Community support dinner for Jihad Dib

A support dinner was held on Monday 6 February in honour of Jihad Dib MP, current state member for Lakemba at Himalaya Function Hall in Granville attended by the local member Julia Finn MP as well as a large section of multicultural community leaders. The event was hosted by Pakistan Mission International headed by Shakil Ahmad.

The NSW state election will be held on Saturday 25 March 2023 and since the seat of Lakemba has been abolished, Jihad will be standing for the seat of Bankstown.

The lavish dinner was attended by representatives of diverse organisations representing all shades of Muslim ethnic groups and covered by a range of multicultural media.

Mr Shakil Ahmad during his welcome speech outlined the objectives of Pakistan Mission International (PMI) and appealed for collaboration between various communities to collaborate on issues of common interest including inter-faith harmony, cross-cultural joint ventures, human rights and problems faced by migrants.

Mr Ahmad highlighted the significant role played by Jihad Dib in politics and as a role model for Muslim politicians, assuring him with full community support and wishing both Mr Dib as well as Ms Julia Finn for success in the upcoming state election.

Mr Keyser Trad, CEO of AFIC during his address praised Jihad Dib for raising his voice in the interest of the Muslim community and for the people in his electorate as well as in defence of Palestinian rights with full support of Julia Finn.

The Consul General of Turkey, Mr Bilal Aksoy passed his condolences for the death of over 100 people in the terrorist attack in Peshawar and then gave the latest report on the major earthquake that took place on the same day.

Ms Julia Finn thanked PMI for the initiative to bring the community leaders together and appealed for support from the audience during the upcoming election.

Ramiz Ahmad, a business-law student at UTS representing youth asked for the senior community members to embrace social media and face the challenges in this dramatically growing space to counter Islamophobia and hate.

Mr Jihad Dib during his keynote address thanked PMI for organising the event and greatly appreciated the overwhelming support he has received by the community over the years he has been in parliament.

Mr Dib talked about the tough times during the bushfires, the floods and COVID-19 lockdown specially in the Western Sydney LGA’s and the great resilience shown by the community in coping with tough times.

He praised Muslim aid organisations for helping Australians at large in Sydney as well as in remote areas during the tough times personally accompanying aid teams that brought people together as well as appreciation by the mainstream community of efforts by Muslim individuals to help all Australians.

The formal program ended with the presentation of calligraphy artwork by Mrs Ahmad to Jihad Dib as well as Julia Finn, group photos and dinner.