Dr Vali Jamal writes from Kampala, Uganda. His book has been long in the writing and promises of good things to come.
Attached are 6 pages from my book Uganda Asians: Then and Now, Here and There, We Contributed, We Contribute (1,111 pp; $71.11, forthcoming June 2012) about Canada and the Imam’s role in the 1972 Uganda expulsion crisis. I have summarised from the 80-pp diary of the Chief of the Canadian refugee mission, Roger St Vincent, Quebequios, whose deputy was Mr Mike Molloy (seconded from the Beirut office; later on went on to be Canada’s ambassador to Jordan). In other pages not shown are contained discussions about the criteria used in selecting the applicants, were Ismailis favoured, etc. Who got the first visa is noted – Miss Semin Muradali Kassam on Sep 11. It’s like a movie and on the final page (shown) the statistics are rolled out, ending with THANK YOU CANADA MERCI INFINIMENT. Keep tissues handy.
In the other attachments shown here I look at what was going on in Canada at that time. Our hero Trudeau is there. One series of events had repurcussions for us – the World Series of Hockey between USSR and Canada. It is Canada’s WWYW moment for anyone >50 today. From several accounts I piece together the final 37 minutes of the game when Hendersen scoooored and whole of Canada erupted. Did hockey intervene in our favour? Read on! And who when I was researching this book had just been appointed Executive Producer of Hockey Night in Canada? Uganda Asian Sherali Najak, from a humble family, who couldn’t tell apart a puck from Puck the Fairy in 1972.
Click here to view: https://docs.google.com/document/
Ismailimail 
RE: Vali Jamal: Canada and the Imam’s role in the 1972 Uganda expulsion crisis. Ismailimail Blog / January 23, 2012.
Foremost, The Ismaili Muslim Imams throughout the history has played very pivotal and fundamental roles for the betterment of all Ismaili Muslims and humanity in general. Their obligation and beliefs have always been to assume a social role to bring about an understanding among the Ismaili Muslims to be loyal to their countries of adoptions. The Ismaili Imams behavior very actively induces the Ismaili Muslims to refrain from any activity which would become harmful to them. The Ismaili Muslims around the world have understood from their Imams’ guidance that the human aggregate responses could be dense and concentrated if envisaged in different light.
The Ismaili Muslims are respected for their aptitude and philosophy of surviving under any precarious and unwarrantable circumstances. They have learnt to insulate to separate themselves from any kind of extremism in political affairs or religion which are well thought-out to be far outside the mainstream.
The democratic world was duly aware about the anger of these African countries which were vying for independence and immediate riches for the Africans. This instability in African nations after their independence did open the doors for all South Asians to migrate to industrialized democratic countries. The South Asians who left the Africans countries under any pretext were not well-versed with the western the social order, western culture but their determination and ability to work hard has paid off in better life security.
I think whatever has transpired in East Africa after the independence of various countries like Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and Uganda had spur-of-the-moment created Africanization momentum which was the platform for the elected African leaders to salvage their position in their respective countries.
There was no conspiring, illegal, or wrong full act to downgrade non-white, especially the South Asians who had the power of being power players. It was a trend downward, status, and conditions. This lower status for South Asians and non-Africans had it coming to them because there was no parity in wealth sharing. This dissimilarity became inward hatred for the Africans who had the lower status in their own countries! These Africans suffered an inferior status because lots of promises were made to them that they will enjoy a better status to upgrade their status once their countries were independent.
Consequently they supported their immoral, unethical African leaders who did not care realistically to improve the status of local Africans. These African leaders did not attempt to curb their self-indulgence. They wanted immediately the status of colonizer and become themselves the colonizers!
These African leaders did not understand the challenges that went along with these responsibilities. They did not care about the primarily state of mounting budget deficit, inability to govern, and administration to reach an agreement create the harmony with all their citizens; come out with a solution to allow the South Asians to maintain their status which would allow gradually the Africans to integrate into business administration, learn trade, and improve their status for a better life. This was not possible to happen overnight! Therefore, the South Asians were branded as the wrongdoers who wanted to milk the African economy.
These South Asians did not bring down their guard thus creating the realistic instability that their future in Africa was not safeguarded. As a result, the loyalty was divided and gradual migration began to happen.
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