'What we do is high-risk'
By Rachel Morarjee
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Published: September 27 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 27 2008 03:00
In a deeply undignified start to my interview with one of the world's most famous spiritual leaders, I am pressing my face against the glass of the Ismaili Centre in South Kensington, gesticulating wildly as I try to catch the eye of the dark-suited security man. It seems to me he is, perhaps reasonably, deliberately ignoring the madwoman outside.
As I've already tried pushing the locked door, I eventually stand on the street corner and rummage inelegantly in my bag to find my phone. After a long wait, I manage to get hold of a friend who works for His Highness the Aga Khan, who lets me in.
My requests for a lunch or breakfast meeting had been deflected by the Aga Khan's aides, who gave me the unusual excuse that the leader of 20m Ismaili Muslims guards his privacy so zealously that he would be reluctant to reveal what he eats at mealtimes. So we settle on a coffee.
Tall, in a grey suit and a burgundy tie, the Aga Khan, 71, would blend seamlessly into a crowd of London commuters. He welcomes me with a smile and says, acknowledging our tricky discussions about this interview: "Not breakfast, not lunch, not dinner, but coffee. What would you like to drink?"
The room is impersonal but, as I sit down on a plush chair, I look out and see a lush flower-filled internal roof garden, a courtyard where water flows into a fountain.
I met the Aga Khan twice during my three-year stint as a reporter for the FT in Afghanistan so I am used to the atmosphere of stiff formality that surrounds him. After 51 years, he is presumably used to it too. In July 1957, at the age of 20, he took over from his grandfather as leader of the Ismailis, who are followers of the Shia Muslim tradition.
A woman brings the Aga Khan a white coffee while I opt for a cup without milk or sugar, which I try to balance on the arm of the chair and drink. I am dismayed to see no sign of anything edible.
I feel slightly on show now, as there are a lot of people crowded into the room with us. There is a Paris-based PR man, an older Ismaili man and, most disconcertingly of all, a young woman with a notepad, poised to write down everything I say.
The Aga Khan wears a suit even when he's travelling and working in Islamic countries. It's not a look that we are used to seeing on Muslim spiritual leaders, so I decide to start by asking whether his clothing attracts criticism in the Muslim world. The woman with the notepad starts scribbling furiously. Uh-oh, I think, and I get the question thrown back to me: "You have lived in a Muslim country. Are you aware of any requirement for an Imam to wear a particular type of clothing? There are traditions but are you aware of any theological requirement?"
I ask again, and this time the Aga Khan replies, "I have never sensed that as a problem. Imams in sub-saharan Africa dress differently than Imams in the Middle East, who dress differently from Imams in central Asia." He adds that for ceremonial occasions, he wears a traditional robe and Astrakhan hat - a look favoured by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
This question of clothing goes to the heart of the paradox of the Aga Khan. While he's a spiritual leader to millions of Muslims, he is best-known in the west as the highest-profile racehorse owner in France, where he lives.
The other unusual thing about this spiritual leader is how staggeringly rich he is. The Aga Khan's personal wealth is estimated at $1bn but the Ismaili community is tight-lipped about how much of the Aga Khan's money is his own and how much is ring-fenced for religious and development work.
I ask him how he reconciles such great wealth with having so many impoverished followers in many parts of the developing world. "Well, I think first of all you have to reposition the statement about having great wealth. I would say, frankly, that's nonsense," he says, smiling emphatically.
What is in no doubt is that the Aga Khan comes from a privileged background. He was born Karim al-Hussayni in Geneva in 1936 and was known as Prince Karim. After school in Switzerland, he went to the US and graduated from Harvard in 1959 with a BA honours degree in Islamic history.
His parents divorced in 1949 and his father later married Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth. The couple were a favourite of the gossip columns, although the marriage did not survive long. The unwelcome spotlight at that time might be part of why the Aga Khan now guards his privacy so carefully.
The Aga Khan title was granted to the family by the Shah of Persia in the 1830s after he had married his daughter to the Aga Khan's great-great-grandfather. The man sitting opposite me is only the fourth to hold the title. As I sip my rapidly cooling coffee, I settle back and hear how the myth of fabulous family wealth was created when the third Aga Khan, grandfather of Aga Khan IV, was given his weight in gold during his golden jubilee celebrations in 1936.
