For a Secular Pakistan - Sign this Petition

To support the movement for a secular Pakistan, among other things that we must do, please consider signing this Petition.

Petitioning The Government, The Judiciary and the Army of Pakistan 
Separate Religion from State, Declare Pakistan to be a Secular Democracy

The Government, The Judiciary and the Army of Pakistan! To assure that incidents such as the tragedy of Peshawar and ongoing violence against minority populations do not continue to happen, and to assure that the Taliban and other violent religious formations do not flourish in Pakistan, please acknowledge one of the root causes of it.

 Seperate Religion from State!
 Declare Pakistan to be a Secular Democracy.

Sign this Petition here: www.change.org

Candle Light Vigil in memory of Slain Journalist Saleem Shahzad‏

Nothing can be more disheartening, than news of someone’s brutal murder. Saleem Shahzad, a veteran Pakistani journalist and a loud voice of reason was first abducted and than killed by the forces of dark in Pakistan.  

We never met Saleem Shahzad personally but we the members of Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians here in Vancouver like many others living in Pakistan and hundreds of thousands of conscious people elsewhere in this globalised and interconnected world were saddened, alarmed and got angry over this brutal killing. 

Saleem Shahzad who had just turned to 40 was a true professional investigative journalist, who wrote extensively on issues pertaining to global security, especially on Pakistani military and religious militant movements in the Muslim world. 

To protest the brutal killing of Saleem Shahzad, a father, a husband, a brother, a son and a journalist, and to wish to see Pakistan a socially progressive, politically democratic and secular country, than please come and join the Canadian Pakistanis and South Asian diaspora here to lit a candle and show support to slain Saleem Shahzad's family, Pakistani journalists and the voices of reason of civil society in Pakistan. 

The program is as under: 

Candle Light Vigil in the memory of slain journalist Saleem Shahzad 

Hum jo Tareak rahoon mein marey gaye/ We, who were slain in unlit pathways..." Faiz

7.30 pm,  Sunday, June 12, 2011 

Holland Park
(Corner of King George Boulevard and Old Yale Road)
Surrey, BC. 

Organized By
CPPC (Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians) 

Endorsed By
FVPC (Fraser Valley Peace Council)

SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism & Democracy) 

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Candle light vigil in the memory of jallianwala bagh massacre‏

We are pleased to invite you at the candle light vigil being organized in the memory of the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Surrey. On 13th April, 1919 the supporters of passive resistance movement were brutally murdered by the British troops at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. The massacre on the Vaisakhi day became a turning point in the freedom struggle. A candle light vigil will be held in the memory of the victims on April 15 at 7 p.m. at the Holland Park, 135 A Street, Surrey across the King George Sky train station. The event is being jointly organized by the Fraser Valley Peace Council (FVPC) and Indo Canadian Workers' Association (ICWA) in partnership with Radio India. We would appreciate if you can confirm your presence. Satirist turned political activist from India Bhagwant Mann will also be in attendance.  
For more information contact 

Surinder Sangha,  President ICWA
604-813-0952

Shahzad Nazir Khan
FVPC
604-613-0735
Gurpreet Singh
Radio India
778-862-2454 
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Condolence meeting & memorial service in memory of Late Shahbaz Bhatti‏

Violence in the name of religion is on the continuous rise in Pakistan. Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minority affairs and the only Christian in Pakistan's cabinet, was gunned down in Islamabad on 2nd March, 2011,  more or less just two months after the brutal assassination of Punjab's governor Salman Taseer. Immediately after the Pakistani Taliban claimed the responsibility of Bhattí''s killing and justified it on the grounds of the minister suggesting changes in Pakistan's infamous blasphemy laws.

Fraser Valley Peace Council in association with the Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians and the Indo-Canadian Workers Association is holding a condolence meeting and memorial service in sad remembrance of  Shahbaz Bhatti. Please join us to express solidarity with voices of tolerance and reason in Pakistan.

 
The program details are as under

'Silence is not an option, Silence means more Deaths...'

