1. Presentation to
ISIJ of Toronto
HONESTY & INTEGRITY
The Best Public Relations Policy
In
a Multi Cultural and Multi-Faith
Society

2. The Recent Debacle
 The recent exposé in the Media about the alleged anti-
Semitism content in our Madressa’s website has to
force us to look inwards at ourselves and our
institutions and review their workings;
 Whether we should have expressed our regret only and
NOT apologized for the debacle is not an issue;
 Even today we don’t know who was responsible for the
editorial content that is being questioned

3. The problem tells us a lot about
ourselves
 If there was an image of a woman on the Madressa site
without Hijaab, how long would it have taken for some
one to spot it and object vigorously about it being
there?
 Not a long time, I can assure you.
 Yet there was this questionable content on the website
for obviously so long a time that nobody today even
remembers when and who put it there.
 And no one questioned it!

4. The Issue
 Perhaps, everybody who visited the site saw the
content but no one felt that it was wrong;
 You see, we don’t seem to be able to love our
religion and its key personalities without
showing disdain, hatred or denigration towards
what we consider to be the enemies of our faith
and those who had usurped the rights of our
champions in faith.

5. The Issue
 In Muharrum we invite preachers (primarily from the
Indian sub-continent) to help us commemorate the
martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the Champion of Human
Rights;
 This Indian Mullah has no idea about the socio-political
and multi-cultural/faith climate under which we live in
the West;
 Chances are no one briefed him about our environment
or we didn’t have the time to do so;
 He has no idea about our anti-hatred laws in Canada;
 The people are in the spirit of Azadari and the
congregation hall is packed;

6. The Issue
 The Mullah gets on the pulpit and he goes on his rampage of
Sunni bashing (which may be typical in India but not here);
 The congregation is up-beat and responding enthusiastically with
“Nara-e-Haideri;
 Not one among the thousands in the congregation finds such
Sunni bashing offensive and objectionable – because no one
leaves;
 Chances are the Sunnis themselves are Shia bashing during their
majalises;
 The management of the institution also expresses no objection
because we have no guiding rules as to what is offensive and
objectionable and what’s not;
 It is the same indifference that we have shown towards the
alleged anti-Semitism content on the school website

7. The Issue
 These majlises are in public domain when we make
them available on our electronic media;
 It’s surprising to me as to why the Sunnis have not
picked up on this and commence legal proceedings
against us based on existing anti-hatred laws;
 May be this hatred for others is a “Muslim thing” – or
else why would we massacre each other - and the
Sunnis don’t see it as a strange behavior as they
themselves are practicing it.
 The Madressa debacle was directed towards Jews and
they were not about to sit down and take it.

8. The Issue
 We can’t control what the Sunnis do;
 But we can certainly control what we do;
 Why can we not show our love for our
Champions of Human Rights and Decency
without degrading or defaming others?
 Why do we have to denigrate others in our
effort to love what we hold dear in our faith?

9. The Solution
 The ISIJ should have a clear-cut policy that outlines
certain codes of conduct and speech;
 The chain is as strong as its weakest link;
 The people who conduct our religious rituals should
not be the ones making these rules;
 The elected leaders, on the other hand, who have a
vested interest in the community and the surroundings
in which the community lives and co-exists in a multi-
faith environment, are the ones to make the rules and
insist on their observance, even if it takes confronting
the religious zealots in the community;

10. The Solution
 The ISIJ should take an aggressive position to
ensure that the rules are promulgated and abided
by;
 Should there be even a slight deviance from
established rules, the EC shall point it out to the
perpetrator with warning that his/her privileges
as a member of this community will be revoked;
 These rules shall apply to all associated groups
or institutions;

11. The Solution
 In fact the EC shall enforce its obedience even when
such transgressions are seemingly taking place in so
called “private-domain” of an individual;
 It is not a secret that there is a group of youngsters in
the community who gather in a basement of one of the
members of the community and decry God’s wrath on
the “enemies” of Ahlul-Bait.
 The War is over but the flame of confrontation is still
alit.

12. The Solution
 Just because the incident is occurring at a private
residence does not mean it is off-limit to EC;
 When negative media hits the community, it
doesn’t matter whether such denunciations
occurred in a private or public sphere;
 If we are all affected by such acts then it is our
business to ensure that we have done everything
possible to prevent them.

13. The Solution
 It is one thing to make the rules;
 It is quite another to enforce them;
 And that’s when we need honesty and integrity among the
people who lead us that they mean business;
 In the case of the private meeting of denunciation, the issue can
be raised with the participants to stop or we would report them
to the police or we withdraw their membership of the Jamaat and
they will be persona non grata in every aspect of the activities of the
Jamaat;
 In other words the EC sends a clear message that it means
business and it would not jeopardize the interest of all others at
the expense of preserving the rights of a few.

14. The Solution
 ISIJ and its affiliates and sub organizations own active websites
which are in public domain;
 ISIJ shall have clear guidelines for all its associated groups to
ensure that we do not harbor destructive content or elements
that go contrary to the rules of a civilized society or to the laws
of Canada;
 The writer owns public media as part of his business operations
from which he derives income;
 He has employees who do nothing but make sure that all content
that is up or down-loaded is in good taste;
 ISIJ, although not deriving income from its various media, must
take equally proper precautions to ensure that the Madressa
debacle doesn’t recur.

15. The Solution
 We understand that ISIJ has hired the services of a
Public Relations company;
 This a step in the right direction;
 But it is not enough;
 The PR company can spin good narrative for us but all
it takes is one bad act and we have a PR catastrophe in
our hands.
 ISIJ has to demonstrate Honesty and Integrity by
setting out rules and guidelines and ensure its obedience
at ALL levels.

16. Honesty and Integrity!
 We should not do anything for the sake of winning
positive PR alone – that should not be our only
motivation and objective;
 We should do things because it’s good to do them;
 The Canadian flag is not hoisted on our flag post only
when a government official is visiting us;
 When some of us were rendered homeless and stateless
by a ruthless dictator it was not Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Syria or Pakistan who came to our aid;
 It was Canada and Canadians who welcomed us with
open arms by giving us refuge in this great country;

17. Honesty and Integrity
 Before we hoist any of the religiously motivated flags and
banners on our property, we should hoist the Maple Leaf;
 Why?
 Because if we were not welcomed by Canadians to establish in
this country there would be no praise of the Almighty or
narratives of our Champions of Faith uttered on this land. We
owe a lot to this great country of ours for having given us the
freedom to practice our faith;
 By hoisting the Maple Leaf we send a clear message that “We
Stand on Guard for Thee, O Canada”;
 That’s Honesty and Integrity!

18. Appreciation
Thank you for you time
Now a time for discussion