Although Aga Khan III was only 5ft 5in, he tipped the scales at 220lb and the donations added up to $125,000 - a vast fortune in 1936. The ceremony of sitting on the scales with the gold made a great impression on the British public at the time. "In the west, this was seen as some sort of fantastic ceremonial, and this was because India at the time was ceremonial." The current Aga Khan did not have to endure anything like this during his own golden jubilee celebrations during 2007 and 2008, not least because the 1930s gold made a solid bedrock for investments.
Ismailis have also traditionally paid a tithe to their Imams. The Aga Khan tells me that money raised by Ismaili followers does not end up in his pocket. "There is a great difference between wealth which comes from the faith and is used for the faith and personal wealth used for the individual. The Imam has responsibility for significant resources but they in no way cover the needs we have, and never will," he says.
The Aga Khan inherited shares in corporations, banks, trusts and oil from his grandfather in 1957 and, over the past five decades, he has built a vast business development network by investing in poor and conflict-torn parts of the globe. He is the key shareholder in many of the projects but his profits are reinvested in the businesses, which are often run by members of the Ismaili community.
He began with newspaper investments in east Africa in the 1960s and now runs investment ventures tightly linked to development work that funds schools, hospitals and architectural projects.
In Afghanistan, I saw how the success of the Aga Khan's projects stood in contrast to the bumbling efforts of many western governments. He owns stakes in the country's largest telephone network, and a five-star hotel but has also renovated ancient mosques, gardens and citadels as well as running educational and agricultural projects.
The Aga Khan says he sees his role as a venture capitalist who specialises in difficult environments, laying the foundations of projects to entice other investors. The Geneva-based Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed) runs more than 90 for-profit businesses and employs 36,000 people.
"There is no point going into economies that are wealthy and have their own resources, so we go into the really poor ones. If you try to put social development ahead of economic support, it doesn't work. You have to do both together.
"A community whose economics don't change is not one that can support community structures, education, healthcare, it doesn't have the wherewithal," he says.
The Aga Khan uses a lot of the same jargon used by development workers, mentioning "human resources" and "capacity building". I am familiar with this way of talking from my time in Kabul but have always felt it a shame that it means that speakers often convey nothing of the real excitement involved in seeing a project take off and become an independent success.
His profits are reinvested in the Akfed businesses and the rest is paid in dividends to the other joint venture partners. These include private equity firm Blackstone, which has co-invested in a hydroelectric damn in Uganda, and Swedish telecoms group TeliaSonera, which holds a stake in Afghanistan's largest telephone network,
Roshan has gone from strength to strength, its mobile business bolstered by the fact that it is impossible to lay landlines in a country so laced with landmines. But his five-star Serena Hotel in Kabul has attracted criticism for its opulence in a city where most people don't have electricity and running water.
"The nature of what we do is high-risk," the Aga Khan says, with characteristic understatement. I ask whether he thinks this long-term view is key to his success and he says that many projects can take 25 years to come to fruition. He cites a hospital in Pakistan that now produces world class doctors a quarter of a century after it opened. It would be hard to find western donors who would remain with a project for that long.
During his 51 years as Imam, he has watched the collapse of the Soviet Union, which brought Ismaili communities in central Asia back into contact with the outside world, as well as the rise of militant Islam. "Communities like the Ismailis don't live in a vacuum," he notes, saying that his job as Imam is to think carefully about how to address the problems in the societies his followers call home. The Ismaili diaspora is almost as widespread as the Jewish one.
I wonder whether he sees the clash between Islam and the west as the most serious global problem. "I'm unwilling to say that in these major issues today faith has been the prime driver. In my view it's political issues that have been the prime driver," he says. I ask whether that means they need political solutions. "Bang on," he replies.
He believes ignorance about Islam in the west is a huge problem. "The Islamic world as an important part of our globe has really been absent from Judeo-Christian education in a strange way," he says, asking how anyone can be considered properly educated in the west when they know nothing about Islam.
We have to finish, so I ask what he thinks his legacy will be, which provokes laughter and the response that he doesn't have the faintest idea.
