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.

www.ismaili.us

Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, the 48th Fatimid Imam Caliph and founder of Pakistan at a session of Motamer al-Alam-al-Islamiyya on February 9, 1951 in Karachi said:

“I can assure you that it is not with a light heart that I address you this evening. I fully realise that what I am going to say will make me most unpopular with important sections of the population. However, I would be a traitor to Islam if I let this opportunity pass without placing before the people of this powerful and populous Islamic nation the views which I consider my duty to place before the Muslims with as many of the arguments as I am capable of using in a short address.

I fear some of my arguments will mortally offend those who under totally different conditions gave so much of their life for the support of the cause which I think today has been passed by events far more important than any dreamt of in those days. I feel the responsibility greater than any I can think of to place my views and arguments before the Muslim population of Pakistan as a whole - each and every province - while what I consider a tragic and deadly step is not yet taken and not added to the constitution of this realm.

The language of a nation is not only the expression of its own voice but the mode of interpretation with all other human societies. Before it is too late, I, an old man, implore my brothers in Islam here not to finally decide for Urdu as the national language of Pakistan but to choose Arabic. Please hear my arguments.

If what was the other part of the former British Empire of India had made Urdu its national language, there would have been a great argument for Pakistan doing ditto. It could have been a linguistic and important point of contact with the vast Republic of the South. I am the last man on earth to desire to break any bridge of contact and understanding between Pakistan and its immense neighbour. Not only Urdu but even Hindustani has been replaced by Hindi throughout Bharat as the national language. The people of Bharat were perfectly justified to choose any language which the majority considered most appropriate and historically justified to be their national language. The majority there has the right to choose what was most suitable for them as the official language of the country.

Your choice in Pakistan of Urdu will in no way ameliorate or help your relations with your neighbour, nor will it help the Muslim minorities there in any conceivable way. Howsoever you may add Arabic and Persian words to Urdu there is no denying the fact that the syntax, the form, the fundamentals of the language are derived from Hindi and not from Arabic. Was Urdu the language of the Muslims of India at the time of their glory? During the long Pathan period, Urdu was never considered the language of the rulers.

Now we come to the Moghul Empire in the period of its glory. It was not the language of the educated. I defy anybody to produce a letter or any other form of writing by Emperors Aurangzeb, Shah Jehan, Jehangir, Akbar, Humayun or Babar in Urdu language. All that was spoken at the Court was Persian or occasional Turkish. I have read many of the writings of Aurangzeb and they are in beautiful Persian. Same is true if you go to the Taj Mahal and read what is written on the tombs of the Emperor and his famous consort. Persian was the court language and the language of the educated and even till the early 19th century in far Bengal, the Hindu intelligentsia wrote and used Persian and not Urdu. Up to the time of Macaulay, Persian was the language of Bengali upper classes irrespective of faith and of official documents and various Sadar Adalat. We must look historical facts in the face. Urdu became the language of Muslim India after the downfall. It is a language associated with the downfall. Its great poets are of the downfall period. The last and the greatest of them was lqbal, who with the inspiration of revival gave up Urdu poetry for Persian poetry. There was a meeting in Iqbal’s honour in London organised by men such as Prof. Nicholson. I was present at that meeting. Iqbal said that he went in for Persian poetry because it was associated with the greatness of the Islamic epoch and not with its misfortunes. Is it right that the language of the downfall period should become the national language of what we hope now is a phoenix-like national rising? All the great masters of Urdu belong to the period of greatest depression and defeat. It was then a legitimate attempt by the use of a language of Hindi derivation with Arabic and Persian words to find ways and means of better understanding with the then majority fellow countrymen.

