By IANS
Islamabad/Washington : A section of Pakistanis in the US wants to invite suspended chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry to address their Independence Day parade in New York, but the consulate is "silently working" to prevent it.
Chaudhry is in the eye of the current political storm after he defied President Pervez Musharraf, who suspended him on March 9, charging him with misusing the highest judicial office to promote his son.
Politics has crept into the preparations to celebrate Pakistan's 60th Independence Day that falls on August 14, Daily Times said Sunday.
A rivalry has developed in the recent months and gets reflected in two ethnic journals, Pakistan Post and Urdu Times that have a wide circulation in some of the states, including New York, Florida and Texas.
The fight centres on names of the members of the parade committee.
Some of them had copies of the papers removed, and the rival faction quickly replaced copies as soon as they were removed in Brooklyn and Long Island.
The journals' publishers placed larger print orders and complained to police, who are investigating the matter, said the newspaper.
Afaq Khyali, editor of Pakistan Post, told Daily Times Saturday that he had doubled the print order of his newspaper that week. Since that incident, the two parties have agreed to a truce and the physical removal of papers has stopped.
"The shadow of Pakistani politics looms large over New York, especially with the Pakistan Day parade marking the 60th anniversary of Pakistan," it said.
Independence Day parade is a regular event for the South Asian expatriates, particularly from Pakistan and India on August 14 and 15 respectively.
The Indian parade usually has Bollywood stars marching along with marquee names among the American Indians who have done well in different walks of life.