Pakistan Islamic Republic

Fate of Pakistan pivotal for the future of the world- historian Karen Armstrong

03 Feb 2008 09:53:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD, Feb 3, 2008 - The future of Pakistan, and how it balances the need for Muslim symbols with the secularism needed to run a modern state, will be important for the future of the world, according to historian and theologian Karen Armstrong.

Nuclear-armed and reaping the grim harvest of "extremism" resulting from the West's support for a religious war to drive the Soviet Union out of neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan has a big question to answer, says Armstrong. "How do you become a secular Muslim state?"

Last Thursday, Armstrong, whose writings have highlighted the tolerant and pluralistic nature of Islam, met President Pervez Musharraf, who hoped to change Pakistan into a state where "enlightened moderation" prevailed.

"Pakistan is on the frontier of this present struggle," Armstrong told Reuters during a visit to Islamabad to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Aga Khan, Fatimid Imam Caliph of Islam.

"I think it is not so much important for the future of Islam as important for the future of the world," said the 63-year-old Briton, whose book "The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam" was released a year before 2001 attacks on the United States.

"What happens here will be very decisive in how the so-called war against terrorism proceeds in other regions."

"The kind of conversations I have about this topic remind me very much of conversations I had in Israel, another secular state born out of displacement and tragedy."

Armstrong said Israelis faced a similar struggle between secularists in tune with the vision of their country's founder, David Ben-Gurion, and ultra-orthodox Jews, some of them militant.

Even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, realised the need to have a degree of secularism in order to run a modern state, she said. Khomeini, just before he died in 1989, told mullahs not to meddle in defence and economic policies, she said.

CORNERED BY SECULARISM
The separation of religion in the state represents a modern, major change in societies where religion is a way of life. When it happens too quickly, people feel threatened and if attacked through the media or by force, they become aggressive, said Armstrong, a former nun who describes herself as a "freelance monotheist". "Most of these extreme movements are rooted in profound fear, a fear of annihilation," she said, stressing that the same dynamics play out in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. "In small-town America there are Christians who believe they are going to be wiped out by a so-called liberal establishment."

During the interview, Armstrong cited the example of Sayyid Qutb, whose writings from an Egyptian jail in the 1950s and 60s helped craft a strain of Sunni Muslim fundamentalism that spawned the global jihad of al Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

People should study Qutb's texts rather than the Koran if they wanted to understand al Qaeda, she said. But they had to be read in the context of the torture Qutb suffered and his reaction to efforts to secularise Egypt, she said. Attempts to introduce secularism, which took centuries in the West, has been done too quickly in the Middle East, according to Armstrong, resulting in religious movements that tend to become lethal if they occur in regions where violence is endemic.

Armstrong didn't see militancy in Pakistan's tribal lands, or Hamas or Hizbollah movements, or even bin Laden's al Qaeda, as being motivated principally by religion. It is more of a kind of political followup.

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Aziz calls on Aga Khan : Shaukat Aziz former Prime Minister of Pakistan called on His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan at his Paris residence this week January 31 2008. The two leaders exchanged views on international situation. The former Prime Minister paid rich tributes to Prince Aga Khan for his excemplary meritorious services for the cause of Muslim Ummah, and the poor, the sick and the needy in emerging economies. The Fatimid Imam Caliph expressed his pleasure over the financial development of Pakistan. Due to effective economic policy of the government, financial stability took place in Pakistan, said Aga Khan.

His Highness Aga Khan is establishing a Muslim University with a total cost of US $ 500 million, the president of Aga Khan Council, Iqbal Waljee, said in Karachi on Thursday, 24 January 2008.. He said 1,000 acres of land has been acquired for the purpose on Super Highway in Karachi. The Aga Khan will inaugurate the ground breaking shortly, he said adding that acadamic activity will start from 2011. Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Imamat Caliphate of Aga Khan is being marked in Pakistan with high profile programmes including lecture series by Karen Armstrong on intellectual traditions in Islam.

And as Pakistan is going through anxious moments, Fatimid Heritage Foundation, Geneva Peace Development Centre and Mountain Girls Education Development Program have endorsed full confidence in the leadership of Excellency President Musharraf. We believe President Musharraf has been historically delivering his best, both for Pakistan and world community so to speak about civil society and democracy, women emancipation and good governance, theological and political consensus, freedom of expression, media support, independence of judiciary, indigenous rule of people and global peace.

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Despite a wide range of tools available to the United Nations in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacebuilding, a new United Nations report calls for measures to boost the world body’s capacity to prevent conflicts.

