Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.Copyright Lawsuit: Defenses Glorifying the Aga Khan filed in federal Court - 2010-04-29
In a surprisingly rapid twist of events, both Mr Tajdin and Mr Jiwa have filed their respective statements of Defense this 29th of April 2010. They affirm to being devoted followers who will unconditionally abide by the wishes of the Aga Khan, whom they glorify in their defense.
Mr Tajdin declares that:
He has not been served yet but the ethics imposed upon him by his faith demands that he should not keep in ignorance the public by being silent on the issue and should clarify all of the facts, pertaining to this lawsuit, of which he is aware.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of his wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
He has been printing Farman books since 1992 with approval and instructions from the Imam received on August 15, 1992 in Montreal.
He has not received any communication from the Imam from 1992 to 2009 instructing him to stop publication.
He cannot stop publication without instruction from the Imam as this would be a breach of his oath of allegiance to the Imam.
All Farman publications were financial deficit projects done as a volunteer service and large numbers of books were distributed free of charge.
Farman sharing is a historic Ismaili tradition which still continues today.
The current Ismaili Constitution does not restrict the right to publish Farmans
Mr Tajdin concludes that:
He has no choice but to await further direct instructions from the Imam.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of His wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
Mr Jiwa states that:
"This action does not appear to have been authorized personally by the Aga Khan .."
"In distributing Farman books obtained from Tajdin to other Ismailis, he has not violated either the Ismaili Constitution or any Farmans"
He has not violated the copyright act as "Tajdin was given express authority by the Imam" and regardless of the fact that "the limitations period provided for by the Copyright Act also bars this action as the books containing the Farmans were commenced publication in the year 1992", he will still do whatever the Imam tells him to do.
Mr Jiwa clarifies finances:
He "obtains these books for C$50.00 and sells them for C$50.00 or gives them free, without any profit.
"All monies received by him from the sale of (other) books after 2005 were delivered to the Jamatkhanas"
Mr Jiwa further states that:
"If the Imam edited the Farman before releasing to the Jamats, in effect he is superceding the Farman he made orally previously."
He "unconditionally reconfirms his oath of allegiance to his Imam" and "if the Imam does not desire his Farman books to be distributed to the Jamats (...) this defendant will submit to the instructions of His Imam without reservation whatsoever"
Replies From the Plaintiff are due within 10 days, and Affidavits of Documents are due 30 days later.
[Update from May 6: Ogilvy Renault, the law firm which launched the case has asked for an extension of 15 days to reply to the Defense. They claim delays due to breakdown of email servers, blackberry communication, travel of senior lawyer, time difference with Paris etc...The more delays in this file, the more damage it creates to the reputation of the Ismaili community, the Imam and the defendants. It is to the advantage of all parties that this case be withdrawn from the courts.]
[Update from June 22: Defendants have filed a Motion for summary Judgement to have the case dismissed.]
[Update from September 5:
Online Book that gathers court materials as well as articles that are currently available for the ongoing 2010 Lawsuit:
Copyright Lawsuit 2010: Online Book of All available Materials
News on cross-examinations:
Copyright Lawsuit: CROSS_EXAMINATIONS Table of Contents - 2010-09-04
Latest Development
Copyright Lawsuit: Imam Appears for Discovery and Ends the Case - 2010-10-15
As users are asking to read the letters from Nagib and Alnaz on the court docket, the latest have been attached on the following link:
A. Various Court Filings
Revised Factums have been posted Here:
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment : Plaintiffs Revised Combined Factums of Reply and of Motion
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment: Defendants' Revised Factums of Motion and of Reply
There has been proven fraud in the recent past in the Aga Khan's domain by the Aga Khan's agents:
Aga Khan Lawsuit: Fraud at Aga Khan Studs - 2000-02-22
2011-05-25: A Jamati Member who has never met the Defendants volunteered as his brotherly duty to pay the $30,000 that was demanded in the Plaintiff''s submissions and that was accordingly ordered by the judge.
Read the full details of the $30,000 payment directly to H.H. The Aga Khan.
2011-06-16: The Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law against the Summary Judgment has been filed in court by the defendants on June 16th, 2011.
Read the Full Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law
Link to Court Docket Case T-514-10
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-60-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-59-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-156-13
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Tajdin Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 491.02 KB |
| Jiwa AK Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 543.82 KB |
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Comments
A conversation with a few
A conversation with a few young Ismaili adults. I brought up the Lawsuit.
They remembered and said they thought that these 2 went against the leaders and the Imam. I said that is not true and that Shafik Sachedina and some leaders with him are not telling the truth and I reminded them of Imams london GJ Farman. They were all there and asked why is Hazar Imam not firing those Leaders or sending Farmans directly to the Jamat and not through these Leaders. I said our role is to seek and share and change Leaders, , Imams role is to guide us , not only spiritually but materially and both are an equal part of our fairh, not only praying in JK ! What do you mean asked one !
I started by asking if they were going outside and Imam said don't go out because there is a hole & you will definitely fall into it and will not be able to walk. If you still went and fell into the hole. Who would you blame ? They agreed they will blame themselves.
I asked do they expect Imam to force and stop them from going out ? They agreed they don't !
I then asked , similarly do you expect Imam to force Farmans , constitution or reports upon you and force you to read or follow them. ?
They agreed Imam does not force us and they don't expect Imam to force them.
I then said Imam has given us guidance and the tools to change our leaders if we wish, and to seek and share Farmans guidance and reports and to work together.. So we cannot blame Imam if we dont or allow some leaders like Shafik Sachedina to tell us what they want to and not give us all the correct and complete Farmans reports or information. They nodded.
For example I went on, do you know there are more than 100,000, AKDN institutional staff globally, do you know how many are Ismailis ? How many are TKN ? And how many Ismaili families have benefited in each project or in each country - do you know the names and contact details of all the board and senior management staff's of each of our 16+ organisations. They all agreed they have not been informed , and did not know ? You are right ... Why don't we know ? Said one.
I added that do you then agree that Shafik Sachedina and Azim Lakhani do not even give us that information.Do you know as a Jamat are the biggest donors and our Institutions are of the Jamat and for the Jamat. Do you know one of the Murid Sued Nagib and Hos family areinfividuly major Dornor over the years? Do you know Every government and institutional donor who works with AKDN (which includes AKF) gets a report - why dont the Jamat ? What are Sachedina and Co really hiding and why ?
They agreed the Leaders dont but must Share these with us. I said but if we don't ask then we must accept we are to blame.
i added, Imam has directed we must ask our Leaders for Farmans, reports, the constitution and why for example a lawsuit has been filed. Leaders are accountable and answerable to the Jamat. If we don't ask then who is to blame?
They agreed we are to blame.
But we don't know about these Farmans and the constitutuon, because they have not veen goven was a response by one of them !
I said I agree they did not know but now you know , and now you can google and read and you can ask in JK ot Leaders, if you are really interested in stopping this blocking and blaming culture into a caring living and sharing culture. I added that you can alsobtalk to your friends and family. The more time you invest in seeking and sharing, the more benefit and Baraka you. your family and the Jamat will receive back will be manifold .
I ended and said If you say no to seeking and sharing you are saying no to Hazar Imams guidance and if we then go put and fall into that hole in this world or the next we can only blame ourselves.