DUSHANBE, October 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, will pay a visit to Tajikistan on October 9-12, according to the MFA information department.
During his stay in Dushanbe, His Highness the Ag Khan will take part at a ceremony of inauguration of The Ismaili Center here.
His Highness the Aga Khan is also scheduled to hold talks with President Emomali Rahmon and a number of other high-ranking Tajik state officials to discuss cooperation between the Government of Tajikistan and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The Aga Khan will also visit Khorog, the administrative center of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO or Gorno Badakhshan).
We will recall that that the groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the Ismaili Center in Dushanbe was held on August 30, 2003. The foundation stone of The Ismaili Center, Dushanbe was laid by Tajiki President Emomali Rahmon.
Calling it “a place where people will come together to share their creativity and their wisdom,” the Aga Khan said the Center would “recognize and promote the plurality of traditions and forms of expression to which Central Asia has been a welcoming home and eminent crossroads over the centuries.” Addressing a distinguished gathering including national and civic leaders and diplomats, the Aga Khan expressed the hope that the Center would “play a role in reminding the world of a fact, alas, too often ignored or misunderstood: that Central Asian traditions of spirituality and learning have had a lasting and positive impact on civilizations far beyond their own.” The Center, the Aga Khan said, would be “a place for contemplation, upliftment and the search for spiritual enlightenment.”
The Aga Khan situated the purposes of the Center in the context of recent history. “Like its neighbors,” he said, “Tajikistan is in a stage of profound transition which brings in its wake its own share of trials and tribulations, calling upon the nation”s reserves of patience, courage and foresight.” Recognizing especially the impact of economic globalization and the spread and growth of new knowledge and technology, the Aga Khan underlined the need for “societies to enhance their capacities to adjust, adapt, innovate and invest.” Referring to the various endeavors of the network of development agencies that he had established, the Aga Khan noted that in addition to the role of the private sector in economic development, “a richly diverse yet purposefully united citizenry is capable of making a critical contribution to social development in the struggle against poverty.” The Center,” he said, “would stand for the ethics that uphold the dignity of man as the noblest of Creation. It will bring down the walls that divide and build bridges that unite.” “These,” he commented, “are the ethics that inspire the work of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).”