Today that vast British dependency is partitioned and succeeded by two independent and great nations and the whole world hopes that both sides now accept partition as final. Is it a natural and national language of the present population of Pakistan? Is it the language of Bengal where the majority of Muslims live? Is it what you. hear in the streets of Dacca or Chittagong? Is it the language of the North West Frontier? Is it the language of Sind? Is it the language of the Punjab? Certainly after the fall of the Mughal Empire the Muslims and Hindus of certain areas found in it a common bond, but now today other forms of bridges must be found for mutual understanding. Who were the creators of Urdu? What are the origins of Urdu? Where did it come from? The camp followers, the vast Hindi-speaking population attached to the Imperial Court who adapted, as they went along, more Arabic and Persian words into the syntax. of their own language just as in later days the English words such as glass and cup became part of a new form of Urdu called Hindustani. Are you going to make the language of the Camp, or of the Court, the national language of your new-born realm? Every Muslim child of a certain economic standard learns the Quran in Arabic, whether he is from Dacca or Quetta. He learns Arabic to read the Quran.

Arabic is the language of Islam. The Qur’an is in Arabic. The Prophet’s hadith are in Arabic. The highest form of Islamic culture in Spain was in Arabic. Your children must learn Arabic to a certain extent always. The same is true of your West whether Sind, Baluchistan or the North. From the practical and worldly point of view, Arabic will give you, as a national language, immediate contact not only with the 40 million Arabic-speaking people of independent nations on your West, but the other 60 million more or less Arabic-speaking people who are not independent but who exist in Africa. Right up to the Atlantic, not only in North but as far South as Nigeria and the Gold Coast, Arabic is known to the upper classes of the population. In all the Sudans, on the Nile or under French rule, Arabic is the language right up to the borders of Portuguese West Africa. In East Africa, not only in Zanzibar but amongst the Muslim population of even countries as far apart as Madagascar and Portuguese East Africa, Arabic is known. If we turn to the Far East, Arabic has prospered throughout the region inhabited by 80 million Muslims of Indonesia, Malaya and Philippines. In Ceylon, Muslim children of the well-to-do classes get some knowledge of Arabic.

Is it not right and proper that this powerful Muslim State of Pakistan, with its central geographical position, its bridges between the nearly 100 million Muslims of the East and 100 million Muslims of the West - its position of the East from Philippines and the Great State of Indonesia and Malaya and Burma and then westward with the hundred millions in Africa, right up to the Atlantic, should make Arabic its national language and not isolate itself from all its neighbors and from the world of Islam with a language that was associated with the period of downfall of Muslim States.

And finally, whi1e Arabic, as a universal language of the Muslim world will unite, Urdu will divide and isolate. Gentlemen, brothers in Islam, people of Pakistan, people of every Province, I appeal to you, before you take the final and what I unfortunately must say, I consider, the fatal jump down the precipice, please discuss and let all and every one contribute their views. Take time and think over it. Once more I appeal for Islamic charity from those whom I may have offended and I appeal to all others to look to the facts in the face both historically and as they exist at present. I pray that the people of this country may be guided by Divine Wisdom before they decide.”

www.ismaili.us

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

www.ismaili.us

Did you know...
You can access current weather conditions, local forecasts, the previous day's conditions and weather warnings in real-time via your wireless device? Access the Wireless Portal through your Web-enabled mobile device at wap.gc.ca or www.gc.ca - It's easy, it's fast, it's mobile.

The Government of Canada Wireless Portal is an evolving project that we invite you to try out and give us your feedback on. The services currently available on the Wireless Portal are described below. The services continue to evolve and expand as we move forward with this project.

The Wireless Portal is designed to complement the existing service channels, through which you can obtain Government of Canada information. This means that the information accessible through the Wireless Portal is already available on the Canada Site, through 1 800 O-Canada or at Service Canada Access Centres.

The Wireless Portal is your quick and easy single point of access to selected government information and services on the go!

To access government information and services, point your mobile Web-enabled device (Web-enabled cell phone, PDA) to: wap.gc.ca or www.gc.ca

How to Use the Government of Canada Wireless Portal
Services Available
Currently, a select number of services are available. As the initiative expands, more services will be added.

