Surrey Bc candlelight Vigil for the victims ofterrorist attack in London, ON

Hundreds of people gathered at Holland Park, Surrey on June 11th Friday, to show their collective support for the Afzaal Family and the rest of the grieving community at large in London, Ontario. Representatives from multiple community groups came, stood together and showed solidarity with the Muslim community and condemned this horrible attack. Thecollective message from all the participants was very clear throughout the event, i.e., islamophobia, hate and discrimination has no place in Canada! The event started with an opening statement by Shahzad Nazir Khan who began with theLand Acknowledgement. Azaan was called by Furqan Memon - a 10 years old Pakistani boy -to symbolize Muslims’ call to peace and prayers, followed by a one-minute silence tocommemorate the London victims and also for 215 unmarked graves of indigenous children recently found in Kamloops, BC. Together we listened to the powerful stories of Islamophobia shared by youth (Kabir Qurban and Attiya Jaffar) from our Surrey Muslim community. Huma Shoaib thanked all the supporting organizations for their support.

Annie Ohana came to represent the indigenous communities and strongly condemned the London attack and instilled the message of “Learn, Lead and Inspire”.

The representatives from multiple religious groups came to show solidarity with Muslim community. Spokespersons from BC Gurdwaras Council, Peninsula United Church and Independent Jewish Voices deeply condemned the tragic attack on Muslims and assured Muslim community that they stand united against any such hate crime. Hafsa Sajid, a student represented the Muslim community highlighting the need for policies and laws to protect minority communities against discrimination and hatered..

A collective prayer was made by Sheikh Sheheryar who recited verses from the Quran with translation, followed by a heart filled prayer for the entire humanity. A message board was arranged for community members to express their feelings through art, words and Quranic verses to comfort the Afzaal family.

A resolution was written and signed by the wide majority of attendees. The vigil was organized by the members of civil society, in association with multiple local organizations. The organizers were; Shahzad Nazir Khan, Huma Shoaib, Nayyar Sohail, Usman Nadeem, Zoha Shoaib and Naghmi Shireen.

Throughout the event COVID19 protocols were strictly kept in place.

The names of the participating organizations are as follows;

- Pakistan Consulate General, Vancouver - Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians - Pakistan Canada Association

- Pakistani Canadian Cultural Association - Pakistan Canada Community Association - Friends of Pakistan

- Canada Urdu Association

- Pakistani Canadian Woman Society

- The Citizens Foundation, Vancouver

- Islamic Circle of North America, Vancouver - BC Peace Alliance

- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf

- SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism & Democracy)

- Canada Palestine Association

- WC-CAR (The West Coast Coalition Against Racism Society)

- Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Society Surrey Delta - Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar New Westminster - United Truckers Association of BC Surrey - Sikh Riders of Canada

- Sikh Motorcycle Club

- Baba Banda Singh Bahadar Society Abbotsford - Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib Society Surrey The resolution signed by the hundreds of the attendees had two main points;

1. Government should pass the law against hate speech against any religion or race, and also enforce media to not use terms like “Islamic Terrorism” and other such jargon which wrongly points fingers at muslims rather than radical extremists, who can be found in any society. 2. The Government should pass legislation against hate speech and associating any religion or religious group with radicalism because clearly it is a problem that exists in all communities, such as the 20 year old man who attacked the Afzaal family in London, ON. Note: The Canadian Muslim Media Club (CMMC) showed up with all the executive members at the event to provide full live coverage via video and photos.

It was surprising and disappointing that media was not acknowledged at the event or after the event.