As-Salāmu’Alaykum,
It has been exactly two months since the town hall took place. We regret to inform the community that our request for meeting with the MDI Board of Directors (BOD) has encountered a number of roadblocks due to frivolous conditions and last minute changes by the BOD. We have records of all communication but have summarized it below for ease of reference:
06/13: The ChangeMDI leadership team emailed the BOD & Majlis-e-Shura after townhall proposing a two-hour meeting on June 28, 2024, with the entire MDI management team, including BOD to relay community feedback and align on next steps. The email was signed by key members of the community that were present at the Townhall.
06/22: BOD replied, asking for direct email addresses of every member of the ChangeMDI team, and counter-proposing a one-hour meeting to be held on July 16th. In this reply they claimed that the petition flyers distributed on March 29th were illegal,with no evidence provided of how it was illegal.
06/25: ChangeMDI replied that the single group email address was sufficient, as everyone on the leadership team receives incoming emails. In addition to reiterating that the repeated requests to meet with the BODdate back to October. 2023, the request for a 2-hour meeting was made again.
06/28: With no reply yet, the ChangeMDI team again emailed the BOD asking for confirmation by end-of-day June 28, for the date and time for the proposed meeting.
07/01: The BOD replied with yet another request for all individual email addresses of the ChangeMDI leadership members.
07/03: The ChangeMDI team replied that (again) the single group email address was sufficient, and that all members would be present on the day of the meeting. The request was repeated for meeting date, time, and meeting length confirmation by July 5.
07/08: After waiting another five days for a response the ChangeMDI team again emailed the BOD requesting confirmation of the proposed meeting.
07/10: The BOD (for a third time) demands the email addresses of every ChangeMDI member, claiming that some members are not receiving their emails. This was despite the fact that the key community members all signed the original email on June 13, and are all known to MDI.
07/13: ChangeMDI replied, reiterating that all members have received all BOD communications, and asserting that all members would be in attendance July 16 as per the BOD email from June 22.
07/15: The BOD replied stating that the July 16 meeting would have to be postponed, pending further discussions with other board and management members on July 19. The claim was also made that the BOD President had just returned from overseas after the passing of his uncle and needed to recover.
07/18: ChangeMDI replied yet again on why a single inbox was sufficient; this was done to remove risks of disconnected conversations between multiple parties that would lead to inaccurate expectations. It was also clarified that all email replies from ChangeMDI were written after mutual consultation among community representatives. The timely rescheduling of the postponed July 16 meeting was urgently requested, with a new proposed date of July 23, specifically with BOD members and the President.
07/21: The BOD replied that they were willing to meet in good faith on July 23, while simultaneously presenting three additional names of non-Board individuals, including a lawyer, to facilitate the meeting
07/22: ChangeMDI responded that the inclusion of two out of three of these non-BOD individuals contradicts the claim of operating in good-faith, since these two were present at the townhall and had failed to disclose their informal affiliation with the BOD at that time despite a general request to do so being expressed repeatedly at that event. ChangeMDI repeated the request to the BOD to honour the community’s request for BOD-only members at the meeting, and if unwilling to do so, to confirm in writing by 12PM on July 23.
07/23: The BOD response expressed no change to their inclusion of these three individuals, thereby refusing to honour the community’s request, and claiming the lawyer was there just to facilitate the meeting.
07/23: ChangeMDI replied, expressing disappointment that the community request had not been honoured, and therefore the proposed meeting could not proceed as desired. The BOD and their observers were invited to be present at the next townhall (TBD).
07/24: Ignoring the community’s specific request, and ignoring the contradiction of their good-faith claim, the BOD predictably feigned surprise at the cancellation.
07/24: ChangeMDI responded that if the BOD wants observers at the meeting, then the whole community should act as observers instead of BOD-handpicked individuals, and that if they want to have their lawyer present to “facilitate” a meeting then the community should also have legal counsel present to facilitate the meeting as well.
To date, no further communication has been received.
The above has been presented to the public In the spirit of transparency and commitment to our community. The email correspondence is available in our records.
Unfortunately, the only conclusion one can reach from the above exchanges is that the BOD is not interested in engaging in any meaningful, transparent and open dialogue with the community. Sadly, their public statements, whether made in writing on any of their platforms, or made from the mimbar, are frequently riddled with factual inaccuracies and false claims, thereby sowing confusion and misleading the community.
Our doors remain open to working together towards a stronger, more united community, one that truly reflects the values we cherish.
Sincerely,
The Change MDI Team
Comments – https://changemdi.com/yourvoice/
Petition – https://change.org/changeatmdi
WhatsApp – https://chat.whatsapp.com/D7OzMD5ht7F0eXQn6brrJb