Condolence meeting and memorial service                                  

In remembrance of Shahbaz Bhatti,  

Slain Pakistani Christian leader, Pakistan's Federal minister for minority affairs

Chief Guest:         Shuja Alam, Consulate General of Pakistan.
Guest Speaker:   Ujjal Dosanjh, MP
Speakers:             
Gurpreet Singh (Director News, Radio India Ltd)
Dr. Saif Khalid (Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians)
Surrinder Sangha (Indo Canadian Workers Association)   
When:   Sunday, 3rd April, 2011 (1.30 pm sharp)  
Where:  Newton Library, 13795 70 Avenue, Surrey, BC V3W 0E1


We the organizers strongly believe that the silence is not the option and time has come that the individuals and groups who believe in peace, freedom and human dignity should stand up and make their voices heard against the hard-liner, extremist and violent minority within Pakistan and elsewhere in the world.

In Solidarity and peace,  

Members and supporters of
Fraser Valley Peace Council

Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians (Vancouver Chapter) 
Indo-Canadian Workers Association

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Repeal the Blasphemy Laws! Candlelight Vigil, Vancouver March 15/11

Protect Human Rights of Minorities in Pakistan!
Repeal the Blasphemy Laws!
Candlelight Vigil to Commemorate the Lives of all Victims of Blasphemy Laws
March 15th, 6pm
Outside the Pakistani Consulate, 510 W. Hastings Street
(corner of W. Hastings and Richards, across from SFU Harbour Centre)
As you may know, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti was recently assassinated for speaking out against the Blasphemy Laws and the resulting ongoing persecution of religious minorities. This was preceded by the assassination of the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer who had taken up the cause of Aasia Bibi, a poor Christian labourer who is currently imprisoned awaiting death by hanging under the Blasphemy Laws. Countless other Pakistanis continue to be persecuted because of these heinous legal relics of the Zia dictatorship in conjunction with a dangerous and unconscionable appropriation of Islam, deliberately distorted for the sole purpose of political or economic gain.
We believe that it is the Blasphemy Laws themselves and the resulting persecution and violence that are un-Islamic and contrary to both the tenets of Islam and the founding principles of the nation. We stand in solidarity with the struggles taking place in Pakistan to ensure equality for ALL Pakistanis and feel that we must speak out strongly where other voices are being threatened into silence through harassment and direct death calls.
Through this vigil, we want to begin building alliances with sister organizations and supportive individuals for effective lobbying to put pressure on the Government of Pakistan, the Chief of the Army Staff, and the leaders of all political parties to repeal the Blasphemy Laws, and to abolish religious extremism and vigilantism. We believe, the Blasphemy Laws must be repealed in order to protect Muslim and non-Muslim lives, minority rights, freedom of speech and democracy.
Please stand with us. This issue requires your urgent support.
Protect Human Rights of Minorities in Pakistan!
Repeal the Blasphemy Laws!
Candlelight Vigil to Commemorate the Lives of all Victims of Blasphemy Laws
March 15th, 6pm
Outside the Pakistani Consulate, 510 W. Hastings Street
(corner of W. Hastings and Richards, across from SFU Harbour Centre)
Please join us in a candlelight vigil to
- Protest the persecution of all minorities within Pakistan
- Push for the repeal of the blasphemy laws and all laws that discriminate against all minorities
- Honour all lives lost to extremist violence including the recent assassinations of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti
- Support the release of Aasia Bibi and all those now being victimized by discriminatory laws
For more info
repealthelaws@gmail.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150985018294095
Organized by
Ad Hoc Group For the Repeal of Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan
Vancouver, BC
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Sat 1pm: Rally in Vancouver for Egypt democracy‏

Join a Vancouver rally 

For democracy and justice in Egypt 
Saturday, Feb. 5

1pm 

At Vancouver Public Library square 

Robson & Homer) 
 
Organized by the Lower Mainland's Egyptian community. 

Supported by the StopWar.ca Coalition.
 
Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=179316532104900
 
'Vancouver rally planned':
http://www.straight.com/article-373213/vancouver/vancouver-rally-planned-support-antimubarak-protesters-egypt
 
Further info 
After the fall of Ben-Ali in Tunisia and the revolution against Mubarak in
Egypt, the revolution is spreading to all Arab countries. The peoples'
movement is basically a call for justice. It is a peaceful struggle for
economical and social development via Democracy.
 
The defiant and deceptive actions of Mubarak with the pathetic stand of
some of the western governments in general and the US in particular
vis-a-vis the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people are
unacceptable and counter-productive.
 
We call on the whole free world to support the movement of democratization
in Egypt and the rest of the Arab region. We call on Canada to live up to
the values of freedom, justice and democracy.
 
The struggle has begun. Canadians will continue supporting the brave
people of Egypt who are now at a very critical point in their struggle for
JUSTICE and democracy.

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