Services and information currently available include:
Border Wait Times
Select Border Wait Times to access the estimated wait times for crossing the Canada-United States land border at certain locations. This information is provided by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Canada Business service centres Contact Information
Select Canada Business service centres to access the toll-free numbers, locations and e-mail addresses for the Canada Business service centres. This information is provided by Industry Canada.
Canadian Company Capabilities
Select Canadian Company Capabilities to access the on-line database that contains information on Canadian suppliers and distribution channels to determine competition, to form partnerships and to uncover export ventures. The Canadian Company Capabilities database provides the name, address, contacts, products and services and key international markets, and it also allows direct links to a company's home page, an e-mail service and an on-line registration service. This information is provided by Industry Canada.

Canadian Hurricane Centre
Select Canadian Hurricane Centre to access hurricane and tropical storm information statements, watches and warning bulletins. This information is provided by Environment Canada

Please note that you should not rely totally on forecasts from this service in 2007 because:

This is a new service that started on September 1, 2004 and interruptions are to be expected while Environment Canada fine-tunes the service.

This service may not be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week; therefore the timely delivery of forecasts is not guaranteed.

Currency Converter
Select the Currency Converter to access conversions (to and from Canadian dollars) based on the Bank of Canada's nominal noon exchange rates, which are published each business day at about 1 p.m. EST. This information is provided by the Bank of Canada

Economic Indicators
Select Economic Indicators to access Canada's latest population figure, the rates for unemployment and inflation and the gross domestic product (GDP). This information is provided by Statistics Canada.

Exchange Rates
Select Bank of Canada Exchange Rates to access the current exchange rates. This information is provided by the Bank of Canada

Government of Canada Employee Phone Numbers
Select the Government Electronic Directory Services (GEDS) to access an integrated directory of federal public servants provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Government of Canada news releases, media advisories, background news, and more.
Select News to access Government of Canada news releases, media advisories and background news information in real-time.

Member of Parliament Contact Information
Select Member of Parliament Contact Information to access a listing of Members of Parliament contact information from the Parliament of Canada Web site.

Passport Offices
Select Passport Offices to access Passport Office addresses and phone numbers. This information is provided by Passport Canada.

National Parks
Select National Parks to access the List of National Parks of Canada by Province/Territory. Their contact information, including address, phone number and email, is provided. This information is provided by Parks Canada.
1 800 O-Canada International Toll-free Numbers
Select 1 800 O-Canada International Toll-free Numbers to access a list of toll-free numbers that can be used to access information on the Government of Canada from locations outside Canada and the United States. Service is provided in English and French, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Weather
Select Weather to Access current weather conditions, local forecasts, the previous day's conditions and weather warnings in real-time for pan-Canada weather stations. This information is provided by the Environment Canada Weather Office.
Feedback
Your feedback, questions or comments about the Wireless Portal are appreciated and may be sent to: sitecanadasite@canada.gc.ca
If you have an opinion to share or would like a response to a question about any topic other than the Government of Canada's Wireless Portal, please visit the Canada Site's Questions and Comments Form.
Anwar Merchant is a Government of Canada On-Line Research Panel member.

His Highness Aga Khan, the Fatimid Imam Caliph of the Ismaili Muslims, yesterday praised Mozambique as a model of successful post-conflict development and hailed the country’s economic performance and tenacity in overcoming difficulties.

“In an era when frustration often breeds cynicism concerning the possibility of progress, Mozambique can provide inspiration and encouragement to other post-conflict societies,” he said.

The Aga Khan, who is chairman and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) with projects throughout Africa, noted that Mozambique's economic growth was one of the best in Africa despite continued problems. “The problems of poverty, disease and, illiteracy here are still enormous. But your recent progress has been built on sound principles – and for that reason, Mozambique has become a valuable model for the whole of the developing world,” he said.

