A prominent women’s activist will be speaking across Canada this month, on the topic of “India under Modi: the struggle for secularism, women’s equality, and workers’ rights.”
Educated at Delhi University and the Tashkent Institute of Oriental Studies, Dr. Noor Zaheer is a well-known feminist, author and journalist who writes in Hindi, Urdu and English. A member of the Communist Party of India, she is the president of the Delhi branches of the National Federation of Indian Women and the Indian People’s Theatre Association. She has long been an activist in the struggle for women’s equality, workers’ rights and for a secular and socialist India.
Noor’s father, Syed Sajjad Zaheer, was one of the main founders of the Progressive Writers’ Association of India and the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of Pakistan. Arrested with other leaders of the party like Faiz Ahmed Faiz on trumped up charges in the early 1950s, he was extradited to India after several years of imprisonment. Razia Zaheer, her mother, was a known activist and author in her own right.
Dr. Zaheer’s speaking schedule includes the following events:
MISSISSAUGA, ON – Saturday, May 7, 5.30 pm, Living Arts Centre, Canon Room, 4141 Living Arts Drive, <munirpervaiz@rogers.com>
BRAMPTON, ON – Sunday, May 8, 3 pm, Brampton Soccer Centre, Rm 2, 1495 Sandalwood Parkway East, <hpshundal@gmail.com>
YORK UNIVERSITY – Tuesday, May 10, 1 pm, Room 280N, York Lanes, 4700 Keele Street, <amukhji@yorku.ca>
MONTREAL, QC – Thursday, May 12, 7 pm, at Alternatives, 2nd Floor, 3720 Avenue du Parc, <shahmeer99@hotmail.com>
SURREY, BC – Sunday, May 15, 1 pm, Central Library, Room 418, 10350 University Drive, <saifdr@hotmail.com>
CALGARY, AB – Tuesday, May 17, for location and time contact ahmedk@telus.net
TORONTO, ON – Thursday, May 19, 7 pm, 290 Danforth Ave (2 blocks west of Chester subway), <omarlatif1@hotmail.com>