Citing a “considerable gap” between rhetoric surrounding prevention and the use of measures towards that end, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states that “the overriding challenge for the international community remains the development of more effective strategies for preventing conflict.”

In his latest report on conflict prevention, particularly in Africa, Mr. Ban notes that the cost of armed conflict on the continent is equal to or greater than the amount of money it receives in international aid. “Had that money not been lost as a result of armed conflict, it could have been used to address Africa’s growing development and humanitarian needs,” he points out.

The Secretary-General believes the key priority is to further enhance the UN’s work in the area of conflict prevention, and has unveiled plans to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat, especially the Department of Political Affairs.

The report proposes to strengthen the Organization’s regional field presence in support of prevention, particularly in Africa.

While effective preventive action requires substantial human and financial resources, peacekeeping or peace enforcement costs much more, he notes, adding “we must therefore move from declarations of intent to concrete actions to ensure that preventive diplomacy becomes more effective.”

He notes that the UN is already bolstering its partnerships with Member States and regional organizations to develop their conflict prevention capacities, as evidenced by the world body’s close cooperation with the African Union on several prevention, peacekeeping and peacemaking initiatives.

Noting the underrepresentation of women at the formal stages of conflict prevention, Mr. Ban stresses the need for the UN to make an increased effort to support and encourage their full participation in this area.

To prevent crises from escalating into armed conflict, Mr. Ban calls on the Security Council to enhance its prevention capacity, including by dispatching timely missions to the field to assess situations on the ground.

He also urges the Council to increase the use of its “Arria formula” meetings, whereby non-governmental actors can address the 15-member body outside official sessions, and to work to ensure the “creative and constructive” use of sanctions as a tool for preventing conflicts.

Mr. Ban adds that it is only through political settlements that conflicts can be resolved. “If we do not deal with the root causes of conflict – and offer sustainable solutions – we will be left with humanitarian emergencies and peacekeeping operations without end.”


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His Highness Aga Khan Fatimid Imam Caliph, founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), today 30th January 2008 met with Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for discussions on joint collaboration between the ADB and AKDN. The meeting preceded the signing of an agreement aimed at expanding the partnership between the two institutions.

“A strengthened partnership between ADB and the Aga Khan Development Network provides an effective channel for supporting inclusive development in the region, especially for the benefit of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society,” said Mr. Kuroda.

The Aga Khan’s younger brother, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, who signed the agreement on the Aga Khan’s behalf, thanked the ADB for its long-standing cooperation and lauded the Bank’s efforts to adopt a new long-term strategy this year in the face of growing challenges and opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prince Amyn Aga Khan expressed confidence that the agreement will enable an intensification of the collaboration between the two institutions, thereby helping to transform the lives of many.

He added that the agreement is “an expression of our shared commitment to ensure that marginalized and impoverished areas of South and Central Asia receive the attention and support needed to alleviate poverty and to create stability in cross border areas, by connecting isolated communities, developing markets, incomes, and employment, and fostering an enabling environment.”

The joint ADB/AKDN agreement stresses the need “to find ways to undertake investments to connect the poor to the opportunities of growth and to connect services to the poor emanating from national and regional growth benefits.”

The ADB and the AKDN collaborate across multiple sectors in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, and Pakistan. The agreement signed today reinforces the need for cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure, economic development, and human capacity building. It expresses the joint commitment of both institutions to local and regional ownership of development policies and programmes, long-term approaches to sustainable development, and investments which connect the poor to growth opportunities. Amongst the new areas for potential partnership are investments in higher education, including with the Aga Khan University and the University of Central Asia.

Notes:

ADB, a major development institution in the Asia and Pacific region, seeks to foster economic growth, good governance, human resource development, and the reduction of poverty for the benefit of its developing member countries.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working to empower communities and individuals to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East. The Network’s nine development agencies focus on social, cultural and economic development for all citizens, regardless of gender, origin or religion. The AKDN’s underlying ethic is compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget for social development is in excess of US$300million.

For more information please contact:

Jason Rush
Media Relations
Asian Development Bank
Tel: (632) 632-4444
www.adb.org
Aly Nazerali
European Representative and CEO
AKDN
3 Cromwell Gardens
London SW7 2HB
Tel: +442075916800
E-mail: aly.nazerali@akdn.org

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Speech by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Head of the Social Welfare Department
of the Aga Khan Development Network, at the launching event
for the United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009
“Hospitals safe from disasters”
Davos 25 January 2008

The Aga Khan Development Network has always worked in areas of the world susceptible to natural disasters: in the seismically active and landslide affected mountain areas of South and Central Asia, in the flood and typhoon prone coastal areas of East Africa and South Asia, and in places that are regularly victim to drought and famine. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and severity of these natural disasters.

