Golden Jubilee:Visits: india visit

India visit



Working towards the ‘Permanency of Progress’
Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee visit to India

“But I have a sense of confidence, a sense of great confidence, because India is moving forwards, because the Jamat is moving forwards. And it has built and it will continue to build strong institutions. And ultimately it is strong institutions which enable countries, communities, families, to establish a permanency of progress.”
Institutional Dinner, Mumbai, India, 18th May 2008

Mawlana Hazar Imam’s 8-day Golden Jubilee visit to India took place in May 2008 during which the Imam met with top-level central and state government officials, toured cultural, educational and health projects of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and granted Golden Jubilee Darbars to the Jamat of India and those who had come from abroad.
Mawlana Hazar Imam spoke with pride when he looked back at the progress made by India’s institutions over the last 50 years. These institutions, he said, had today become national and state institutions, and it was his hope that they would eventually have national, regional, or one day even a global purpose and impact.
Mawlana Hazar Imam commenced his visit in Delhi, where upon arrival he was received at the airport by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr E. Ahmad, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Shivshankar Menon, the Chief of Protocol for the Government of India, Mr Sunil Lal, and leaders of the Jamat in India.
During the visit, Mawlana Hazar Imam met with the Honourable Vice President, Mr Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, as well as the leader of the opposition, Lal Krishna Advani and was the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Vice President of India. Whilst in India’s national capital, Mawlana Hazar Imam also met with President Pratibha Patil, as well as other political and civil society leaders.
In Delhi, Mawlana Hazar Imam visited the site of a major conservation initiative being undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) at the Humayun’s Tomb Complex - a World Heritage Site. The initiative led by the AKTC, in partnership with agencies of the Government of India, encompasses the conservation and restoration of nine historic Mughal period monuments in the adjacent Sunder Nursery and the densely populated Nizamuddin Basti.
The Sundar Nursery, a 70-acre expanse, is being landscaped to emphasise its heritage and ecological significance while enhancing its role as an educational resource. It stands on the historic grand trunk road that connected Kabul with Calcutta, and holds several historic sites within this complex, nine of which, all from the early 16th Century, still survive. As part of a larger urban development project, the AKTC is restoring and conserving these monuments, as well as enhancing the nursery’s functions. Mawlana Hazar Imam visited one such monument- Nila Gumbad which dates back from the Moghul period and which was at the time of great Persian influence.
From Delhi, Mawlana Hazar Imam travelled for the day to Andhra Pradesh’s capital, Hyderabad. The streets were lined with thousands of members of the Jamat, welcoming the Imam to the city, where he met with the state’s Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajesekhara Reddy and Governor Narayan Datt Tiwari. The visit also allowed Mawlana Hazar Imam to review progress of the construction of the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, for which the Foundation stone was laid in 2006.
Mawlana Hazar Imam went on to Mumbai where his entire route from the airport to his hotel were lined with thousands of members of the Jamat waving Ismaili and Indian flags and welcoming him to the city. Mawlana Hazar Imam visited the Prince Aly Khan Hospital which was established over fifty years ago, as well as the new premises of the Diamond Jubilee High School, founded to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah.
In the north-western state of Gujarat, Mawlana Hazar Imam called on Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma, before travelling to Sidhpur for the first Golden Jubilee Darbar in India, for the Jamats of Gujarat. Hazar Imam granted two further Darbars in Mumbai for the Jamats from the rest of India.
During this busy visit, Mawlana Hazar Imam’s activities reflected the long term commitment of the Imamat to this country. The Ismaili Jamat has been settled in India for many decades, and in that time, the Imamat has established numerous institutions to serve the Jamat and the communities amongst whom they live. From health services like the Prince Aly Khan hospital, education at institutions like the Diamond Jubilee School, social development through the work of the Aga Khan Foundation, which celebrated 30 years of working in India with the release of commemorative stamps, to cultural development work being undertaken by the AKTC; these are all examples of the dedication of the Imamat to this country. As Mawlana Hazar Imam indicated at the Institutional Dinner, these projects, these undertakings are all part of his efforts to work for progress, and to ensure the permanency of progress through the work of his institutions.