Caucus idea come about the same time?

Faiz Rehman: The idea for a Caucus on Pakistan has been around for some time. There was actually a caucus on Pakistan before about 9 years ago but with only 10 or 12 members. It was not very successful. Our group thought that this was a good time to establish a caucus because of an overall conducive environment.

despardes.com: was this whole idea of PALC and caucus a post 9/11 afterthought?

Faiz Rehman: In a sense, yes. The Pakistani American community went through a lot of turmoil and had to face lot of hardship at the hands of both immigration and law enforcement authorities. Right after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, I founded a civil rights group, the National Council of Pakistani Americans (www.ncpa.info) which was the first ever Washington-based Pakistani civil rights group. The Caucus gave us chance to work with political leaders for informing them about our plight and Pakistan's contribution in war on terror.

despardes.com: when was NCPA formed and when was Caucus formed?

Faiz Rehman: NCPA was founded in Dec. 2001. Caucus was formally launched in Sept 2004.

despardes.com: when was PALC formed/launched?

Faiz Rehman: May 2004.

despardes.com: so u head all these 3 orgs?

Faiz Rehman: I head NCPA and PALC. Caucus is a Congressional entity founded by members of Congress. Our founding co-chairs are Rep. Dan Burton (R-IND) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). The Caucus is registered with Congress. PALC only facilitates the activities of the Caucus.

despardes.com: so tell me how many member are there in the caucus as of now.

Faiz Rehman: 68

despardes.com: how many members are there in India caucus?

Faiz Rehman: about 160. The Caucus is about 13 years old

despardes.com: ok how many are there in Israeli caucus?

Faiz Rehman: There is no Israeli Caucus in Congress.

despardes.com: hmm interesting...why is it because the whole congress is their supporter?

Faiz Rehman: Your guess is as good as mine.

despardes.com: so how many total members are there in congress?
i mean house of reps from where the caucus is made of?

Faiz Rehman: 435 in the House and 100 in Senate. Our caucus is only in the House.

despardes.com: what about India?

Faiz Rehman: They also have a caucus in Senate, with about 18 members.

despardes.com: i am trying to do a mathematical perspective on political matter. hmm...so they are ahead of you then?

Faiz Rehman: Be my guest.

despardes.com: On Kashmir issue how well have you been in lobbying for Pak point of view?

Faiz Rehman: In what sense? Plus there is no race with any other group. We are about our own issues. We are a very young group. Things will come in strides. We have achieved a good number of members. Interestingly, PALC is not registered as a lobbying group. We are a public education group. Kashmir is one point where we offer material and guidance. The Caucus however has taken some positive steps. This week's resolution in the House International Comm. was unanimously approved for supporting the peace process b/w India and Pak. The resolution was moved by Caucus co-chair Sheila Jackson Lee.

despardes.com: in Pak caucus how many are Republicans and how many are Democrats?

Faiz Rehman: We are almost equally split between the two parties. Slightly more Dems than Reps.

despardes.com: How come? given that Pak is the most important ally for a Republican run US govt since the last 6 years?

Faiz Rehman: It is because our approach is that we talk to our community members who have been supporting their members for some time to ask to join the Caucus. Most of our community members, especially after 911, happen to be dems. But the Republican support is also very strong.

despardes.com: have you approached Rush Holt of NJ?

Faiz Rehman: Rush Holt is member of the Caucus. He became a member at last year's inaugural of the Caucus by President Musharraf.

despardes.com: so tell me how old r you

Faiz Rehman: I am 42.

despardes.com: tell me more about your family and personal life for our visitors?

Faiz Rehman: I am married with three children. Lubna and I got married in 1992 in Virginia. We lived mostly in the Los Angeles area, but moved to Virginia in 2001, maybe because my entire susraal is in Virginia. My parents live with us or should I say I still live with my parents who are also US citizens. I came to America as a student in Jan 1985 and have a Masters in Business Administration. My brothers live in California. I don't have any sisters.

despardes.com: so what do you think 9/11 has done to Pakistan?