In a hundred years of activity, Aga Khan Institutions and their personnel have experienced many such disasters firsthand. We have seen and felt the human, physical and financial cost of catastrophes. However these difficult experiences have also taught us the value of investing in disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response.

We see the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction’s World Campaign for Hospitals Safe from Disasters as a useful tool in making sure that we all understand the need to be better prepared. In any disaster situation, the ability to maintain functioning health services is a matter of life and death. The success of a disaster preparedness effort depends on our ability to ensure that health facilities can perform three vital functions:


• To protect the lives of patients and health workers by ensuring the structural resilience of health facilities;
• To ensure that health facilities and services are able to function in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters; and
• To improve the ability of health workers and institutions, to react to and manage emergency situations.

I would like to offer a few observations on these objectives, based on the experience of the AKDN, which owns and operates more than 200 private-not-for profit health facilities including 12 hospitals, as well as 300 schools, and numerous other institutions. The AKDN also provides technical assistance and support to government facilities and systems in a total of 19 countries in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Our experience has taught us to view disaster preparedness and mitigation as core components of our overall development approach. In the Network, we use the term mitigation to describe the measures incorporated into physical infrastructure that increase its ability to withstand the worst effects of natural disasters. We use the term preparedness to describe the community’s ability to plan for and react to these disasters. We have learnt that preparedness and mitigation are not marginal activities – they are fundamental, cost-effective, and they save lives.

All AKDN buildings are built to withstand the seismic risk of their individual locations - “Code +2” or simply put - exceeding the required safety standards. In the last five years we have initiated a survey that includes every single Network building in a risk area, mapping those risks and evaluating the resilience of each building.
We intend to ensure that every AKDN building will withstand the effects of natural disasters.

Since 1983 the AKDN has developed and employed state-of-the-art technologies, including modified versions of older seismic resistant, low-cost techniques in the construction of its health and education facilities. The Network has ensured that the technologies are not only used, but acquired and adopted by the communities in which we work, thus spreading the benefits of these simple, locally-available disaster mitigation techniques.

We have also initiated a programme to stock key facilities with essential food, water and medical supplies, as well as communication systems, for use during and after emergencies. Furthermore, we have developed training programmes for communities at risk and health workers so that they are able to use these facilities and react to natural disasters.

These facilities therefore can also serve as safe havens.

Access to clean water is another critical component of post-disaster response as it prevents the spread of communicable disease. This is why communal water-distribution systems should also be built to withstand natural disasters.

We are currently endeavouring to build access to transportation to all our programme areas, including safe helipads that would ensure rapid evacuation of victims and distribution of essential supplies.

Let me share with you the AKDN experience in Kashmir, where we have been implementing a multi-input programme since the devastating earthquake of 2005 in the Chakama Valley in Pakistan and the Uri Block in India. In the particular programme areas assigned to us, all health units and schools had been partially or totally destroyed. When reviewing the aftermath, we thought it would be irresponsible to rebuild the health clinics and schools without first obtaining a better understanding of the levels of seismic risk for each institution. Resisting the pressures to rebuild this critical infrastructure quickly, we commissioned a series of micro-zoning and geotechnical studies to evaluate the safety of their original locations, and to identify safer sites if necessary.

This allowed us to categorise the overall programme areas by levels of relative risk and to identify the types and probability of localized hazards such as flooding and landslides.

This analysis provided other concrete benefits:

Firstly, we were able to demonstrate to the governments that many of the original clinics and schools should never have been built at their original sites. Along with this, the very sad experience of having a newly built health facility wash away in a mudslide led the Pakistani Government to issue a decree stating that no public buildings could be reconstructed before a risk assessment had been undertaken for any proposed site.

Secondly, sharing our risk assessments with local communities allowed us to discuss and develop a disaster preparedness programme. Indeed, after they acquired a better understanding of the potential risks to their health facilities and schools, communities in both the Indian and Pakistani programme areas donated safer land to the reconstruction of the public buildings.

Thirdly, the seismic analyses have enabled us to design and build new health facilities and schools incorporating seismically resistant features responding to the conditions of the site.

What happens inside a health facility is more important than the physical building itself. Ensuring that health facilities and services are able to function in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters is only possible if the health system functions well before disasters strike.

In many critical situations, air access is the only means of reaching stricken areas and it is essential that as much information as possible is made available to the air services, such as the availability of fuel, coordinates of landing areas, access to spare parts etc. This is particularly critical in the interfacing between military and civilian infrastructure.

