Category Archives: Events

Islamophobia in the Age of Trump
Creating a Counter-Narrative

With the rise of xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments, policies, and discourse since Trump’s win in the States, and also within Canada, it is important
as community organizations for us to challenge this bigoted discourse.

Guided by our two co-facilitators, we are hoping to:
a) Name the anti-immigrant policies and discuss briefly their impact on our communities,
b) Discuss the failure of Trump in his attempts to implement these policies (whether it is the decision of the judicial system or the opposition from State governments) AND MAINLY,
c) Provide language to challenge these systems.

Alia Hogben is the Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. In 2012, Hogben became the second Canadian Muslim woman to be awarded the Order of Canada for her work in the area of women’s rights.

Syed Hussan is a researcher, writer and campaigner based in Toronto. He organizes as part of and alongside migrant and undocumented communities, including those targeted by the national security state. He is a co-creator, with Aliya Pabani, of the RememberJan29.com project.

GET YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE
You must get tickets to attend the event.

Film Screening: Among the Believers

AMONG THE BELIEVERS
Bocumentary, colour, 95 min, English subtitles.

In its verdict of March 9, the Islamabad High Court made it mandatory for all applicants to the army and the civil to declare their ‘true faith’, failure to do which could make one ‘guilty of betraying the state’ and ‘exploiting the Constitution’.
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Fundamentalist ideology and violence that has been devastating for Pakistan, especially its religious minorities.

This ideology and these actions, are those of a small minority of people and have nothing to do with the beliefs and practices of the overwhelming majority of the Muslim masses.

‘Among the Believers’, featuring the renowned nuclear physicist and mathematician, and courageous human rights activist Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, focuses on the chilling message of the radical cleric Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid of Islamabad who is known for his support of Al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Documentary followed by discussion on the origins and impact of fundamentalism in Pakistan and what we can do to help combat it.

All welcome. Free admission; voluntary donations appreciated.

VAUGHAN: Saturday, March 17, 2 pm,
Civic Centre Library, 2191 Major Mackenzie Drive

AJAX: Saturday, March 31, 1.30 pm
St. Francis Centre, 78 Church Street

TORONTO: Wednesday, April 11, 7 pm
Palmerston Library, 560 Palmerston Ave, (Bathurst & Bloor)

MISSISSAUGA: Sunday, April 15, 2 pm.
Burnhamthorpe Library, 3650 Dixie Road

NORTH YORK: Sunday, April 15, 2 pm
Noor Cultural Centre, 123 Wynford Drive

Faiz Day 2016

faiz-day-2016-dec-10-poster

The Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians celebrates Faiz Day on November 21st to pay homage to the revolutionary Urdu poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, The program includes recitals, audio & video clippings and singing of his revolutionary and love poetry. For tickets, please contact Mr. Abbas Syed at 647-524-1891.

21 November, 2015 at 06:30 p.m.
Burnhamthorpe Community Centre,
1500 Gulledin Drive, Mississauga
(Burnhamthorpe Road East & Dixie Road)
Eventbrite - CPPC Faiz Day 2016

The Failure of Anti-Terrorist, Social and Foreign Policies Leads to Terrorist Attacks:

brussels

The Failure of Anti-Terrorist, Social and Foreign Policies Leads to Terrorist Attacks:
Vice-Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) David Pestieau on the
terrorist attacks in Brussels Airport and in the Brussels metro and on the latest antiterrorist draft bill in Belgium. (Interview was published in L’Humanité Dimanche, 31 March 2016)

HD. What state is Belgium in, more than one week after the terrorist attacks?
We are still living in the continuity of the attacks in Paris first, and now in Brussels. The difference lies in the targeted premises – the airport and the metro – with passengers, workers, persons on their way to work, mothers, fathers. The first reaction was solidarity and unity against terror, hatred and division. Commemorations, both spontaneous and organized, were held at the Brussels Stock Exchange, on the Brussels Airport tarmac, in Charleroi, in Antwerp and in cities across the country.

