ANVER EMON:

My initial response is to frame the issues with which we are contending. First, we have an alleged murder and the criminal justice system should treat it as such. We have an appropriate legal response system, and as long as it does its job well, provides an impartial judicial response, and weighs the facts and the law appropriately, we can take some comfort. Second, we have an issue of multiculturalism that we need to recognize cuts both ways — i.e. how do “we” Canada accommodate the “other,” and how does the “other” accommodate “our” Canadian values. What this implies is a multi-layered dialogue, one between a community and those outside of it, and one within a community in which often silenced voices are given space to speak. Who gets to speak for the “us” and the “them,” we must acknowledge, is going to be a highly political contest that we may or may not be able to engage. Third, implicit in the multi-layered dialogue is a need for education — a curricular response that can foster greater understanding so that the lines that demarcate the “us” and the “them” do not become essentialized as to be obstacles to building a Canadian community that is authentically commited ot its principles of multiculturalism.

AMITA HANDA:

I’ve had several reactions to Aqsa Parvez’s death. First of all I feel incredibly saddened by it and the loss of her young life. I also feel saddened by the way in which her death has been framed. I feel saddened by the fact that islam and South Asian culture has been put on trial here rather than the actions of an abusive man/father. What is interesting to me is that in the past few days, along side Aqsa’s death have also been front page stories about Pickton’s trial. We don’t hear things like, all B.C. farmers should hang their heads in shame or that this is a great day of shame for white Canadian farmers across the nation, or that perhaps if we ban farming, these tragedies would never happen. But we do hear that maybe if we banned the veil, this tragedy never would never have happened. In terms of inter-generational conflict and culture clash. This is not an “ethnic” phenomenon. All parents and teens clash with one another over boundaries of independence and issues of freedom. In fact it is part of a parent’s duty to tell their teens what to do and not to do, when to come home and not to come home, and many parents may argue over modes of dress and hair, tattoos, piercings, baggy pants or tight clothes. If parents had absolutely no boundaries or guidelines for their teens, that would fall under neglect. But if these allegations are true, this father seriously crossed the line in terms of parenting, and used his power as a parent, as an older person. This is not acceptable, period.

ANVER EMON:

I agree with your point that at its core, Aqsa Parvez’s death is an issue of domestic abuse and violence. I also agree that to frame her death in terms of religion and culture keeps us from seeing how her tragic death is part of a larger pattern of violence against women and abusive parenting that crosses all ethnic, religious, and cultural boundaries. Beyond the Pickton case, I recall Timothy McVeigh who was found guilty of the Oklahoma Bombing in the US — no one began speaking of a rise in Christian fundamentalist terrorism, although he certainly came from that background. I too find the immediate impulse to “ban the hijab” misguided, if not completely assinine. Whether Muslims or non-Muslims call for such ban, the focus on the veil recalls White Western Feminist discourses on the Muslim world which positioned the West as superior to the East, and created an incentive for “us” to save those women from their oppressive culture. Embedded in this attitude is patent racism and bigotry.

But, does any of this preclude us from discussing the way both power and gender manifest themselves differently in different cultural traditions? We may frame Aqsa Parvez’s death in terms of domestic violence, but I believe that if we are to truly understand not only her dilemma, but also how to adequately respond, we must understand the traditions and customs within which she was embedded as a teenager, a woman, a child of immigrant parents, and a Canadian.

AMITA HANDA:

Now that we have framed the discussion, I think it is important to discuss the ways some people use culture and religion to justify and perpetuate abuse and to look at the ways violence and abuse and gender/patriarchy manifest themselves within the South Asian community. I think the fact that Aqsa was a teenager, a young woman and a child of immigrant parents in Canada has much to say about what she may have experienced. Though her experience is speculation at this point. Let’s talk about the dilemmas young women in general who may find themselves at the crossroads of their own community’s expectations and that of mainstream Canadian society. We are hearing about culture clash, in relation to this case and in relation to the offspring of newcomer parents. We hear about how parents are pressuring their kids to hold on to values of “back home” and the fact that their parents want them to hold on to their cultural traditions as the root of the problems facing a young woman — like Aqsa, who wants nothing but to fit in and wear “normal” clothes and be like “everybody else.” We need to acknowledge the fact that we are living in a racialized context. And that for many young women, wearing the veil in a post 9/11 environment will open them up to all kinds of hostile and negative associations, such as terrorism and oppression. For a young woman who is trying to please both her Canadian mainstream peers and the expectations of parents and community, this can be a painful place.

ANVER EMON:

Ok, so if we frame the discussion in terms of domestic violence, further particularize it in terms of the immigrant, cultural context of a woman like Aqsa, what might it contribute to our ongoing discussions on multiculturalism in Canada? I think this is the key point that we both agree on.

The challenge is to figure out what that discussion/engagement looks like, and most importantly what sorts of costs we must bear to ensure that discussion happens.

Most recently, the Ministry of the Attorney General authorized core funding for the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. Many might ask why should the government fund community-specific legal clinics? But in my limited work with SALCO, it’s clear it has a cache and entre into the community that other groups don’t and perhaps can’t have. so if we are to learn from Aqsa’s death, and think proactively, I want to suggest that we need to consider how to better prepare those who come into contact with youth like Aqsa to be sensitive to possible challenges the Aqsas of the world may face and provide ongoing support and resources for them. You and I can discuss here the sorts of challenges such young women face; but I doubt I can go beyond the anecdotal. What I propose are specific benchmarks for ensuring active, responsive, and expert engagement with the challenges associated the general and particular issues at play in Aqsa’s death I think that if we are truly committed to the principles of multiculturalism, reasonable accommodation, we will want to:

1) Offer training to teachers in the schools to identify possible problems and most importantly provide them resources to support their engagement with students of diverse backgrounds. Our teachers are already overworked as it is; we need to help them serve their students by offering whatever curricular support we can;

2) Support, financially and otherwise, service organizations like SALCO, which can meet the needs of a community, effectively creat for a for civic engagement within and between communities, and provide the kinds of resource materials others can use for their own training and development;
These are just two ideas, but I think they will focus us all on how we can prevent future atrocities like we have witnessed this past week, while avoiding the annoying editorials by those who are inclined to engage in simplistic demonization.

AMITA HANDA:

I agree, I think there needs to be supports in place for South Asian youth who are experiencing conflict in the home or abuse. 3) We need culturally sensitive social service organizations, counselors, etc. Underlying most generational conflicts are feelings of powerlessness, dependence, fear and curiosity. Youth may feel curious to try things that may be considered taboo at home. Do not judge their parents or their culture, or the belief system of their parents, this mayfurther isolate youth. Most youth will internalize any negative assumptions or judgments about their home culture. This can exacerbate feelings of low self esteem and depression. 4) We also need support for the parents. Not all parents may be trusting of systems of support or the school system. They are often made to feel that their culture is under attack and they have to defend it. Mainstream institutions need to show themsleves as allies by trying to understand this feeling of attack and defence. Underlying even the most “strict” appearing parents are often feelings of insecurity, loss of control and fear. Many parents have sacrificed their family and and support networks to come to a new country so that their children can have the opportunity for success. Many actually experience downward mobility once they arrive in Canada, finding that their MBAs, Engineering and medical degrees do not hold credence in a nation where “Canadian” experience and education have more privilege.

ANVER EMON:

I believe Amita’s closing remarks really sum up my sentiments more eloquently than I could put it. I hope that the conversation we’ve had might serve as a platform or paradigm for others who are searching for ways to think through Aqsa’s death.