The private sector can play an important role in strengthening health systems and in developing technologies and programmes that promote disaster mitigation and preparedness. AKDN’s efforts to re-establish the health system in disaster-affected areas has allowed us to interact closely with local and central governments to introduce better clinical and preventive programmes. We believe that these activities have positive impacts on the health status of the affected communities. Partnerships between the public and private sectors in healthcare can provide new dimensions of complementary and collaborative work aimed at improving people’s health.

The experience of our Network underscores the need for new thinking that emphasizes disaster preparedness and mitigation as well as supporting the continued functioning of critical health facilities and systems. These are the means to save lives and to reduce destruction to infrastructure and livelihoods. In our areas of operation, disasters have taken place and will certainly occur in the future. We believe that we have developed some robust means to prepare for and to ease the effects of future disasters. We also know that implementing these measures is cost-effective and essential to safeguarding investments in infrastructure and human life.

When a disaster strikes, many look to the government and the international inter-governmental and non-governmental agencies. However the private sector’s involvement on both preparedness and response is equally important.

As I wrap up, let me emphasise once more that perhaps one of the most vital lessons the Aga Khan Development Network has learned in the field is that disaster resistant health facilities, staffed with well trained personnel and capable of functioning in a situations where all else seems to fail, are key to saving lives. Helping the world understand that is a noble cause. I wish much success to this campaign.

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After overcoming a push to keep them out, Chicago's Ismaili Muslim community took the first formal step Friday toward moving into north suburban Glenview with a festive ceremony to celebrate the groundbreaking of a 26,000-square-foot community center to be built on 9.5 acres of manicured greenery at Shermer and Golf Roads.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Glenview President Kerry Cummings laid mortar and pressed bricks into a facade at the conclusion of the ceremony, in a gesture of support for the center. Work began Nov. 1 and is scheduled to continue for 12 to 14 months.

"We can recall spirited discussions," said Mahmood Eboo, president of the Ismaili Council for the United States of America, referring to controversy over the center. "We are grateful to the village staff for long and deliberate discussions on this issue."

The center, called the Ismaili Jamatkhana, will include a prayer hall that faces east, toward Mecca, as well as offices, classrooms and halls for social gatherings. It will become the epicenter of the 5,000-strong Ismaili Muslim community, which now meets at two smaller centers in the Chicago area, community members said. Glenview was selected as the site for the center because many Ismailis have settled in the north suburbs since arriving from Pakistan, India and east Africa.

The Glenview Village Board unanimously approved the center in 2006, but that vote came after much wrangling from neighbors who gathered about 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the board to deny permits to the group on grounds that the center would cause too much traffic.

At the time, some residents said the real concern stemmed from fear of Islam. On Friday, some Ismailis suggested residents simply needed time to learn about their Islam, whose members emphasize charity and civic duty.

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On July 23, 2007, leaders of the U.S. military and NGO community celebrated a promising moment for civil-military relations in peace operations: the rollout of guidelines that will serve as "rules of the road" for how the two entities should operate in hostile environments.

Facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Guidelines seek to mitigate frictions between military and NGO personnel over the preservation of humanitarian space in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Principles in the Guidelines include ensuring that military personnel wear uniforms when conducting relief activities to avoid being mistaken for nongovernmental humanitarian organization representatives. Conversely, it recommends that, to the extent practical, humanitarian relief personnel avoid traveling in U.S. Armed Forces vehicles, with the exception of liaison personnel.

The heads of both the U.S. military and InterAction (an umbrella organization for U.S. NGOs) have endorsed the Guidelines and will be disseminating them throughout their organizations. Two years in the making, the effort represents "a desire from both sides to move beyond polemics to proactive problem solving," said Jeb Nadaner, deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations at the Pentagon.

NGO leaders likewise expressed optimism at the potential for change. "We do not want to understate the importance of this document for us," said Sam Worthington, InterAction president and CEO. "We believe that these Guidelines will serve a purpose beyond U.S. NGOs to our global partners."

The initiative was launched in March 2005 when Ambassador Carlos Pascual, coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization at the U.S. State Department, asked the Institute to establish a Working Group on Civil-Military Relations in Nonpermissive Environments. What began as a dialogue between military and NGO leaders has resulted in a pioneering effort upon which both sides hope to expand. Military and NGO leaders intend to promulgate the Guidelines throughout their communities via media and education channels: NGOs will publish the Guidelines in their newsletters and literature; the military will incorporate the Guidelines into joint military doctrine publications. The next challenge lies in implementing the Guidelines in the field and creating a monitoring process by which the Guidelines can be continuously updated and revised.