As I switch off the tape recorder and prepare to leave, he visibly relaxes and begins talking about Afghanistan in a far more open way, reminiscing about the Mujahideen leaders he knew during the country's civil war. We step out into the roof garden, where running water blocks out the roar of traffic. The peace lasts only a moment - the Aga Khan always has more meetings - and I have to go in search of lunch.
Rachel Morarjee is the FT's markets correspondent and was formerly the FT correspondent in Afghanistan
Ismaili Watch....From Around the World
Saudi rebuked on minority rights.....BBC Monday, 22 Sep,2008
Saudi rebuked on minority rights -----BBC, Monday, 22 September 2008 16:28 UK
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Saudi Arabia should end systematic discrimination against its minority Ismaili Shia community, a human rights group has said.
Human Rights Watch says the Saudi government has consistently penalised Ismailis for their religious beliefs.
Ismailis are treated as second-class citizens in employment, education and the justice system, the group says.
It says there are as many as one million Ismailis in Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-dominated country of 28 million.
"The Saudi government preaches religious tolerance abroad, but it has consistently penalised its Ismaili citizens for their religious beliefs," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at the New York-based rights group.
The report says Saudi officials use "hate speech" against Ismailis, noting that the official Council of Senior Religious Scholars had termed Ismailis "corrupt infidels, debauched atheists".
Ismailis, a minority Shia sect, are concentrated in the southern province of Najran bordering Yemen.
*************************************************************
Saudi Arabia should end systematic discrimination against its minority Ismaili Shia community, a human rights group has said.
Human Rights Watch says the Saudi government has consistently penalised Ismailis for their religious beliefs.
Ismailis are treated as second-class citizens in employment, education and the justice system, the group says.
It says there are as many as one million Ismailis in Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-dominated country of 28 million.
"The Saudi government preaches religious tolerance abroad, but it has consistently penalised its Ismaili citizens for their religious beliefs," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at the New York-based rights group.
The report says Saudi officials use "hate speech" against Ismailis, noting that the official Council of Senior Religious Scholars had termed Ismailis "corrupt infidels, debauched atheists".
Ismailis, a minority Shia sect, are concentrated in the southern province of Najran bordering Yemen.
Uganda: Posta Launches New Aga Khan Stamps
Uganda: Posta Launches New Aga Khan Stamps
The Monitor (Kampala)
10 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008
Grace Natabaalo
Kampala
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Eight new stamps featuring various development projects of the Aga Khan in Uganda have been issued by Posta Uganda.
The stamps, which commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Aga Khan, were launched on Wednesday during celebrations to mark the World Post Day at the Posta office in Kampala.
The Aga khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of institutions founded and led by Prince Karim Aga Khan, which collaborate with the governments and other organisation, towards improving living conditions and opportunities for people in some of the poorest parts of the developing world like Uganda.
According to the Chairperson of the board of directors of Posta Uganda, Ms Proscovia Njuki, the stamps are a way of disseminating information.
"Organisations have realised the important role Posta can play in the dissemination of information through postage stamps and that is why the AKDN has chosen to partner with us," she said.
Speaking at the launch of the stamps, the AKDN resident representative, Mr Mahmood Ahmed, said the stamps capture some of the initiatives of His Highness in Uganda over the 50-year period from 1957 to 2007.
"Some of these initiatives, like the establishment of the Jubilee Insurance Company and Diamond Trust Bank, have their roots even further back, to the work by the previous Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah," Mr Mahmood said.
Other projects depicted on the stamps include Kampala Serena Hotel, the ongoing Bujagali Hydro Power Project, the Madrasa Programme, Air Uganda, Aga Khan Education Services and the Ismaili Jamat Khana a symbol of the Shia Muslims in Uganda situated at Old Kampala.
"In capturing the images of these various economic and social developmental initiatives, the stamps tell a story- and that is of a long-lasting, deep and expanding commitment on the part of His Highness to Uganda," Mr Mahmood added.
