Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellency, President of the Republic, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,


Your Excellency, Vice-President of the Parliament, Mr. Jorge Lacão,

Madame Isabel Mota, President of the Gulbenkian Foundation,


Members of Government and of Parliament,


Diplomats, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,


Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure - and a great honour - to welcome all of you who have come to this exceptional venue tonight, on this extraordinary occasion.

Madame President of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Ms. Isabel Mota,
Honorable members of the Government, of Parliament, State Authorities, and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim.

Your Excellencies,
Your Worship,
Distinguished Scholars and Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Your Excellency Governor Kasiev
Your Excellency Minister Aitmatov
Honourable Mayor Satibaldive
Your Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure to be here in Osh today and to participate in the opening ceremony of this new Aga Khan School. I thank you for being here to share this important moment with us. It is an occasion of great significance in many ways. It is significant because of the cooperation many organisations and individuals who have made the establishment of the school and construction of this complex of buildings possible.

Ahead of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, later this month, Sadruddin Aga Khan questions the very notion of sustainable development. The following is the text of a recent speech he delivered:

It will be my thesis today that the dogma of "sustainable development" is inherently misleading, and is now deluding our mindsets in much the same way as the flat earth theory once did -- but with implications which are infinitely more dangerous to our future survival.

Delivered by Mr. Aly Mawji, Aga Khan Development Network Country Co-ordinator for Afghanistan on behalf of His Highness the Aga Khan IV

Mr. Chairman,
Our hosts Japan,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Your Excellency Honorable Kassim Majaliwa, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania
Honourable Ummy Ally Mwalimu, Hon. Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, the United Republic of Tanzania
Ambassador Clavier,
Mr Christian Yoka, Regional Director, Agence Francaise de Developpement
Distinguished Guests, Ladies, Gentlemen and Friends

Today is indeed a momentous day for the Aga Khan Development Network as we celebrate the inauguration of the Phase II expansion of the Aga Khan Hospital, Dar es Salaam.

Your Majesty
Honourable Ministers
Excellencies
Directors of the Prince Claus Fund
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with gratitude and admiration that I participate in this event today. It gives me the opportunity to express publicly the enormous respect in which I hold Prince Claus, and the very great importance I attach to the work of the Prince Claus Fund. I am saddened that Prince Claus cannot be with us tonight, and I am sure that all of you will join me in requesting Her Majesty The Queen to convey to His Royal Highness our warmest regards and best wishes.

I am here to speak briefly about Central Asia. I wanted to share with you some of the reasons why the theme of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year is so important.

Governor Perry,
First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry,
Mayor Wallace,
Leaders and representatives of the Congress of the United States, the State of Texas and the City of Houston,
Consuls General,
Distinguished Guests.

Governor Perry,
First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry,
Mayor Wallace,
Leaders and representatives of the Congress of the United States, the State of Texas and the City of Houston,
Consuls General,
Distinguished Guests

It is a great pleasure to be here today to welcome one and all to the Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center at Houston. I am particularly thankful for your presence Governor Perry, and of the First Lady of Texas, and for that of many other elected officials on an occasion of great significance for the Ismaili Community of greater Houston.

Your Excellency, President Pervez Musharraf,
Honourable Governors,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests
As-salaam-wa-Alaikum

I would like to begin by expressing my warm and sincere gratitude to Your Excellency for joining us to celebrate this inaugural occasion. It is, as I would like publicly to acknowledge today, yet another sign of the steadfast support and encouragement that you have given to our initiative to establish The First Micro Finance Bank. Above all, it evidences Your Excellency's commitment.

Your Excellency, General Pervez Musharraf,
Begum Musharraf,
Honourable Governors,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests
As-salaam-wa-alaikum

It gives me great pleasure to take part in the formal opening of the Islamabad Serena Hotel today, although, as some of you know, it has been open to the public since the end of last year.

I should like to begin by expressing to President and Begum Musharraf the gratitude of everyone connected with this endeavour, including myself, for accepting our invitation to be present on this happy day.

Montreal, Quebec
April 25, 1983
Mr. Premier
Madame Cote-Levesque, Your Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to begin this afternoon by expressing my most sincere thanks on behalf of my wife, my brother, Ismailis in Quebec and myself for the reception that you have given us today as well as for the words of praise about Ismailis and myself.

Your Excellency The Governor, Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen, Jimmy just said that this was my first visit to Faisalabad. That is correct but it is not my first visit to Lyallpur.

I would like to say what an immense pleasure it is to be here today and to begin these few words by expressing my warmest gratitude to the authorities and the people of Faisalabad for a really wonderful welcome to my family and to me.

Your Highness, Your Excellency the Governor, Honourable Minister, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Your Excellencies, Honourable Minister, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The welcome my wife and I have received here in Bangladesh has been heartwarming and I sincerely thank you, Mr, Minister, for the kindness of your remarks with regard to my family's work and ideals. Our ideals and those of Bangladesh are both inspired by the same faith, which lays such emphasis on the brotherhood of man. The improvement of the human condition must be a principal obligation of every Muslim, whether those he helps are of his own faith or not.

Your Excellency,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Mr President, Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome you here this evening and to be able to reciprocate the generous and warm hospitality which you, Mr President, extended yesterday; I would also like to express my appreciation for the welcome given to us by CCM and Government Leaders and officials since our arrival. Both my wife, Begum Salimah and my brother, Prince Amyn, join me in these sentiments.

A little more than a year ago, the Sixth Seminar organised by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture met in China -- first in Peking, where experts from throughout the world talked about rural architecture and such important questions as the role of the experts, financial and otherwise, in the creation of rural living environments suitable for the men and women there who produce the raw materials that are essential to our community life -- and then in Urumqi, Turfan, Kashgar, cities bearing witness to the thrust of Islam eastwards.