The Aga Khan made the remarks at an official banquet in Maputo, held in his honour by Mozambique's President, His Excellency Armando Guebuza, who invited him to the country. Mozambique was the first leg of the Aga Khan’s 9-day tour of Southern Africa that also includes Madagascar. The visit is the Aga Khan’s second to Africa since July 11, which marked the start of his year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations.

In his address, the Aga Khan said that Africa has been one of his central preoccupations during his 50-year Imamat, because of the century and a half of history of the Ismaili people in the continent and the independence movement of many African nations as they “began their journey toward stability and progress as self-governing countries.” The Aga Khan said he was proud to participate in the “great, continuing story of Mozambican progress.”

The Aga Khan announced that AKDN will expand its involvement in Mozambique to establish a garment factory, as well as the country’s first microfinance bank. He also said the people of Mozambique will benefit from the construction of a new undersea high-speed fibre optic cable that will link Southern and Eastern Africa with Mumbai in India and Marseille in France – a project co-financed by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) – the network’s economic development arm. The cable will also serve Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Rwanda.

The Ismaili leader said he saw great potential in Mozambique as a tourist destination and announced more investments in that sector.

As he arrived at Maputo International Airport earlier in the day, the Aga Khan was greeted by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alcinda Abreau, and a cheering crowd of local and visiting Ismaili community members, as well as troupes of traditional singers and dancers.

Today, the Aga Khan also met with Mr Eduardo Mulembwe, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique, after hosting a luncheon in honour of Mozambique’s President Guebuza. On Friday the Aga Khan visited field projects in Mozambique’s north-eastern Pemba region before departing for Madagascar.

In Pemba's Cabo Delgado region, the Aga Khan Development Network is involved in rural support projects designed to reduce poverty in the remote areas of the country. The programme covers 146 villages and benefits 21,000 households.

As California continues to recover from last month’s devastating Southern California fires, the Department of General Services (DGS) is committed to continuing to do everything as the State’s business manager to help support the ongoing recovery effort. Following the devastation last month, Governor Schwarzenegger ordered all State agencies to move quickly to ensure fire commanders, emergency managers, local government officials and ultimately the general public got the help and resources they needed to respond to and recover from these devastating wildfires.

Over the past several weeks, DGS staff has been moving to secure cleanup contracts, line-up commercial space for recovery operations, and ensure that critical communications sites across the State were restored following the fires. With 4,000 staff statewide and responsibilities over managing real estate, funding school construction, purchasing and contracting, and emergency telecommunications, DGS has been uniquely positioned to help local government officials, as well as the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) get the resources they need to keep the recovery process moving forward. The other day, DGS secured contracts with nearly 90 companies that can provide help in cleaning up debris from the fires and putting erosion control measures in place across the burned-out landscape. DGS has also identified portable classrooms that school districts can use if necessary and secured 60,000 square feet of space for FEMA to warehouse donated goods. At the height of the fire siege, DGS’ Telecommunications staff was deployed to numerous fire scenes to repair critical emergency radio sites that had been damaged. Moving forward, DGS is continuing to work closely with OES to meet any ongoing business needs that are identified and appreciates the opportunity to help California recover and rebuild.


Learn more about DGS at http://www.dgs.ca.gov/.