Everyone wanted to defend our peaceful co-existence against jihadists and racists. All victims, all standing as one, in spite of the attempts by the extreme right to disrupt this growing movement of unity. On Sunday 27 March, four hundred hooligans from the association ‘Casual United Belgium’ attempted to break the solidarity in the cosmopolitan town that is Brussels, where two-thirds of the population is of foreign origin. This incident raises many questions. How come that, right in the wake of the attacks, with all the security measures taken by the authorities, these 400 hooligans managed to go from Vilvoorde (a city just outside Brussels) to the Place de la Bourse (in the centre of Brussels) without there being any reaction. There has been a laissez-faire attitude vis-à-vis these “black-shirts” who were allowed to trample flowers, chant slogans against immigrants and perform the Nazi salute.
The society is experiencing an enormous sense of bewilderment. Both in Belgium and in the rest of Europe, the extreme-right is trying to capture the anger in order to sow terror and division.

HD. The investigation of the attacks reveals gross negligence on the part of the Belgian authorities. Is this worrisome, with new anti-terrorist bills on the horizon?
The hour of truth has come. We demand answers to the many questions raised as to the
management of the terrorist threat and the responsibility of the judiciary and the police. At different levels, we can see that the government has been unable to protect the population. Hence it is clear that its policies have to be challenged. And the PTB-PVDA members of parliament shall oppose any new anti-terrorist bill proposed by the Prime Minister who, nevertheless, wants to bring new legislation forward as early as March 29. Attention must be given to the existing mechanisms and the many shortcomings. It appears today that these attacks could have been prevented. The ministers have to provide answers as to what happened to the very clear warnings received on Ibrahim El Bakraoui and the Abdeslam brothers. Serious errors have been committed. Hence we formulated 37 precise questions to the Michel Government, for we cannot afford such shortcomings any more in the fight against terrorism.

HD. What are the measures called for by the government?
Prime Minister Charles Michel and his ministers are committed to mirroring the path chosen by the United States and most of the European countries like France: to gather and record as many data as possible on as many citizens as possible, while, at the same time, the Minister of Justice has confirmed at the committee of inquiry that his services are being over-stretched because of an overflow of information. Likewise, the battery of measures taken – the army on the streets, the revocation of citizenship, mass surveillance – is inefficient and may increase the burden of operational work at the expense of the tracking-down of the really dangerous subjects. Another point to emerge from these attacks is the lack of structural coordination between the different services: the federal police, the intelligence services and the local police.

HD. What are the avenues proposed by the PTB-PVDA?
At the criminal level, it is necessary to target the recruiters of future Syria fighters as well as other jihadists. We have to be in a position to thwart terrorist plots through targeted police work. We also have to develop prevention, and deradicalisation programmes… We have to invest in employment and in the fight against discrimination, Belgium being one of the European countries with the highest rate of discrimination in job recruitment. Europe should also stop its pro-war policy with NATO and cut off the financial, logistical and arms support to IS via its allies, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Faiz Day 2015 – Join Us!

The Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians celebrates Faiz Day on November 21st to pay homage to the revolutionary Urdu poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, The program includes recitals, audio & video clippings and singing of his revolutionary and love poetry. For tickets, please contact Mr. Abbas Syed at 6475241891.

21 November, 2015 at 06:30 p.m.
Burnhamthorpe Community Centre,
1500 Gulledin Drive, Mississauga
(Burnhamthorpe Road East & Dixie Road)

FaizDay2015poster

 

The Great Bengal Famine of 1943
(Event Date 12 September, 2015)

An analysis of one of the most overlooked episodes of mass starvation in history and what we can learn from it today.

Famine

DR. JANAM MUKHERJEE is an Assistant Professor of History at Ryerson University in Toronto and author of ‘Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire’, an account of the impacts of hunger and economic violence on the people of undivided Bengal. Incorporating extensive archival and oral history research, Mukherjee draws structural links between war, famine, social upheaval and civil violence in mid-twentieth century Bengal.

