Shahid Mahmood (artist)
Shahid Mahmood is a Canadian architect and cartoonist of Pakistani descent.
Early life
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Cartoonist who couldn't board flight settles with Air Canada - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
- ^ a b c "Canadian editorial cartoonist just can't seem to get off no-fly list - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
- ^ a b c d "Amplifying the Ludicrous - Sampsonia Way Magazine". www.sampsoniaway.org.
- ^ a b c d "Pakistani Cartoonist on Charlie Hebdo, Satire and Islam - NBC News". NBC News.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Harper and Malala".
- ^ a b "The trouble with the Charlie Hebdo drawings".
- ^ "The Dream that was Benazir Bhutto".
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2647945139; http://www.newstalk.com/The-trouble-with-the-Charlie-Hebdo-drawings
- ^ Mahmood, Shahid (9 January 2015). "Charlie Hebdo : What Offends Does Not Make It Factual". HuffPost.
- ^ "Attack on Charlie Hebdo - Accuracy.Org". www.accuracy.org.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "ICLMG Watch Lists Report - February 10, 2010 - Surveillance - U.S. Customs And Border Protection". Scribd.
- ^ "Debates (Hansard) No. 78 - April 7, 2005 (38-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.parl.gc.ca.
- ^ "CBC News In Depth: The Arar inquiry". www.cbc.ca.
- ^ "Open letter from Amnesty International Canada cites Benamar Benatta and Shahid Mahmood - Disability & Human Rights Law • BakerLaw". 13 December 2007.
- ^ "Canada refuses to give answers about getting off no-fly list - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
- ^ "Tribunal to probe Air Canada over boarding refusal".
- ^ "Listed". vision.rcinet.ca.
- ^ a b "Getting off a no-fly list: the never-ending saga".
- ^ "Association Of Canadian Cartoonists/Association Des Caricaturistes Canadiens - Ryerson Journalism Research Centre". ryersonjournalism.ca.
- ^ "KMEC 105.1 FM - Audio - Political Cartoonist Shahid Mahmood". www.kmecradio.org.
- ^ "Feature Guest - Shahid Mahmood - Nine To Noon, 10:08 am on 13 May 2010 - RNZ". 11 October 2010.
- ^ "RCI // Masala Canada". www.rcinet.ca.
- ^ Rocha, Leonardo. "BBC - World Service - World Have Your Say: What's wrong with immigration?".