Mowlana
Hazar Imam's First Visit to Tajikistan Jamats
The Aga Khan in the Pamirs - High Hopes
Khorog, Tajikistan
The Aga Khan
is interested in more than racehorses and an elegant life. As 49th Imam
of the Ismaili Muslims and direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad, he tries
to give spiritual guidance and practical help to the 12-15 million Ismaili
Muslims who are scattered through 25 countries. He does it partly through
a network of development agencies in Asia and Africa widely admired for
their small-scale, self-help approach. So in late May, His Highness Prince
Karim Aga Khan went to meet, for the first time, his followers in the Pamir
Mountains in the heart of Central Asia.
A crowd of
about 60,000 people gathered to hear their Imam speak near Khorog, the
capital of the province of Gorno-Badakshan in eastern Tajikistan. Many
had walked for miles and most had slept out in the cold. For the mostly
Ismaili people of the Pamirs, the Aga Khan is not only a spiritual leader
but also the saviour who has fed them in the past two years, after a shortage
of food and fuel had brought their corner of the world to the edge of starvation.
In the Soviet
era, the Pamiris got education and health care as good as anybody in the
Soviet Union could expect. But farming was neglected. Four-fifths of Gorno-Badakshan’s
food and all its fuel came from outside the province, either by air or
along two roads from the north (the routes into China and India had been
closed in the 1930’s). The Soviet Union’s collapse ended the flow. Just
as bad, the Pamiris supported the losing side in Tajikistan’s six-month
civil war in 1992, and the winners who installed themselves in the capital,
Dushanbe, have done little to help Badakshan.
So the Aga
Khan’s people set up a small, locally run aid organization in Khorog. This
has distributed more than 50,000 tonnes of wheat, rice, tea, fuel and other
things since the start of 1993. But now the Pamir Relief and Development
Programme (PKDP) has more ambitious plans. It hopes to make the area self-sufficient
in food.
To increase
food production, it was essential to transfer cultivable land from the
inefficient collective farms to private control. The PKDP does not use
the phrase “private ownership”, since this could revive land claims from
pre-Soviet days, but it has encouraged the collective farms to turn over
plots of land to private farmers on long, inheritable leases. And the amount
of cultivable land has been increased by the building of small irrigation
canals.
Even using
the old seed varieties, this has produced wheat yields 12% higher than
in Soviet time (and potato yields are up to 86% higher). The new high yield
wheat varieties the programme has introduced to Badakshan this year should
bring even better results. Patrick Peterson, the Aga Khan’s coordinator
of rural development programmes, guesses that the region might be self-sufficient
in food eight years from now.
And soon Badakshan
may feel less isolated. The Aga Khan says he will help with feasibility
studies for a road to connect it to Pakistan, via Afganistan’s Wakhan corridor.
This would give the Pamiris access to their fellow Ismailis in northern
Pakistan, not to mention that country’s busy bazaars.
It marks the entry of Tajikistan into a world of opportunity, of competition
and of rapid change. It marks the serious engagement of Tajikistan with
the means of meeting those challenges and making the most of those opportunities.
I come to this visit and to this gathering with the hope that, as Imam
of the Ismaili Community, I can be of some help in furthering the efforts
of Tajikistan’s people in improving their lives. Tajikistan has sought
and doubtless will seek collaboration and help from many quarters, and
appropriately so, but I should be pleased if the people of Tajikistan found
me as one of the effective sources of such help.
In order to open the way to that possibility, perhaps I should not finish
my visit to Tajikistan without describing something about the role of the
Imam of the Ismaili Community and the principles by which the Imamat works
to fulfil its role in these modern times. I suspect that if we have a shared
understanding of the Imamat and its functioning, we shall find it easier
to identify areas of common ground and fruitful future cooperation.
Six principles from the foundation of the Imamat’s work in development
: breadth of responsibility, an apolitical stance, pluralism, a long view,
work across disciplinary boundaries, and work across political boundaries.
The breadth of responsibility is based on the belief in Islam that people
must attend to both their spiritual development and their physical needs.
The apolitical stance is in recognition that there is value in listening
to the widest spectrum of culture, religious, economic and political views,
seeking wisdom where ever it is to be found. Embracing pluralism, I have
found that a wonderful variety of people can collaborate effectively in
the advancement of the well-being of people around the world. The long
view is an acknowledgement that fundamental profound changes are needed
to permanently improve the circumstances of people usually take time, so
one should not shy away from undertakings with a long time course. Working
across disciplinary boundaries allows for synergy of efforts, as when improvements
in health and enhancement of economic circumstances improves opportunities
for better health and education. Working across political boundaries allows
the crafting of regional solutions of problems that cannot be solved locally,
as the Aga Khan Development Network has found in its work in East and West
Africa and South Asia.