Dr. Mukherjee will focus on the famine of 1943 and, additionally, will address hunger, famine and dislocation more broadly and draw links between the famine in 1943, that in 1974, and the “culture” of hunger that remains in Bengal today.

Ms. SUMANA GANGULY, the well-known and melodious singer, has kindly offered to perform a couple of songs for the occasion.

Admission Free

Saturday, 12 September, 2015
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
ACCESS POINT ON DANFORTH
3079 Danforth Avenue,
Toronto, ON M1L 1A8
(near Victoria Park subway)

Karamat Ali – Face 2 Face

Karamat Ali's Talks

Karamat Ali – Face 2 Face

You are invited to 2 events with Karamar Ali, a veteran trade unionist who played an important role in the Pakistani labour movement in the 1970s. He is the Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), which he helped found in the early 1980s.

Mr. Ali is equally known for his contributions to promote beneficial relations between Pakistan and India at both the grassroots and governmental levels.

A graduate of the University of Karachi and the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands, Mr. Ali has written extensively on labour and peace issues in academic journalsand the national media. He is one of the founding members of the Pakistan Peace Colaition, Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peaceand Democracy, and Convenor of the South Asian Labour Forum, Pakistan Chapter.

Please join us for 2 events with Karamat Ali:

Pakistan’s India Policy – Ending Hostility; Building Friendship
Saturday, 26 September, 2015
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Rogers Theatre, Living Arts Centre,
4141 Living Arts Road, Mississauga

Working People in Pakistan: Conditions and Standards of Living – an overview
Sunday, 27 September, 2015
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Room 5-150, OISE
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
(St. George subway, Bedford exit. Paid parking under building)

Bulleh Shah Dehar –
(Event Date 22 August, 2015)

Bulleh Shah Day.ledger

Bulleh Shah Day

SATURDAY, AUG 22
Doors Open: 6.30 p.m.
Program starts 7.00 p.m.

BURNHAMTHORPE COMMUNITY CENTRE
1500 Gulledin Road
(Burnhamthorpe Rd East, Dixie Road)

TICKETS $10
Food: $6.00 per plate (vegetarian only)
SPEAKERS:
Ms. FOZIA TANVEER: ‘The Rebel Sufi’
Dr. WARAYAM SINGH SANDHU: ‘Message of secularism and religious tolerance in Bulleh Shah’

Musical Program:
SHAHIDALI KHAN
Also making an appearance: The brothers Baljit and Sumit Bains

For further information info@pakistanicanadians.ca or 647-524-1891
Organized by: Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians

INDIA vs PAKISTAN • Religion and state in the two countries
(Event Date 24 July, 2015)

INDIA vs PAKISTAN
Religion and state in the two countries

DR. PRITAM SINGH, ‘Hindu Bias in India’s ‘Secular’ Constitution’
Dr Pritam Singh studied at Punjab University, Chandigarh; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and the University of Oxford, and is currently a Professor of Economics at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. His books on India have received critical acclaim as path breaking works of scholarship, and his research articles and reviews have appeared in various journals including Third World Quarterly, Contemporary South Asia, Economic and Political Weekly and the International Journal of Punjab Studies.

DR. TAHIR QAZI, ‘Religion and Pakistan’s Constitution’
Dr. Qazi, a medical doctor and Neurophysiologist and Rehabilitation specialist by profession, studied at Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore and has taught at the University of Calgary and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is well known for his extensive knowledge and respected as an analyst and commentator due to his thoughtful and balanced views on a wide range of literary, social and political issues.

ELIZABETH HILL, ‘Opposing Religious Prejudice, Strengthening Secularism in Canada’
Nine times elected School Trustee: 1988-1997 (York Board); 1997-2006 (Toronto District School Board)

Friday, July 24; 6.30 – 8.30 p.m.
Rogers Theatre, Living Arts Centre, Mississauga
4141 Living Arts Drive, Mississauga, ON L5B 4B8

Free underground parking.
Admission free.
Donations to help meet costs gratefully accepted.

Organized by:
Indo-Canadian Workers Association
and Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians
For further information: 647-524-1891