Shahid Mahmood (artist)

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Shahid Mahmood is a Canadian architect and cartoonist of Pakistani descent.

Contents

Early life

Shahid was born in Toronto, Canada [1] and spent his childhood and teenage years in Pakistan, [2] attending schools in Lahore and Karachi. Early in his career, he drew political cartoons for the Pakistani publications Star, Dawn and Newsline Magazine. After graduation he studied architecture in Canada, [3] attending both Carleton and McGill University (Master of Architecture, McGill University; Bachelor of Architecture, Carleton University). Shahid’s cartoons focus largely on religion and politics, with his critiques targeting both Islamic fundamentalism and the aggressiveness of US foreign policy. [4] Over the years, he has received threats to his well-being from groups ranging from the Taliban to various government officials. [5]

Career

His cartoons were a part of the exhibition showing at the 1997 APEC Conference. [6] Following the 9/11 Attacks, Shahid exhibited work at the Paris exhibition The New World Order. [4] In 2002 his exhibition Enduring Operation Freedom, criticizing the Bush policies in Afghanistan, resulted in the McMaster Museum of Art in Canada shutting down the event. [3] [7] While working in Pakistan, Shahid faced repeated attempts at censorship by the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, [8] who was featured in several of Shahid’s works. [7] His cartoons have been preserved in various institutions including the Museum of Contemporary History in Paris. [6] He has published his work in publications including The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Express Tribune, Courrier International, and The New York Times Press Syndicate. [3] Shahid has commented on the Charlie Hebdo aftermath. [9] [10] [11] [4] [12]

Censorship

Shahid is mentioned as being one of the first Canadians to be flagged on the US No Fly List. [13] The Canadian Parliament debated his story, [14] and in an open letter released by Amnesty International in December 2007 Shahid’s case was cited as a prime reason to implement the recommendations [15] made by the Arar Commission that advocate for balanced and transparent security measures in Canada. [16] Shahid claims that his criticisms of US foreign policy and military interventionism resulted in him being denied boarding to a domestic Air Canada flight [4] in 2004. Following this, he began to receive extra screening on a routine basis by airlines in many countries. [17] In 2009 a racial profiling complaint regarding the incident was argued in front of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. [18] In 2010 Shahid settled the case with Air Canada. [1] The short documentary, “Listed” narrates some of the details of this incident. [19] In 2012 Shahid was again detained in the Santiago International Airport and interviewed by Interpol for 90 minutes, indicating he was still on a US government security list. [2] He was later assigned a specialized PIN from US Homeland Security to help deal with the appearance of his name on security lists. [20] Shahid has also received threats from Islamic fundamentalists for his works criticizing fundamentalism, [3] including an image of the Taliban depicted as an ape reading an upside-down Qur’an. [2] He has written and spoken [21] over the years on issues related to satire and censorship in newsprint, radio, and television. [20] [22] [23] [24] [25]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Cartoonist who couldn't board flight settles with Air Canada - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Canadian editorial cartoonist just can't seem to get off no-fly list - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Amplifying the Ludicrous - Sampsonia Way Magazine". www.sampsoniaway.org.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Pakistani Cartoonist on Charlie Hebdo, Satire and Islam - NBC News". NBC News .
  5. ↑ Iacobucci, Edward M.; Toope, Stephen J. (7 April 2015). After the Paris Attacks: Responses in Canada, Europe, and Around the Globe. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442630031 – via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 "Harper and Malala".
  7. 1 2 "The trouble with the Charlie Hebdo drawings".
  8. ↑ "The Dream that was Benazir Bhutto".
  9. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2647945139; http://www.newstalk.com/The-trouble-with-the-Charlie-Hebdo-drawings
  10. ↑ Mahmood, Shahid (9 January 2015). "Charlie Hebdo : What Offends Does Not Make It Factual". HuffPost .
  11. ↑ "Attack on Charlie Hebdo - Accuracy.Org". www.accuracy.org.
  12. ↑ Iacobucci, Edward M.; Toope, Stephen J. (7 April 2015). After the Paris Attacks: Responses in Canada, Europe, and Around the Globe. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442630031 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ "ICLMG Watch Lists Report - February 10, 2010 - Surveillance - U.S. Customs And Border Protection". Scribd.
  14. ↑ "Debates (Hansard) No. 78 - April 7, 2005 (38-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.parl.gc.ca.
  15. ↑ "CBC News In Depth: The Arar inquiry". www.cbc.ca.
  16. ↑ "Open letter from Amnesty International Canada cites Benamar Benatta and Shahid Mahmood - Disability & Human Rights Law • BakerLaw". 13 December 2007.
  17. ↑ "Canada refuses to give answers about getting off no-fly list - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
  18. ↑ "Tribunal to probe Air Canada over boarding refusal".
  19. ↑ "Listed". vision.rcinet.ca.
  20. 1 2 "Getting off a no-fly list: the never-ending saga".
  21. ↑ "Association Of Canadian Cartoonists/Association Des Caricaturistes Canadiens - Ryerson Journalism Research Centre". ryersonjournalism.ca.
  22. ↑ "KMEC 105.1 FM - Audio - Political Cartoonist Shahid Mahmood". www.kmecradio.org.
  23. ↑ "Feature Guest - Shahid Mahmood - Nine To Noon, 10:08 am on 13 May 2010 - RNZ". 11 October 2010.
  24. ↑ "RCI // Masala Canada". www.rcinet.ca.
  25. ↑ Rocha, Leonardo. "BBC - World Service - World Have Your Say: What's wrong with immigration?".
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