As the people of our brother country Tajikistan celebrate their 27th Independence Day, my mind is getting refilled with the sweet memories of my recent visit to Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe in the company of Maj General (r) Khalid Amir Jaffery President of the Center of Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS) and Col (r) Khalid Temoor the Thinktank’s Executive Director. Our journey was a part of an extensive programme of the CGSS to build bridges between our country and the Muslim Republics of Central Asia.
It was a joy to rejoice in the hospitality of Mr Khudobordi Kholiknazar Chairman of Centre For Strategic Research under the President of Tajikistan. On the 25th of August he took us to VARZOB a riverside resort a few miles from Dushanbe. The mountains were not green—yet gorgeous and awesome.
We took dinner at 6.30 in a lovely riverside restaurant. The food told us we came from the same stock. In my discourse with Mr Kholiqnozar — a man of immense sense of wit and humour— I tried to establish that Pakistan was much more a part of the Central –West Asia than of South Asia.
“You slaughter and eat cows. We too slaughter and eat cows,” I told him. “But Hindus of India worship cows, and there is a law by which you can earn death sentence for slaughtering a cow.”
That bewildered him and his two subordinates accompanying us. Jokes and laughter followed, but I had made my point.
The next two days were hectic. We visited the National Museum—and came face to face with our own history. There had been a great Muslim (Samanid) Empire in Tajikistan before Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi and Sultan Ghauri raided India from the North. Tajikistan had been home to Buddhism and Zoroastrianism before Islam arrived. Today 95% population is Sunni Muslim. (Roughly eight millions).
Samarkand and Bokhara two key centres of Islamic thought and civilization are the common heritage of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Our visit to the Grand National Library was an unforgettable experience. We had a feeling as though we were really in the company of the all-time greats like Maulana Roomi, Imam Ghazi, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Razi, Ustad Jomi and many others of the same breed of immortality.
We met Minister of Economy Khikmatullozoda. Also Deputy Foreign Minister Muzaffar M. Husseinzada. As well as Deputy Education Minister Rahmatulo Madayubovich. Also Siddiq Saidali Rajab Ali the Director of the National News Agency KHOVAR.
The Protocol duties during our hectic tour were performed with heart-winning warmth and earnestness by Mr Haq Nazar, and Mr Maroof— combination of sagacity that comes with age and exuberance that is hallmark of youth. I was surprised to learn that Maroof’s son was already a grownup young man.
Pakistan’s embassy in Dushanbe, I think is doing a great job.
It is sad that a country that is exactly in the same ‘time zone’ as Pakistan, and has almost the same weather conditions—takes us as long to reach, as it takes to reach the West of the United States. If we had a direct flight to Dushanbe, we would have taken around an hour to reach there. It took us almost fifteen hours!
It is time that the countries whose names end with ‘ISTAN’ should try to become one family. Kazakhistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The commonality of our bonds is evident from the sounds of our names.
My dear Tajik brothers, our bonds of brotherhood are much much stronger than the political expediencies that keep us apart.
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