Guidelines Handout

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Building for Islam, the BBC World series on the 2007 Aga Khan Award recipients, was nominated as one of the top BBC documentaries of 2007. Your chance to choose !
For more information click here

Video


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The First MicroFinance Bank’s client, Ms. Sifat Gul from Gharam Chashma, Chitral won the “Best National Micro-Entrepreneur Award Female” at the recently organised Citi-PPAF Micro-entrepreneurship Awards 2007 ceremony in Islamabad. Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former Governor State Bank of Pakistan was the Chief Guest for the occasion where Sifat Gul was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 115,000. The objective of the Citi-PPAF Micro-entrepreneurship Awards Programme 2007 is to illustrate and promote the effective role that micro-finance plays in poverty alleviation. It recognises the extraordinary contributions that individual micro-entrepreneurs have made to the economic sustainability of their families as well as their communities.

The award winner Sifat Gul, faced with economic problems, began her journey a couple of years ago by approaching The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd (FMFB) for a loan to purchase a sewing machine and become a tailor. However, she was soon able to diversify her small home-run business into a full training institute to harness the sewing and embroidery skills of the young women in her community. Today, she plans to construct a separate building for her training institute and has partnered with other organisations that purchase her products and exhibit them in city centres.

Her association with the Bank not only helped her in increasing her own household income and savings and but also empowered her to play a positive role in mobilizing her community to bring about a social change in their surroundings. Today, not only does she have the basic amenities of life including good quality access to education, housing and health facilities for her entire household but also trains and empowers many young women to earn their livelihoods. Coming from the remote, mountainous area of Chitral, hers is a story of true woman empowerment as she stepped up to earn a livelihood and was later elected as a female councillor revolutionizing the surroundings by playing a pivotal role in mobilising common interest projects such as Community Based Schools, village pipeline repair and road repair projects. Initially faced by strong resistance and opposition from her family to start a business, Sifat Gul with the support of The First MicroFinanceBank and her sheer commitment, confidence and hard work succeeded in bringing a positive change in her household and continues to be a social change agent.

The First MicroFinanceBank, a part of the Aga Khan Development Network, has played an instrumental role in reaching out to the poor segments of society by enabling individuals to strengthen their entrepreneurial base and build capital for a sound and secure future. The Bank strives to alleviate poverty through sustainable economic development by offering credit, savings and life insurance services and an efficient and low cost funds transfer service to its target populations. With over 70 fully automated branches all over Pakistan, FMFB has disbursed 170,000 loans and has achieved 64% rural outreach in a short span of six years.

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The Presidential Panel held in the East Room of the White House was hosted by President Clinton and chaired by Secretary of State Albright. The panelists were:

Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate of the United States; Yo-Yo Ma, cellist; Her Excellency Giovanna Melandri, Italian Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Bill Clinton, His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims; Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize-winning novelist from Nigeria; and Joan Spero, President of the Doris Duke Foundation.

Remarks Prepared by His Highness The Aga Khan For The White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy
Washington D.C., 28 November 2000

Thank you Mr. President. It is an honour to be associated with this distinguished panel in a discussion of a topic which I have long felt has received too little attention, particularly at the policy level. Thank you for the invitation.

I offer my comments this morning from the perspective of someone who has been a long-standing observer of cultural evolution in the developing world of Africa and Asia, and from more than twenty-years of experience with activities such as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture that have attempted to make a positive contribution to that process.

At present there is a great deal of apprehension about the future of local and national cultures in most countries in the developing world. What can the cultural diplomacy of the United States do to address these anxieties and replace them with a sense of confidence through new and shared initiatives?

If the cultures and value systems of the developing world are being challenged -- or are believed to be under threat - I think it valuable to try to identify the nature of the challenges. For the sake of discussion, I would put the major issues under the headings of language, institutions, people, communications, and funding.

First, there is the issue of language. During the process of de-colonisation in Asia and Africa, the driving objective of the governments of the newly independent countries was to create nation states. A national language was seen as an important part of this process. Forty years later, the world's dominant foreign language, English, is viewed as a necessity in most areas -- but not yet as an opportunity. For cultures in the developing world to be globally accessible, understood, respected and admired, and to be represented in electronic communications, they must ensure that their cultures find expression not only in the national language, but also in English.

The second issue is institutions. In most parts of the developing world institutions and places of particular importance to cultural inspiration and expression are all too often abandoned or neglected by both governments and civil society. Museums, conse