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
Reply from Alnaz Jiwa
Reply from Alnaz Jiwa to Malik Talib President of Aga Khan Council Canada
-----Original Message-----
From: Alnaz Jiwa
Sent: 30 October 2014 11:46
To: m. chatur
Cc: aminmawji@blueyonder.co.uk; 'President Aga Khan Council Canada Malik Talib'; 'Eqbal Rupanii CEO LIF'; 'Iqbal Lakhani'; salimabhatia@btopenworld.com; 'Qahir Manji'; nimet.hirji@iiuk.org; 'Khan'; editor@theismaili.org; 'Ambassador Aziz Bhalloo'; 'Saliyat'; mahmoudeboo@gmail.com; 'Noordin Nanji Chairman ICAB'; zauhar.meghji@kelam.com; 'Mr Shafik Sachedina'; 'M Manji Ex President Aga Khan Council Canada'; sherbanoo.moledina@akdn.org; nagibtajdin@yahoo.com;
Ya Ali Madad,
I read the volunteer's email with interest but am certainly not surprised.
However, I am glad that these volunteers are speaking up. The type of compliant made is nothing new. Our leaders for a very very long time have abused their positions in similar circumstances.
Our jamats and volunteers have always tolerated such terrible behavior and simply kept quiet.
MHI expects jamats to fight back.
He has insisted that the jamats SEEK accountability, answerability, and competence. Yet if jamats ask leaders for answers, we are told that they are answerable only to MHI. They openly defy MHI's publicly stated Farmans. Remember MHI publicly spoke about leaders not doing what he tells them in London during his GJ Farman.
I have a written minutes of Mawlana Sultan Mohamed Shah's advise to elders. He told them to give up their positions to allow younger people to take leadership positions, and then said if they won't allow this to happen, "they will revolt". He then said that those who seek to cling to their positions, " I pray that they die early ".
Note that He Himself in His Will stated that the wanted a young man to lead the Jamat.
MSMS in response to a complain by a teacher in Dar es Salaam that they were not paid enough to survive, said, "hartal Karo" (go on strike).
MHI in one Farman said, that He knows who serves the Jamat when He is physically not present, then added, but these murids do not have courage to "PUSH FORWARD" and serve Him when He is physically present with the jamat.
Imams expect people to "push forward", seek answerability, etc.
Therefore, it is important for our jamats and volunteers to fight back against our corrupted leaders.
The volunteers are seeking meeting with Mr. Talib. Is he the right person? Is he not part of them. Why not seek to present a submission to ALL LIF members for their consideration and response. Better still, why not ask to make a personal presentation to LIF during their meeting, and to deliver such request to MHI personally also.
An important point to note. During the recent opening ceremonies in Toronto, one could safely say that these two buildings are very very important part of our history, yet MHI did not appreciate the Jamats, and did not give His Blessings to the jamats and did not also tell leaders to convey His Blessings to the Jamat when He left.
We must ask why He did not do so. Is it because of our leaders' actions.
I end by congratulating the two groups who have started to fight back.
Our jamats should be encouraged to apply MHI'S farman of seeking accountability and to do so on a wide scale.
I will end with one incident during MSMS's time. MSMS told one jamati kamadia saheb, " mukhibko itna satavo, me khud chor ke chala Jaye." (Trouble mukhi so much that vheb himself leaves and goes away.
Alnaz Jiwa