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

Our Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan,

Chair Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees,

President Sulaiman Shahabuddin,

AKU leaders, faculty, and staff,

Donors, partners, alumni, volunteers,

Family members of the graduates,

And, most importantly, the Class of 2025:

As Salaam–o-Alaikum

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Pro-Chancellor Princess Zahra Aga Khan,
Chair Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees,
Chairs and members of the Kenya and Uganda University Councils,
President and Vice-Chancellor Sulaiman Shahabuddin,
Leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the University,
Family members of the graduates,
Members of the Class of 2025:

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Pro-Chancellor Princess Zahra Aga Khan,
Chair Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees,
Chairs and members of the Kenya and Uganda University Councils,
President and Vice-Chancellor Sulaiman Shahabuddin,
Leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the University,
Family members of the graduates,
Members of the Class of 2025:

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Pro-Chancellor Princess Zahra Aga Khan,
Chair Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees,
Chairs and members of the Kenya and Uganda University Councils,

Princess Zahra Aga Khan was formally installed as the Aga Khan University's (AKU) first Pro-Chancellor on Saturday as the institution graduated 461 students from 18 degree programmes at its 38th convocation in Pakistan.

As Pro-Chancellor, Princess Zahra will guide AKU in its continuing efforts to improve quality of life across the country.

Speech by Princess Zahra Aga Khan at the 2025 AKU convocation
26 February, 2025
Karachi, Pakistan

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
Chancellor, Chair and members of the AKU Board of Trustees,
President and Vice Chancellor,
Leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the University,
Family members of the graduates,
And Members of the Class of 2024:

As Salaam–o-Alaikum

Speech by His Highness Shah Karim Aga Khan at the Dinner hosted by H.E. Governor of Punjab

Lahore, Pakistan

March 3, 1976

Your Excellency the Governor, Mr. Chief Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

LISBON: His Highness the Aga Khan has expressed heartfelt sympathy for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan following the recent flash floods and related disasters that have caused widespread devastation across the region.

In a letter addressed to the government, His Highness conveyed condolences over the tragic loss of lives, including volunteers near Gilgit who were working to restore water-supply infrastructure in their communities. “I pray that their souls may rest in eternal peace, and that the bereaved families may have the strength to bear their immense loss,” he wrote.

ISLAMABAD: Expressing deep concern over escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, known as the Aga Khan V, has formally offered to mediate between the two countries to help defuse the situation and prevent further loss of life.

According to a foreign news agency, Prince Rahim has sent letters to the Prime Ministers of both Pakistan and India, urging both sides to pursue a peaceful resolution.

August 17th was designated by Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah to Ismailis as Diamond Jubilee Day and to be celebrated as such every year.

Imposing Urdu as a national language on then-East Pakistan actually damaged ‘national unity,’ rather than bolstering it
Dr. Naazir Mahmood, in his book of collected essays Politics Pictures Personalities (2005), highlights some “mistakes” of Pakistan soon after Partition in 1947, suggesting these foreshadowed the “big” mistakes it was to make later.

THE MOST IMPOkfANT PROBLEM

An extroct from a speech of His Highness The Ago Khan given at Ismailia Association of Pakistan

The most important problem for us today is to create students who are capable of going back and of reading the original texts of our history, of reading these texts in Arabic, of reading them in Persian, of reading them in Urdu, of reading them in Gujarati, of reading them in any language in which they have been written.

The largest-ever survey of routine immunisation coverage across Pakistan has found that 76.1 per cent of children under the age of 2 years have received the full course of vaccinations recommended by Pakistan’s government.

Of the remaining children, more than 1 in every 6, or 17.7 per cent, have been partially vaccinated while 5.9 per cent of under 2s have never been vaccinated, according to results from The Third-Party Verification Immunization Coverage Survey, TPVICS.

CHITRAL: The residents of Baroghil valley in Chitral region insist that the recent construction of an all-weather road to Baroghil promises the development of the underdeveloped valley in the country’s northernmost region.

According to them, basic facilities are largely unavailable to them as the valley remains inaccessible for seven months of the year due to harsh weather conditions.

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme recently built the 32km road with four suspension bridges at the cost of Rs102.28 million. It provides all-weather access to the valley.

KARACHI: Efforts to find less-invasive and more affordable cure for two common genetic disorders — beta thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia — have received a boost with Aga Khan University’s research centre recently winning a competitive research grant of Rs159.60 million.

Currently, Pakistan has an estimated 100,000 transfusion-dependent thalassaemia patients with 5,000 babies born with the disease every year.

On the other hand, sickle-cell disease is one of the well-known causes of anaemia in the country.

ISLAMABAD: The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, the Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan, World Habitat Awards and the United Nations Habitat Programme, co-organized an international virtual seminar on Ecosystem Restoration for Quality of Life.

The seminar was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Climate Change, the United Nations, INGOs, Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) agencies and partners, donor agencies, academia, media and community organizations. The virtual seminar, held Tuesday, was part of a series of official events celebrating World Environment Day (WED).

ISLAMABAD: The World Wide Fund for Nature - Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Serena Hotels on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim to work towards their common objectives of climate change mitigation and climate adaptation, land degradation, food security, biodiversity conservation and enhancing community resilience.

The agreement was signed in view of Pakistan’s needs and to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The state of Pakistan and its inhabitants owe a debt of gratitude to Aga Khan III for his contributions to its development