The fall of the Soviet Union brought with it both the withdrawal of much-needed resources invested in education in Central Asia, and new opportunities to create innovative institutions that could respond to the needs of communities in the region.
In 1994, President Rakhmonov of Tajikistan and His Highness the Aga Khan conceived the idea of a new university designed to address the unique educational, economic and cultural needs of mountain communities. In December 1995, an international Commission was established to study the idea and come up with relevant recommendations. The Commission on the Establishment of an International Institution of Higher Education was made up of fourteen distinguished academics, advocates and programme administrators from around the region and the world. It was supported by an additional nineteen experts who made up various sub-committees to study curricula, planning, finances, facilities development and recruitment. The Commission and its Sub-Committees met thirteen times over eighteen months, made frequent visits to the region and commissioned or received 78 papers. In 1998, the Commission endorsed the idea of a regional university to promote sustainable economic and social development within mountain communities. It included the recommendation that three main academic programmes be developed - continuing education, undergraduate and graduate programmes - and also included several recommendations regarding teaching and learning approaches, facilities and technology and student and faculty recruitment. These recommendations created the foundation for the planning of UCA. UCA is CreatedUCA was founded in 2000 by the governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and His Highness the Aga Khan. It is the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher education. The International Treaty and Charter establishing this secular and private University was signed by His Highness the Aga Khan and the Presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, ratified by the respective parliaments and registered with the United Nations. The Presidents are the Patrons and His Highness the Aga Khan is the Founding Patron and Chancellor of UCA. UCA is a private, independent, self-governing institution which will be governed by an independent Board of Trustees and led by a Rector. It will have three campuses of equal size and stature in each of the founding countries. Currently, the Director General of UCA is in charge of operations and planning at the Central Administration office in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.VisionUCA was created to offer an internationally recognized standard of higher education in Central Asia and create knowledgeable, skilled and creative graduates who will contribute leadership, ideas and innovations to the transitioning economies and communities of the region.Mission & ObjectivesThe mission of UCA is to promote the socio-economic development of Central Asia’s mountain societies, while at the same time helping the diverse peoples of the region to preserve and draw upon their rich cultural traditions and heritages as assets for the future. How? Click here !

ismaili.us

Fatimid Heritage Foundation happily extends heartiest felicitations to His Excellency Mohammedmian Soomro on assuming the august and auspicious office of the Prime Minister of Islamic Republic Pakistan, with prayers for success and happiness of fulfilment of duty.

Fatimid Heritage Foundation supports heritage, education and peace activities to enhance knowledge, interfaith harmony and global pluralism. The FATIMID works to promote a more secure, equitable and prosperous world in conformity with the vision of His Highness Aga Khan. It is an expression of love and devotion Ismaili Muslims have for Aga Khan Fatimid Imam Caliph, 49th direct lineal descendant of Prophet Muhammad through his cousin and son-in-law, Aly, the first Imam-Caliph, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. Aga Khan is the rope of love, wisdom and unity among interpretations of the Faith, and also bridge of confidence between West and Muslims. This year, the world is celebrating Golden Jubilee of the Imamat Caliphate of His Highness the Aga Khan. Year 2007 is also the Diamond Jubilee of the creation of Pakistan.Geneva Peace Development Centre (Geneva Peace) and Mountain Girls Education Development Program (MGEDP) are other development initiatives of The FATIMID. Geneva Peace is an international non-profit initiative working to promote theological and political consensus between West and Muslims, so as to enhance friendship and peace globally. The name is derived of admiration for Geneva, the city of 44 Nobel Prizes. A centre of excellence and decision-making in multiple domains, Geneva has become the principal forum of world negotiation, and a natural home to intense diplomatic and networking activity, due to the numerous International Organizations and NGOs located in the Lake Geneva area. MGEDP is a non-profit educational initiative co-founded by Anwar Merchant, Nazlin Anwar, Aziz and Shirin. Intellectual gender leadership of exceptional merit is the best motivation for future development of communities, and that mountain regions are too engulfed by poverty and hazards to develop their talented young girls as community leaders, led the family to found proposal for a network of catalytic centres of educational excellence around the mountain regions, known as the Mountain Girls Academies.The FATIMID is a Cooperating Organization with Development Gateway. Join DG communities here.

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan
at the Conference on Central Asia and Europe :
A New Economic Partnership for the 21st Century
Berlin - November 13, 2007

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellencies Foreign Minister Steinmeier, Dr. Belka
and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner,
State Secretary Erler,
Your Excellencies Ministers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me, first, acknowledge and thank for their kind words those who have spoken before me this morning -- the Foreign Minister, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Dr. Marek Belka -- as well as Benita Ferrero Waldner, the EC Commissioner for External Relations.