Mr Mahmood said other countries like Kenya and Tanzania will also be issuing commemorative stamps for the Aga Khan. To mark the World Post Day, Ms Njuki said Posta Uganda is now embarking on an aggressive reform process, which will embrace new technologies such as automation of counter services and setting up electronic funds transfer systems.
The Monitor (Kampala)
10 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008
Grace Natabaalo
Kampala
*************************************************************
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Eight new stamps featuring various development projects of the Aga Khan in Uganda have been issued by Posta Uganda.
The stamps, which commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Aga Khan, were launched on Wednesday during celebrations to mark the World Post Day at the Posta office in Kampala.
The Aga khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of institutions founded and led by Prince Karim Aga Khan, which collaborate with the governments and other organisation, towards improving living conditions and opportunities for people in some of the poorest parts of the developing world like Uganda.
According to the Chairperson of the board of directors of Posta Uganda, Ms Proscovia Njuki, the stamps are a way of disseminating information.
"Organisations have realised the important role Posta can play in the dissemination of information through postage stamps and that is why the AKDN has chosen to partner with us," she said.
Speaking at the launch of the stamps, the AKDN resident representative, Mr Mahmood Ahmed, said the stamps capture some of the initiatives of His Highness in Uganda over the 50-year period from 1957 to 2007.
"Some of these initiatives, like the establishment of the Jubilee Insurance Company and Diamond Trust Bank, have their roots even further back, to the work by the previous Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah," Mr Mahmood said.
Other projects depicted on the stamps include Kampala Serena Hotel, the ongoing Bujagali Hydro Power Project, the Madrasa Programme, Air Uganda, Aga Khan Education Services and the Ismaili Jamat Khana a symbol of the Shia Muslims in Uganda situated at Old Kampala.
"In capturing the images of these various economic and social developmental initiatives, the stamps tell a story- and that is of a long-lasting, deep and expanding commitment on the part of His Highness to Uganda," Mr Mahmood added.
Mr Mahmood said other countries like Kenya and Tanzania will also be issuing commemorative stamps for the Aga Khan. To mark the World Post Day, Ms Njuki said Posta Uganda is now embarking on an aggressive reform process, which will embrace new technologies such as automation of counter services and setting up electronic funds transfer systems.
it might be just a hint of iceburg of perceptions
Neo-con agenda to rule the world
Col Ghulam Sarwar (R)
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It is extremely painful to see things deteriorating in such a big way in Pakistan. Exceptions apart, our military and democratic leaders, both have brought the nation to this sad state of affairs and as a result, disgrace, destruction and total socio-economic frustrations have overgripped us. Added to this is the bigger danger that our people have neither a vision nor are they are interested in learning any lesson from history.
Obviously, in the absence of a well-calculated assessment, no policy can rightly be framed. It is fact, now almost universally acknowledged that the America has a well-planned neo-con agenda to rule the world. It asserts as the only super power with one secular world, one WTO driven economy and an IMF sucked community with its sponsored puppet military or democratic rulers in different countries like Karzai in Afghanistan. They have driven the Middle East, Africa, Asia and some European countries with a similar yardstick. To ensure their success, they set their agencies to manipulate the resources and then trigger a conspiracy in partnership with common enemies, and attack militarily, diplomatically, socially and economically. Like in Pakistan, they make a partnership with India and Israel. Through media, they initially would the public opinion by sponsoring the politicians, scholars, journalists and NGOs. In Pakistan, during the last two years, more than $ 1000 million was placed in “reliable hands” to sponsor the anti-Islamic / Pakistan elements to promote religious confusion, political anarchy, ethnic divisions, economic crisis, disintegration and above all, the social cultural disharmony to shake the very foundation of Pakistan in the name of freedom of expression.
Shakil Ahmad, a noted political analyst, is of the view that in view of this intellectual confusion, we are trapped in an engineered war. Otherwise, according to his assessment, in America this war is for the control of the world / oil reasons and to eliminate all such elements, which could cause any resistance. It is also known that Israeli and Indian Air Force Fighter jets are standing by at the Wagpoor airline to have a joint operation, against Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Also to rub salt on Pakistan’s wounds, America has signed with India to attack Pakistan by proxy. It may also be mentioned here that the Israeli Army Chief, recently visited the Kashmir region, besides carrying out an in-depth study of military planning in India, to form an Ismaili state along the north-western belt of Pakistan. Even after knowing all such facts, if we continue to follow the dictated foreign policy, then no body else, but we alone are solely responsible for our miseries.
