The future of the Pakistan Independence Day Parade, the largest gathering of the Pakistani community in New York City, may be at stake as two rival trustee factions head to court today. The outcome could determine who has control over the prestigious, 23-year-old parade, scheduled for August 26, which runs along Madison Avenue and draws thousands of people.

Of the approximately 39 total of trustees, one faction is asking that Justice Marilyn Diamond of New York County Supreme Court confirm the March 2 election of Mohammad Saif Ullah and Mian Mohammad Fayyaz, as parade committee chairman and secretary general, respectively. Respondents say Messrs. Ullah and Fayyaz are unfit for office and never took the proper oath according to by-laws.

A third group has entered the legal fray called the Concerned Citizens of the Pakistani-American Community, which is worried the parade permit could be canceled due to the dissension.

“The parade must go on. That is the feeling of the community,” a business owner member of the group, Ahsan Chughtai, said. “We want this fighting to stop,” he said. The Concerned Citizens suggest that the court appoint a referee to supervise the upcoming parade.