It has always been special pleasure to return to Berlin -- a city that continues to be synonymous with the word “cosmopolitan”. Berlin is truly a global connecting point -- a fact which has been instrumental in our decision to open an office of the Aga Khan Development Network here.

How appropriate that we should be discussing, in this historic crossroads city, one of the great, inter-cultural projects of our time -- the effort to build a partnership between Central Asia and Europe. I commend the German Government for its leading role in this effort, and the European Union for carrying it forward -- with its endorsement of a “Regional Strategy” for Central Asia a few months ago. Others have also played welcome contributing roles, including The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

As I offer my own comments today, I will draw on the experience of our Aga Khan Development Network in Central Asia. We have come to know much of this region well, particularly Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; not only has it long been home to significant numbers of Ismaili Muslims, but we have also developed a widening range of programs across the region over the past fifteen years.

It is appropriate that the word “Regional” is at the center of our deliberations on Central Asia. The countries are diverse in many ways -- and the development approaches there must be sensitive to divergent requirements. But these countries also have a common historical experience, including several centuries of shared Islamic heritage. Each of them has faced the need to build new political and economic institutions following the breakup of the Soviet Union. And, as the EU Strategy document emphasizes, each of them can only optimise their development through a regional approach.

In this respect, the Central Asian experience parallels the European experience. In Europe, too, the end of the Cold War demanded new political and economic structures and it is striking how quickly Europe is now reaching out to Central Asia -- offering, among other things, the great gift of a powerful regional example.

Among other things, the European example demonstrates that a healthy sense of national identity need not be a barrier to constructive regional engagement. So my first objective today is to tell you how warmly I endorse regional diagnosis for Central Asia. And because that diagnosis begins in the right place, it also extends into a series of wise prescriptions for the future. These prescriptions are validated in large measure by the experiences of the Aga Khan Development Network institutions in Central Asia. We have learned a great deal from those experiences -- both successes and setbacks, but we can learn a great deal more by sharing our lessons.

The problems of Central Asia are remarkably complex -- their causes are multiple and defiantly inter-tangled. Progress requires a multi-faceted and multi-input approach -- a proper “policy mix”-- to cite the language of the EU Report. The learning curve is steep and there should be a sense of urgency -- for all of us -- and all the more so, because solutions can be elusive.

In many ways, the greatest obstacle in the struggle for progress in Central Asia is simple human frustration. In this region the sense is that its development partners talk about progress, and then act, and then talk some more -- but too often, for the people of the region, progress is just “not happening”. When it does happen, it too often is incomplete, or exceptional, or fleeting. This situation is of course by far the most acute in Afghanistan.

What we face in Central Asia is a race against frustration -- which means a race against time and mediocrity. Alternative scenarios, often utopian and extremist, beckon on every hand -- and people will not be patient with pragmatic scenarios unless the work in practice is effective. The EU rightly emphasizes the need for greater “continuity” in these efforts -- so that each experience, successful or unsuccessful, becomes a building block for the future.

It is a daunting challenge indeed to move in a coordinated way on multiple fronts. But as we do, success can become self-generating. Progress on one, or two, or three fronts can often make progress easier on other fronts -- a sense of possibility can also be contagious. I acknowledge the considerable advances that each of the Central Asian countries is making, including recognising the needs of their rural populations.

In a spirit of shared learning and with diffidence -- let me highlight a few of our own experiences.

I would begin with the University of Central Asia, founded in the year 2000 by the Ismaili Imamat -- and the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

I remember the signing ceremonies well. They were the culmination of six years of planning -- an experience which itself illustrated the importance not only of regional cooperation, but also of cooperation among disciplines and among social sectors. Our goal was to address a massive regional problem: how to improve the quality of life of nearly 25 million people who live in the high mountain areas of the region and beyond?

