Pehchaan, SASA work together
Though the South Asian Students Association (SASA) includes Pakistan as one of the countries whose culture it promotes on campus, Pakistani international students created another group, Pehchaan, in winter 2006 to address Pakistani cultural and political issues.?We felt there was a need to try and organize events and discussions that were focused more so on Pakistan to some extent,? Babur Khwaja ?09, one of Pehchaan?s officers, said in an interview.?South Asia is big ... and while clumping all its people together is convenient, it?s not always efficient, or even fair,? Faaez Ul Haq ?11, a member of Pehchaan, said in an e-mail.Ul Haq is also a staff photographer for The Daily Princetonian.Khwaja noted, fundamentally, that the groups have different focuses.?One of the big motivators for Pehchaan?s founders was that there?s a huge scope of political problems in Pakistan that are so pressing and at the forefront of the news,? he said.?Pehchaan aims to ... provide opportunities for Princeton students, Pakistani and non-Pakistani to come to appreciate different nuances of Pakistani culture,? Ul Haq said.The Pakistani group welcomes all students, including Americans and international students with no ethnic ties to Pakistan as well as Indian students, Khwaja explained in an e-mail.Though some of Pakistan?s political issues involve India, its neighbor, Khwaja said the ?history of fighting [between the two] doesn?t really factor into the way SASA and Pehchaan work together at Princeton.??We support each other,? he added.