It is with these principles in mind that during this visit I have examined
the situation of the peoples of Tajikistan in order to determine whether
and how I might be of help, in addition to assisting the Pamir Relief and
Development Program in converting from humanitarian relief to long-term
development. Indeed, I have concluded that some possibilities do exist.
Clearly these possibilities will need to be tested carefully by the national
and regional Governments in Tajikistan, and by local institutions that
would be involved, to make sure that others share my interest in them.
But let me take the opportunity now to offer several possibilities.
First, in response to the need to enhance the strength of Tajikistan’s
universities in certain critical disciplines, I would be willing to create
an Education Fund to support training in English language and Economics.
Such a fund would extend over a two-year interval and be focused particularly
on faculty training. It would be available to universities throughout Tajikistan.
Second, recognizing the specific possibilities at the University of
Khorog, I am prepared to help fund a long-term development plan for that
University. This plan would, I hope, lead the University of Khorog to a
position as a major regional resource with a strong teaching and research
program in disciplines of particular importance for the people of Tajikistan.
Third, convinced of the importance of opening regional transport linkages
for Tajikistan, I would like to cooperate with the Government. Tajikistan
through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Considerable study will be required of
the technical and economic features of such a project, but the need is
clear, and I shall do my best to support the efforts of the governments
involved.
Fourth, in the interest of forwarding Tajikistan’s efforts to participate
successfully in the market economy, I offer to help create a Badakhshan
Development Fund. This fund would be a joint initiative of the Aga Khan
Fund for Economic Development and the Government of Tajikistan. The activities
of the joint initiative might involve efforts in industry, mining, financial
services or infrastructure.
These four initiatives, and others that might be envisioned in the future,
are conceived to address the needs of the people of Tajikistan in a manner
consistent with the principles of action of the Imamat. If these initiatives,
President Rakhmanov, are found by your Government also to be consistent
with the appropriate principles of the Government of Tajikistan and institutions
within its boundaries, then real progress can be realized.
This visit to Tajikistan, so kindly hosted by President Rakhmanov, has
taught me much about Tajikistan and its people. I have been deeply impressed
by the spirit of the people of Tajikistan, with their energy, their intelligence
and their resilience. You are fortunate, indeed, President Rakhmanov to
lead such an impressive population - and I am fortunate to have the prospect
of continuing collaboration with you and them.
Your Excellency the President
Thank you, President Akayev, for your warm welcome. I am both exhilarated
and moved to be here. Just a few years ago, this visit would have been
unthinkable . Political orthodoxy divided the world into sharply defined,
opposing camps and religious affiliations were suspect. Someone in my position
would have known - through books - of the Islamic scholarship which flourished
in Osh in the 10th century. In the same way, he would be aware of the vibrant
Kyrgyz culture and oral traditions incarnated in the Manas epic, which
you will shortly be commemorating. But he could never have dreamed of catching
a glimpse of the inspiringly beautiful mountains, lakes and forests with
their eternal Jupiter trees, which form your Altyn Beshik. Or of coming
here to learn first-hand of the economic reforms which your Government
has pioneered in Central Asia.
The end of the Cold War has brought new opportunities and new challenges,
while rekindling in some places the ambers of long buried tensions. Though
the risk of global war, fortunately, has subsided, historical, religious,
ethnic or clan rivalries have reignited local conflicts in Rwanda, former
Yugoslavia, the Caucasus, and in places even closer to the Kyrgyz Republic.
The horizons of the unfortunate people caught up in such dramas are limited,
momentarily, to survival.
If deep and universal human yearnings for an improved quality of life
are to be met, statesmen and communities must find solutions to these poisoned
legacies and to other forms of violence frequently linked to the cancerous
drug trade. For it is only within a framework of peace, internal consensus,
stability and orderly processes of change that nations can take full advantage
of the energy and creativity of their citizens, of new technologies, and
of the financial resources that can be liberated and turned to more productive
purposes than threatening or killing neighbors or fellow countrymen.
In this era of deep and accelerating changes, I see a few dominant realities
which face all countries, including the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as one
specific to the Muslim Ummah.