We often talk about Public Private Partnerships -- as the EU Strategy does. But such relationships need not be limited to cooperation between governments and the private business sector. There is also enormous potential for active partnering between governments and the not-for-profit institutions of Civil Society. The University of Central Asia is an example of that potential -- and one worth usefully being replicated. The University has recently graduated its first students from the School of Professional and Continuing Education in three mountain communities: Khorog, Tajikistan ; Naryn, Kyrgyzstan ; and Tekeli, Kazakhstan. We have prepared our graduates for active roles in the world of modern business and finance through programmes benchmarked against international standards. The story of these students illustrates another central precept -- the importance of educating people to meet carefully prioritised needs and specific employment opportunities. In the same way, plans for our forthcoming undergraduate and post-graduate programs will emphasize governance skills -- appropriate for future leaders in the public sector, as well as for Civil Society. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the government of Germany and a number of German institutions for their support.

Closely paralleling these efforts is our engagement with systems of schools for pre-university education in cities ranging from Bishkek and Dushanbe, to Osh and Khorog -- again reflecting our shared confidence that the development of human capital is the foundation stone for effective development. It is also almost impossible to develop quality tertiary university education if its supply system, secondary education, is sub-standard.

Another set of our experiences which illustrate the potential for partnerships between the public sector and Civil Society involve our health institutions’ alliances with local hospitals, including nursing training in Khorog, and other regional referral hospitals in Tajikistan, and the six Institutes of Nursing in Afghanistan, and even a new venture in the use of telecommunications advances to link hospitals in distant cities: Today the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi is connected to the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul.

Among the most difficult of challenges, of course, is connecting any progress we may achieve at a national level with more remote, rural areas -- where poverty often seems most intractable. Mountain peoples, in particular, have endured economic hardship, civil strife, arms and narcotics trafficking, an insecure food supply, earthquakes, water shortages -- the list could go on. But overcoming these problems will require a searching re-examination of what poverty really means. I am increasingly inclined to define poverty not only as a matter of income, but rather as a state of marginalisation in all of those conditions which contribute to the quality of human life. A state of poverty is a state of deprivation with respect to health and nutrition, education and security, housing and credit, and all the other conditions which are essential to human well-being.

Here too we are learning as we go. In this spirit, and with the active support of KfW, we are experimenting with innovative microcredit programs -- especially for the rural poor -- as well as with local efforts to increase agricultural output. Only as legitimate economic activity becomes a viable source of sustenance, and all the manifestations of poverty recede for the peoples of these regions, will the blight of crime, and drugs, and terrorism, be diminished.

The EU report also emphasized the need to expand energy production and to distribute energy more equitably. We are responding to these needs through projects in eastern Tajikistan, to cite one example, where restored Soviet era power plants will provide near 24-hour coverage for Eastern Tajikistan, as well as to people on the other side of the Pyanj River -- in Afghanistan.

Expanding trade and international investment, creating new sources of economic growth, -- and doing so on an urgent basis, and with a long-term perspective, -- are essential priorities for Central Asia. To this end, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development is increasingly investing in the leisure sector in the region -- building new hotels in Dushanbe, Khorog, and in Kabul -- and working on a major tourism planning project for the Issyk-kul area in Kyrgyzstan.

The recent opening of a new hotel in Kabul has been a particularly visible example of our Central Asian investments. Our hope, of course, is that a tangible example of confidence in the future can help trigger an upward spiral of hope and renewal. In this regard, the challenges of Afghanistan become particularly important. For without a viable and progressive Afghanistan, any progress which might be made elsewhere in the region will at best be very fragile.

One of the approaches I have used in thinking about development is the concept of “The Enabling Environment”. It has grown out of my impatience with overly simple myths about how development really works.

The term "Enabling Environment" reminds us that the full context of interacting forces must be brought together if sustainable development is to be achieved. The term also recognizes that even the right environment is still only an enabling condition -- not a sufficient one. In the end, human progress must grow out of human inspiration and endeavour. I have come to know the Central Asian peoples and their dreams and aspirations. I know of their proud entrepreneurial spirit -- often manifested at the village and household level. It is critical -- even as we plan for development at the “macro” level -- that we also build at the “micro” level. Too often, we forget that a large number of people in Central Asia live in the countryside.

