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
An email from a Murid being
An email from a Murid being shared - How true "
Forwarded as received...........................
There is so much depression among professionals and youth in the Jamats
Our youth has moved away from jamatkhana trying to find happiness in materialism , drugs and alcohol.
To deny the facts is a big mistake like ostrich trying to hide his head!
Family ties are getting weaker and sometimes even breaking apart.
Our elders are lonely and depressed! We are becoming more and more individualistic.
Imam wants us to come together, establish the bonds , work together. Have more celebrations. I remember when I first came 20 years ago there used to be so many Jamat celebrations and clise involvement that we never felt left out or lonely!
There used to be New year's eve celebration, Thanks giving, valentine day, two picnics, two big Dandiya Khushali and frequent other dinners and get togethers . We used to take our kids every where with us because all these programs were family oriented rather than couple oriented or for rich or poor. And I used to see supervised mingling of kids, And many when they grew up married in the community, less divorce rates fewer conflicts. Going to Jamat Lhana was a pleasure.
Now everything has changed! No food is allowed in Jamatkhana (except now for GJ celebrations)
There are constant conflicts among Mukhi kamadias and jamat about food issues, sometimes ugly! One ex Mukhi constantly said there are ruhani khushias; you don't need food for khushias'!!
Then why is Hazar Imam Saying eat Biryani and Samosa and play Dandiya! What message is there? Universally FOOD is always a part of expression of love and happiness cross culturally! How can we be different?
20 years ago we were amazing! My children loved going to jamatkhana! They were happy!! We were happy!
Now there is nothing in jamatkhana for them. Long announcemented which are are boring!!
Politics and favourism is disturbing and frustrating. No one listens to the grievances of jamat.
Mukhi kamadias are afraid of Council for fear of no repeat appointments.
The respect and love for leadership is diminishing because injustice by leadership is very obvious. They font even talk to the Janat and huddle yogether eith each other in Khane and Jamati functions
Any one who tries to fix the problem or help or try to do the right thing is quickly black listed. Result? More and more persons are staying away from jamatkhana.
Jamat khana which used to be a great relaxing place , a place of happiness even for singles and the lonely because they could interact with some one and have some emotional outlet . It had great emotional & therapeutic value!! Besides the prayer and it's benefit, now we are finding we are pushed out, because jamatkhana needs to be closed right away and we can't talk to mukhis pr Al Warzs who are necer there and have no time , or even if we wanted to sit together and say some Tasbihs for an hour we can't.
Few young kids who come in jamatkhana are preferentially treated , by Mukhi/ Kamadias which further puts off other youths and frustrate them .
Mukhi Kamadias feel it is none of their business if the your kids are not coming to jamatkhana. They do not encourafe them. It is the loss for them!
What is the solution? Hazar Imam is demonstrating by actions in his Farman, make my jamat happy, make them smile.... "