PHOTO: OWEN EGAN
Syed Naseer: Speaking freely
If Syed Naseer were to have his way, there would be two days of remembrance in November, Remembrance Day and Yom Al Zekrah (Arabic for "Day of Remembering"). The latter would be a day for remembering the more than eight million Muslim victims of genocide throughout history.
The former, in Naseer's estimation, is far too Eurocentric; Remembrance Day doesn't take into consideration the thousands of non-Europeans who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
"There was a very big Indian contingent in both wars," notes the bibliographer/cataloguer for Islamic and South Asian Studies.
Naseer feels Yom Al Zekrah would bring attention to the history, diversity and suffering of the millions of Muslims who died in Stalin's gulags, the Spanish Crusades and the Inquisition, the African slave trade, and in the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.
The latter, elaborates Naseer, not only killed people, it completely destroyed Baghdad, "the mosques, schools, libraries in what was a major cultural centre."
The recent wars in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya have also involved the genocide of Muslims, says Naseer, who is "very upset" at the CBC's dismissive treatment of the recent bodycounts of Armenians in Kosovo.
"Two thousand or 20,000 innocent lives is a horrendous crime. How do you decide what is genocide?"
Normally, however, Naseer is a great fan of the mother corp -- especially radio. "My children tease me that the radio is soldered to the CBC band."
The public broadcaster -- and other media outlets -- frequently interview Naseer either for his knowledge of Islam and Muslims in Canada or for his defence of national unity. During the referendum campaign of 1995, for instance, Naseer was a member of the CBC's televised "town hall" discussion.
His affection for this country and library work began, accidentally, in his student days. Naseer came to McGill in 1960 on a fellowship, after completing his MA in political science at Aligarh Muslim University, to do a second MA here.
Because there was so little on India in McGill's libraries, he decided to tackle a Canadian subject for his thesis: "Public Corporations in Canada: the CBC and CNR." It was while conducting research in the CN library that his potential as a librarian was discovered. Helen Dechief, the corporation's librarian, "asked me why I didn't go into library work. She was very encouraging and introduced me to the world of librarianship," recalls Naseer.
After returning to India to teach for a year, Naseer came back to McGill to do a master's in library science and ended up staying. "The opportunities were better in Canada. Those were the good old days when there were four job offers for every graduating student," he chuckles.
Naseer was hired as the first full-time librarian for the nascent Centre for Developing Area Studies "to build the collection on the developing world."
There were few non-Europeans at McGill back then, much less Muslim, recalls Naseer, saying that for the Friday "Juma" prayer service, the 20-odd Muslims on campus would gather in Purvis Hall.
Things are different now. "Now, there are close to 20 mosques in Montreal, 85,000 Muslims in the area and a prayer room at every university campus."
But Naseer is concerned that the ignorance of Muslims 30 years ago has been replaced today by fear and mistrust. He blames the media for creating and maintaining the image of Muslims as either terrorists or religious fanatics.
"Does anyone realize that 75% of the world refugee population is Muslim?" he asks with exasperation.
Last year, Naseer and his wife "performed Hajj" -- something every Muslim with the means and the health is obliged to do once in his or her life -- travelling to Al-Makkah (Mecca) to worship alongside two million Muslims from all over the world. "It's like a global bonding, all worshipping one lord all together."
Still, coming home held its own pleasures. "This is the best country in the world," he says, drumming each syllable on his desktop. "When I'm away and I come back, I thank God I live in a country where I can speak freely."
Bronwyn Chester
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