A sound enabling environment must create a favourable framework in which people’s energy and creativity can be motivated, mobilized and rewarded.

This framework should embrace such conditions as political stability, safety and security, citizen rights and predictable democratic practices. A supportive environment should include transport systems which make cooperation possible, incentives which encourage broader trade, and a legal and administrative framework which is impartial, predictable, and efficient. These concerns are largely the responsibilities of government, but effective governmental efforts can take us only so far. And that is why I so often talk about the role of “Civil Society”; the capacities of the private sector, and the value of partnerships among these various institutions.

The key to building partnerships -- whether they are among social sectors, or among countries -- is a profound spirit of reciprocal obligation -- a readiness to share the work, to share the costs, to share the risks, and to share the credit. In the end, what it will require most -- in Central Asia -- as it has in Europe -- is a spirit of mutual trust.

Let me mention in conclusion, one other set of relationships which will be central to the concerns we have been discussing. I refer to the relationship of both Europe and Central Asia to the world of Islam.

During the Soviet period, the populations of Central Asia were dissuaded from learning or practising the Islamic faith of their ancestors. The result, over time, has been a theological vacuum.

Now the five newly independent countries of Central Asia are re-establishing their relations with the Ummah, that is, with Muslim peoples all around the world. They are doing so quickly, and at a time when relations between the Ummah and the West are particularly strained -- more so than at any other time I can remember.

Some may suggest that these matters of faith should not be a part of the development dialogue between Europe and Central Asia. But allow me to ask the reverse question. Can we really ignore this matter without consequence? I think not.

Two aspects of this question deserve our attention:

The first concerns the relationship between the countries of Europe and their growing Muslim minorities. As is the case all around the world, the effort to accommodate a variety of faiths within any population is often problematic. But a successful effort to establish respectful, pluralistic attitudes and behaviour, based on a deep respect for religious and cultural diversity, will surely help to shape emerging inter-regional relationships. Is it too much to hope that one day, young Muslims, from all backgrounds, all educated in Europe will serve wisely and competently in their countries of origin?

Noticeably today, the peoples of Central Asia are developing religious and civic practices, reflecting the views of their own diverse peoples, but also with Muslim views from outside the region. There is no doubt questions will arise, such as how matters of faith should affect political governance or civil jurisprudence. Responding to such issues could be divisive, and will need to be approached with sensitivity, patience and humility.

My second question concerns the role that Islamic countries could play in partnership with Europe in Central Asian development. I believe that Europe ’s commendable efforts to address the challenges of Central Asia can be even more effective if they see the Muslim world as a relevant resource.

Fortunately there are today a number of Muslim countries which can serve as helpful models and available partners for a progressive and welcoming Central Asia. These are Islamic countries which have kept their own peace, and have progressed thanks to the application of best practice to their development. Many are Islamic countries with strongly pluralist societies -- and whose learning curves for development to levels of global performance are relevant to Central Asia

Much more needs to be done in Central Asia, for many more institutions, and many more people, in many more places, covering many more types of support, within frontiers and across frontiers, if there can be any hope that the pace of progress will become a self-sustaining momentum. The central issue is not, understanding what needs to be done -- for all of us share the same analysis and common goals. The issue is essentially one of scale.

Throughout Central Asia, with each passing day, we see new examples of what can be achieved when we learn to transcend old boundaries -- to replace the icy past of the Cold War by the warmth of new partnerships.

It is that spirit of partnership which brings us here today -- manifested within Europe and within Central Asia -- and now with growing success between Europe and Central Asia.

In that spirit of partnership, then, let us continue, wherever we encounter the boundaries of the past -- to build bridges to the future. I am proud and grateful for the opportunity to join you in that endeavour.

Thank you.