Faiz Rehman: 9/11 was terrible for the entire world. Pakistanis were some of the worst sufferers here as well as in Pakistan. We lost lives, properties, businesses, and number of people to ruthless unfair enforcement of immigration laws.

despardes.com: what level of support and or resistance did you find on the Hill when recruiting members for the congress? For the caucus i mean?

Faiz Rehman: Amazingly, the support is good. Plus, I guess we as a community have become a little bit more sophisticated in politics. We got 68 members in less than a year's time. This is pretty phenomenal. Good support.

despardes.com: give me an example of a caucus success on a Pak issue

Faiz Rehman: The caucus has been helpful in the F-16s issue. PALC held a meeting of Lockheed-Martin in its offices with the Congressional staffers to discuss possible roadblocks in the deal. Also, we have had forums on Kashmir, education and trade, and war on terror. American Ambassador Ryan Crocker also visited our offices before he left for Pakistan. This is an on going effort. You will Inshallah keep hearing more good news on this front.

despardes.com: the 9/11 Commission recommended institutionalizing support and help to Pakistan. Are you extracting mileage out of it and or asking your caucus to kind of follow it?

Faiz Rehman: 9-11 Report has been a great support in our work. There is pretty much a consensus in Congress, except of course for a few very negative individuals, that they have to work with Pakistan. They take the Commission recommendations very seriously.

despardes.com: have you and your organization read the 9/11 commission report thoroughly vis-a-vis Pakistan and its interest in context of US interest in Pakistan?

Faiz Rehman: Yes.

despardes.com: don't you think the 9/11 Commission made your work easier?

Faiz Rehman: It's been a good help, yes.

despardes.com: has the recommendations been included in your agenda?

Faiz Rehman: Caucus agenda is more like a Congressional agenda. As community members we can only educate them on our issues. Most members already know the Report and they concur with us on the importance of Pakistan being a good ally.

despardes.com: can you for our visitors mention briefly what the 9/11 report recommend the Congress to do for Pak in short term and long term basis?

Faiz Rehman: I think the most important recommendation was to institutionalize the relationship with Pakistan. This in itself can cover so many areas that we need to work in. This also gives us a window to do our educational work in Congress. Institutionalizing relations does not just mean that you have relations with one person or a group.

despardes.com: given 9/11 commission recommendations for Pakistan-US relationship, do you think it is easy for PALC and Pak Caucus to maximize efforts and dividends in favor of Pakistan?

Faiz Rehman: I believe we just have to be fair. My premise is if you work to strengthen Pak-US relations, it will also benefit Pakistan, and the US of which we are now citizens.

despardes.com: have u held any briefings of Pak caucus on Pak issue and if so how many over the period from inception?

Faiz Rehman: We had a Congressional briefing with Ambassador Jehangir Karamat this month on Capitol Hill. In June, we are organizing another with Foreign Minister Kasuri.

despardes.com: Will it be fair to look at you as the Pakistani Pied Piper herding the US congressmen favoring Pakistan towards your goal...i mean Pakistan's goal?

Faiz Rehman: No. Basically I am a Pakistani American activist concerned with the plight of my community here and the well being of my erstwhile countrymen and women, and only trying to educate our leaders which also helps American policy makers with informed decisions and a better world view. I believe that in order to be effective you have to stay in the process. There are lots of things which we may not agree within the system. But, we have to continue to stay in the process. Pakistani Americans are a great source of knowledge for the American policy makers. Our group is just following this principle.

despardes.com: where is your office located at?

Faiz Rehman: In Washington, DC. Please also visit http://www.palc.us  and http://www.ncpa.info  for more info.

despardes.com: ok thanks and good luck in your endeavors.

Faiz Rehman: Thanks. Khuda Hafiz. Nice talking to you.

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