The first reality is the need to face growing competition, which is
evident, globally, across the whole spectrum of human endeavor -from individual
enterprises to large trading blocks. In affirming that societies, like
individuals, must be ready to progress in a competitive world, I am neither
advocating - nor defending - excesses of greed or frontier capitalism without
a social conscience. Not very far from here, in Northern Pakistan, is a
remarkable example of what can be achieved by poor,
isolated villagers on their own behalf, have established several
thousand small, grassroots organizations, democratically run, to identify
development priorities; create infrastructures; augment their skills; and
save. In the process, they have doubled their incomes and applied a portion
thereof to building, managing and helping to pay for the health, educational
and other social services which they want. To compete successfully, as
the Asian Tigers have demonstrated on a larger scale, countries
must equip themselves with the necessary human, institutional and financial
resources and infrastructure. Moreover this must - and can - be done in
a way which is both sensitive to, and respectful of local cultural traditions
and ethos. This is why the Aga Khan Development Network seeks to promote
a holistic approach which combines cultural as well as social and economic
interventions.
I cannot close without a final reflection on the Muslim Ummah which
has undergone a long period of considerable turmoil. The last two-hundred
years have seen variegated experiences from political, economic and scientific
domination by colonial powers, to isolation under highly traditional forms
of governance, even of living under conditions of active hostility to the
exercise of the faith. Not surprisingly, there are, throughout the Ummah,
strong and legitimate aspirations to be - once again -
In bringing these aspirations to fruition, I am struck by the close
relationship which exists in Islam between intellect and the faith. During
the glorious periods of Muslim history, Muslim thinkers, scientists and
philosophers were beacons of light, sharing their knowledge freely with
the non-Muslim world, indeed often leading it. I am convinced that the
way for the Ummah to achieve its aspirations is through the development
of first-rate institutions and professionals, steeped in the ethos of
With your background, President Akayev, the atmosphere of political
and religious tolerance which exists in your country, and your courage
to innovate, it is my fervent hope that the Kyrgyz Republic will soon be
in a position to contribute significantly to this enhanced role of the
Ummah and to the well-being of its peoples.
- source The
Economist June, 1995 Asia Section
Speech
made by Mawlana Hazar Imam at a public meeting at the Concert Hall - Dushanbe,
Tajikistan, 27 May 1995
Your Excellency President Rakhmanov
Distinguished Guests
Dear Friends
Today's gathering is a remarkable event. It brings together people
from the many parts of Tajikistan, a country that, though small, has a
rich and challenging diversity. It brings together representatives of a
variety of neighboring and distant countries that wish well the people of
Tajikistan. It brings together religious and secular leaders deeply concerned
with the future of Tajikistan’s people.
Speech
made by Mowlana Hazar Imam at a dinner in honor of President Askar
Akayev - Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, 30 May 1995
Your Excellencies the Speakers
Your Excellency the Vice Prime Minister
Distinguished guests
No
one can deny that we are living in exceptionally stirring times. Mutation
is rapid, the search for direction is omnipresent in all societies, and
the Muslim Ummah is seeking its position in the community of nations.
The
second reality which appears inescapable in today’s shrinking and increasingly
competitive world is the impossibility of autarchy, especially economic
autarchy. Small may be beautiful, but size matters. So it is that many
countries, even big and economically powerful ones, are coming together
in larger economic groupings. I share your vision, President Akayev, that
the way forward will require continued, imaginative efforts to link the
Kyrgyz Republic’s human and economic potential - whether in tourism, hydroelectricity,
minerals or agriculture - within an appropriate regional context. Such
efforts would henceforth be based on pragmatic considerations of economic
interest and complementarities, and would include countries with which
the Kyrgyz Republic has had close economic links as well as other neighbors
with whom contacts of any kind have been virtually impossible for most
of this century. My Network is deeply interested in, and supportive of
these processes in the high mountain areas of Central Asia.
a respected and central player on the stage of world civilizations.
the faith, but applying their intellects and resources to help humanity
develop solutions to the very. real problems facing it today - such as
population growth, sustainable resource management, environmental degradation,
the ethics governing new scientific capacities, or the creation of just
civil societies without exclusions.
Mowlana Hazar Imam's Visit
to Tajikistan in 1998
His
Highness the Aga Khan - Birthday Tribute
Mowlana Hazar Imam's First
Visit to Tajikistan in 1995 - My web site was still in its infancy
at that time and I cannot get over the spiritually charged emotions of
that visit, both amongst the Ismailis that witnessed this event as well
as the media reports that I read at the time. I decided to present this
segment for your enjoyment - to re-live the sensations that the Tajiki
and Afghani Ismaili Jamat must have felt at meeting the Imam in person
after 600 years of pure devotion to his line of Imamat from the teachings
of one Nasir
Khusraw... You be the judge.
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