We, Iranian students at the University of British Columbia (UBC), ask for the immediate deconstitution of Karvan Iranian Student Association (hereafter addressed as Karvan), an active club in the Alma Mater Society (AMS) of UBC. This club has always shown behaviours and stances opposing Iranian-Canadian students’ values and standards.

For instance, while Karvan made strong statements condemning the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Qassem Soleimani by US forces on January, 3rd 2020, Karvan failed to even cover the news about the flight PS752 that was shot down by the IRGC. It was almost a week after the downing of the flight and the loss of its 176 passengers - many of whom were Iranian-Canadian University professors and students - when Karvan shared one single post on their social media platform. Even then, Karvan shamelessly downplayed the killing of 176 occupants of the plane as a mere “plane crash”.

This request is being made after the non-action of the Karvan club to the brutal killing of Mahsa Amini in Iran and the club executive’s inadequate justification for not raising their voice against gender-based violence against women in Iran while the AMS and UBC have not hesitated to condemn the horrendous actions of the Islamic regime in Iran. This incident has caused enormous trauma to Iranian-Canadian students at a time when the Islamic regime in Iran has created national-scale internet disruptions and is killing protesters in Iran.

At this time of great uncertainty when Iranian-Canadian students do not know if their families are safe in Iran or not, support from UBC and AMS has been very comforting. On the other hand, the Iranian-Canadian students are deeply hurt by Karvan for its in-action, lack of condemnation of the actions of the Islamic regime in Iran, and as a result, indirectly supporting the killing of Iranians by the Islamic regime forces in Iran.

Days have gone by, and the Islamic regime in Iran has continued the killing of innocent protesters in Iran. The Islamic regime’s forces opened fire on people as they were returning to their homes after the Friday prayers in Zahedan, killing at least 82. The Islamic regime’s forces attacked Sharif University of Technology, alma mater of many UBC graduate students, shooting, beating, and arresting several dozen students. After this, we have seen attacks on numerous universities which have only deepened the sorrow and anger in the Iranian-Canadian community at UBC. Karvan’s silence on the killing, beating, and arrest of innocent civilians in Iran has been deafening! The Iranian-Canadian community strongly believes that Karvan no longer has the right to use the word “Iranian” in its name! Karvan is not an Iranian Student Association.

We, the Iranian-Canadian students at UBC, call for the immediate deconstitution of Karvan. In addition to the reasons stated above, we call for the immediate deconstitution of Karvan on the following grounds as well. We hope that AMS, the student body at UBC, hears the outcry from the Iranian-Canadian community and takes immediate action to alleviate the pain inflicted upon them by Karvan.

• Not meeting the requirements of constituting a club

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club’s mandate must further the AMS's mission statement: “to improve the quality of the educational, social, and personal lives of the students of UBC.” Karvan has failed to adhere to the AMS’s mission statement as it is not a club for Iranian/Canadian students, but rather a club for non-students with outside ties that uses students as a cover to take advantage of club privileges. This is evident from the fact that Karvan’s membership is very small yet Karvan organizes events so large that it needs the Great Hall. Karvan has also deteriorated the quality of Iranian students’ lives by taking stances such as the examples mentioned above (on the downing of flight ps752, the gender-based violence in Iran, the killing of protesters, etc.).

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, there must exist adequate justification for a new AMS Club to be constituted. Karvan’s constitution claims that “Karvan is a cultural/identity, social, and spiritual club”, yet the majority of the events planned by Karvan are religious events, attended by majority non-students. Iranian students on campus join “UBC Persian Club” which has been a great club for Iranian students and do not understand the necessity of a parallel club like Karvan at the AMS. 

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club shall not have an external affiliation that primarily favours or benefits an external organization (events with non-student gatherings). As mentioned above, the majority of the events organized by Karvan are organized for non-students and the majority of the attending individuals are non-students. Karvan is used by outside entities as a cover to take advantage of UBC and AMS resources. It is also widely known among Iranian students that Karvan executives are in contact with the outside entity for decision-making and event organizing in Karvan.

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club shall face deconstitution if it can be considered a “charity” club. Karvan has repeatedly used its platform for raising money from students and faculty. While this act is respectable and helping fellow Iranians in any way possible is encouraged, it is against AMS policies and the Iranian students see this as Karvan’s goal of normalizing the poverty caused by the Islamic regime in Iran. Iran is a rich country filled with resources only available in a handful of other countries yet the Islamic regime’s ruling has made Iranians one of the poorest nations in the world.

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club shall not promote or have the effect of promoting, discrimination, contempt, or hatred, of any group or person based on their sex, sexual identity, gender identity or expression, racialization, age, family status, marital status, religion, faith, ability, disability, national or ethnic origin, Indigeneity, immigration status, socio-economic status, class, language, political affiliation, social affiliation, other personal characteristics, or any other similar factor. While Karvan does not directly promote discrimination, contempt, or hatred, of any group or person, Karvan’s actions and inactions listed above certainly have the effect of promoting gender-based violence. 

• Meeting the requirements of deconstitution a club

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club may be deconstituted on the basis of a violation of the AMS Internal Policies. Karvan is violating the AMS policy “CM1 - Media Interactions and Statements”, the purpose and goal of which are to “pursue a culture of transparency and openness”. Karvan has failed to observe this policy by closing communication channels from its members to the club executives. Events and communications are done from the club executives to the members (oneway). This was done a few years back when the club executives were criticized for their poor decisions in running the club.

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club may be deconstituted on the basis of failure to adhere to its mandates and goals. Karvan Constitution, more specifically, objects/aims paragraph starts with the following: “Karvan is a network of Iranian-Canadian students [...]”. Karvan, as explained several times above, is known to serve mainly a group of non-students and use the few student members as cover for taking advantage of club privileges for the purpose of booking rooms (for instance the Great Hall, the Rooftop Garden, or the Performance Theatre). These rooms are booked for events with an attendance that is majority non-studnets. There are also instances where spaces were booked for personal events such as birthdays*.

According to the AMS Operations Committee Policy Manual, a club may be deconstituted on the basis of the existence of suspicion of interference from an external organization. As mentioned above, Karvan is a club with ties to external entities, for the purpose of taking advantage of club privileges for events that are planned and organized for non-students. 

We hope that AMS will hear the voice of Iranian-Canadian students and takes immediate action in deconstituting Karvan.

 

* Karvan executives have since denied using club privileges for a birthday. It is worth mentioning that the "birthday line" is the only line in the petition that the Karvan executives have answered to.