Israel and India are in league with each other and they are working to cause disintegration, hatred, confusion, frustration and socio-economic disorder by proxy of their Pakistani agents.
People, influence by America propaganda, cry hoarse that Pakistan will collapse, without the American aid in trade – off our national security. But we should not forget that Allah is graciously very kind to Pakistan and has blessed us with infinite resources, which make it unique in the world. However, it has always bee Pakistan’s serious predicament that we have been ever on the mercy of IMF, which provides funds that are generally misappropriated by our uncouth politicians, thus passing on liability to the nation. So to arrest this malady, we should exercise extreme care in choosing our leaders.
We must never forget that unless we sacrifice our personal interests and think above the party affiliation, our miseries will continue haunting us in the face and the existing breed of political leadership will continue exploiting our weaknesses. Moral of this story is that we direly need a leadership that has sincere feelings for the country and its people.
Col Ghulam Sarwar (R)
*********************************************************
It is extremely painful to see things deteriorating in such a big way in Pakistan. Exceptions apart, our military and democratic leaders, both have brought the nation to this sad state of affairs and as a result, disgrace, destruction and total socio-economic frustrations have overgripped us. Added to this is the bigger danger that our people have neither a vision nor are they are interested in learning any lesson from history.
Obviously, in the absence of a well-calculated assessment, no policy can rightly be framed. It is fact, now almost universally acknowledged that the America has a well-planned neo-con agenda to rule the world. It asserts as the only super power with one secular world, one WTO driven economy and an IMF sucked community with its sponsored puppet military or democratic rulers in different countries like Karzai in Afghanistan. They have driven the Middle East, Africa, Asia and some European countries with a similar yardstick. To ensure their success, they set their agencies to manipulate the resources and then trigger a conspiracy in partnership with common enemies, and attack militarily, diplomatically, socially and economically. Like in Pakistan, they make a partnership with India and Israel. Through media, they initially would the public opinion by sponsoring the politicians, scholars, journalists and NGOs. In Pakistan, during the last two years, more than $ 1000 million was placed in “reliable hands” to sponsor the anti-Islamic / Pakistan elements to promote religious confusion, political anarchy, ethnic divisions, economic crisis, disintegration and above all, the social cultural disharmony to shake the very foundation of Pakistan in the name of freedom of expression.
Shakil Ahmad, a noted political analyst, is of the view that in view of this intellectual confusion, we are trapped in an engineered war. Otherwise, according to his assessment, in America this war is for the control of the world / oil reasons and to eliminate all such elements, which could cause any resistance. It is also known that Israeli and Indian Air Force Fighter jets are standing by at the Wagpoor airline to have a joint operation, against Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Also to rub salt on Pakistan’s wounds, America has signed with India to attack Pakistan by proxy. It may also be mentioned here that the Israeli Army Chief, recently visited the Kashmir region, besides carrying out an in-depth study of military planning in India, to form an Ismaili state along the north-western belt of Pakistan. Even after knowing all such facts, if we continue to follow the dictated foreign policy, then no body else, but we alone are solely responsible for our miseries.
Israel and India are in league with each other and they are working to cause disintegration, hatred, confusion, frustration and socio-economic disorder by proxy of their Pakistani agents.
People, influence by America propaganda, cry hoarse that Pakistan will collapse, without the American aid in trade – off our national security. But we should not forget that Allah is graciously very kind to Pakistan and has blessed us with infinite resources, which make it unique in the world. However, it has always bee Pakistan’s serious predicament that we have been ever on the mercy of IMF, which provides funds that are generally misappropriated by our uncouth politicians, thus passing on liability to the nation. So to arrest this malady, we should exercise extreme care in choosing our leaders.
We must never forget that unless we sacrifice our personal interests and think above the party affiliation, our miseries will continue haunting us in the face and the existing breed of political leadership will continue exploiting our weaknesses. Moral of this story is that we direly need a leadership that has sincere feelings for the country and its people.