An Amazing Line-up

Ensaf Haidar, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, …

Wow. I am simply astonished at the people we’ve been able to schedule for West Hill’s Lives in the Balance Conference, co-sponsored with Humanist Canada. Not only will Ensaf Haidar, Raif Badawi‘s unbelievably strong wife, be with us, we also have Rafida Bonya Ahmed, author and widow of Avijit Roy. Both Rafida and Avijit were attacked at Bangladesh’s annual Book Fair in 2015. Avijit died of his injuries; Rafida carries on the work of championing freedom of expression despite the danger it presents. A year ago, West Hill received permission to sponsor one of the most threatened Bangladeshi bloggers and his family. Sobak Pakhi, a pen name, has been in hiding since September, 2015. By then, not only Avijit had been murdered, but also the editor and publisher of the book he co-wrote with Raihan Abir, The Philosophy of Disbelief, (available only in Bengali). Raihan is now a Canadian landed immigrant after his application for refugee status was approved. He applied at the same time Sobak went into hiding. (Raihan will be with us at the conference, too!) Sobak and his family will come to Canada assoon as their application is processed. We are eager for them to arrive.

Lives in the Balance: A Charitable Fundraiser

Lives in the Balance was imagined as a way to raise funds for the resettlement of Sobak and his family. In addition to Ensaf, Rafida, and Raihan, Aruna Papp, North America’s most renowned activist regarding honour beatings – a practice that crosses religious boundaries – and the author of Unworthy Creature: A Punjabi Daughter’s Memoir of Honour, Shame and Love, Ali Rizvi, the author of The Atheist Muslim, and Alishba Zarmeen, a secular activist focussing her attention primarily on India, will share the podium. Lives in the Balance will take place on Saturday, June 2nd. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the sessions starting at 8:45. Events will continue through to 7:00 p.m. The venue is the renovated Factory Theatre at 125 Bathurst Street in Toronto.

Register Quickly for Early Bird Discounts Early bird registration is $125 until April 30th. After that, the cost of registration rises to $150. The balance of the ticket price above the cost of the conference will be receipted as a charitable donation by

Humanist Canada. Register here.

Want to offer support but can’t make it to the conference? If you are not able to join us but wish to support the sponsorship of Sobak and his family, you can make a donation on

West Hill’s CanadaHelps page. There, you will find the opportunity to target your donation; please click on Refugee Resettlement. And thank you!