Muhammad Asimov And Padamashri Dr Kashi Nath Pandita ......( Tajikistan Connection.)
“A man without a
fatherland is like a nightingale without a garden.”….A popular Tajik saying.
Muhammad Asimov or Muhammad
Aesimi of Tajikistan is known in the world as a bright star of humanism,
liberalism, modernity and scholarship. He was an administrator, scientist,
writer, philosopher, translator and cultural ambassador of Tajikistan. As
President of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences, he was responsible for
presenting the rich cultural heritage of his native land to the world. He also
brought world literature to his people through translations. As Education
Minister of Tajikistan, he brought revolutionary reforms in the educational
setup of his country.
Asimov's scholarly contribution
is profound and multifaceted. His primary subject of interest was philosophy in
the broad sense of the word, with particular attention to the achievements made
in the East. As a political and intellectual leader, Asimov mastered the subtle
art of protecting national values and interests within the Russian-dominated
culture of the Soviet Union. He was the only prominent Tajik who used two
surnames: Aesimi in ***Tajik Persian and Asimov in his Soviet and international
publications. It was also under ʿĀṣemi’s inspiring leadership that UNESCO
adopted the project of writing the multi-volume History of Civilizations of
Central Asia (1992-). He was elected the president of the board of
editors and personally edited the series’ fourth volume. Aṣemi was a prominent
speaker and writer in his mother tongue with a phenomenal store of traditional
verses and common proverbs. He wrote on poets such as Ḥafiẓ, Jami, Abdul Qadir
Badayuni, Amir Ḵhusro and Iqbal. He was the only prominent Tajik who used two
surnames: Aesimi in Tajik Persian and Asimov in Soviet and international
publications. He was a staunch advocate of the vast opportunities that Pax
Sovietica offered in education and technology, and used his authority to
realize them.
Aesimi won the prestigious
Jawaharlal Nehru Prize in 1980, two Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red
Banner of Labour and the October Revolution Award, apart from many national and
international awards. Like **Bobodzhan Gafurov, Aesimi is also known as the
strong pillar of Modern Tajik identity. Richard Nelson Frye, noted American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian
Studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University,
writes this about Muhammad Asimov:-
“On 29 July 199,6 Professor Asimov
was shot in the head by an unknown assailant as he left his home in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan. He died instantly, leaving a gap in the ranks of his country’s
intellectual leaders, as well as in the International Scientific Committee
which initiated the project for the History of Civilizations of Central Asia
(Asimov was one of the editors of Volume IV). He was also a Co-editor of Volume
IV of the History of Humanity. In short, Asimov was UNESCO’s most active
contact in Central Asia. He made many friends in Paris and contributed greatly
to the success of these two major projects. I first met Muhammad Asimov in
Dushanbe in 1965, just after he became President of the Academy of Sciences of
Tajikistan, and talked to him many times afterwards. His kind willingness to
help others, even an American, was unusual at that time of stress between the
great powers. After the departure of Bobojan Gafurov to Moscow to head the
Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR, Asimov became the leader of cultural
and intellectual pursuits in Tajikistan and the representative of Tajikistan in
all-Soviet and international meetings.
Asimov was born on 25 August 1920
in Khujand and studied physics at the University of Samarkand. But his interest
and studies took him into fields of philosophy and history, and other facets of
culture. He had a distinguished career, the details of which cannot be
elaborated here, except to mention a few items. He was Minister of Education of
the Government of Tajikistan in 1962, and, as already noted, President of the
Academy of Sciences until his retirement in 1991. He received the Nehru Prize
for his contribution to friendship among peoples in 1980. In 1990, he was the
founder of Payvand, a cultural organization for scholarly relations between
Persian-speaking peoples in which he was active until his death. Asimov was a
kindly man who refrained from the attacks on colleagues that are characteristic
of some scholars. He was active in intellectual pursuits until his death, and he was a great help to those working on the projects of UNESCO. He will be sorely
missed by his friends and associates.”
Aesimi had a wide circle of close friends the world over that included Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ali Sardar Jafri, Pablo Neruda, Nazim Hikmet and many more. From Kashmir, *Dr Kashi Nath Pandita, eminent Persian scholar, translator and historian, was his intimate friend. To me, Dr Pandita said this:-
“I have travelled to many places in Central Asia and lived in Tajikistan. Aesimi or Asimov, as he was known in the then USSR, was an intimate friend. He was a scientist, historian, Tajik Persian scholar and a great human being. I have lived with him in his native province, and the entire family is known to me, including his brother. In 1996, Aesimi was killed by armed militants, and I wrote a detailed article on him that was published by a leading newspaper in Tajikistan. A member of the Aesimi family, a prominent surgeon, was also killed by the militants in Dushanbe sometime in 1994. The entire clan of 70 members had to leave the country as threats started pouring into them after Aesimi's killing. They decided to leave Tajikistan and sought asylum in the US. The presiding official dealing with their asylum application in the US asked them to produce external evidence about Aesimi's conduct, beliefs and threats to his life. The family approached me and sought my permission to produce a copy of the newspaper cutting that had my write-up on him. I advised them to go ahead. Later, I received a letter from the court asking me as to(1) who I was. (2) How do I know Aesimi? (3) Was he liberal? (4) Did he face threats? And many more clarifications. I replied to what was true and, based on my clarifications, all 70 members got asylum in the US. His children treat me with respect and reverence. I stayed with his elder daughter in the US last time. She treats me like her father. His entire family, about 70 souls, have been given a green card, and they live in Denver. I have met Prof. Richard Nelson Frye in Dushanbe. He was close to Aesimi. In 2016, I was invited to Denver, where my book on Aesimi was released at a big function. Based on that book, a North American film company made one and a one-and-a-half-hour-long film on Aesimi, most parts of which were shot in New Delhi and several bites of about 25 minutes are included in that film. The film also shows some photos of me and Asimov taken in Kashmir.”
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, ʿAṣemi
took a stand that the independent Tajikistan must end its seclusion by winning
new strategic friends among the international community. He conveyed a specific
policy for this through the organization Peyvand “Connection,” that he founded.
He organized seminars, conferences, international gatherings and published the
periodical Peyvand in Persian script. Unfortunately, Āṣemi was assassinated by
terrorists on the streets of Dushanbe. His killing was considered an
irreplaceable loss for the young Tajik republic. In 1982, Dr K N Pandita
invited Prof Muhammad Aesimi to Kashmir. He also addressed the students and
staff at the Kashmir University.
(Avtar Mota)
PS
(1)
*Padamashri Dr K N Pandita has closely worked with so many scholars from Central Asia, more specifically from Tajikistan. His travelogue titled "My Tajik Friends" earned him the coveted Soviet land Nehru Award 1987. Dr. Pandita has authored innumerable research articles that have been published in many foreign journals. He has also attended many international seminars and conferences at different places in the world. Some prominent works of Dr. Pandita are:
1. Baharistan-i-Shahi, A Chronicle of Mediaeval Kashmir (translated from Farsi)
2. Avicenna – An Introduction
3. Iran and Central Asia
4. Ladakh, life and culture (edited)
5. Hafiz of Shiraz (Urdu)
6. Tohfatul Ahbab (English translation of a 17th century history of Kashmir)
(2)
**Despite his many administrative duties, Bobodzhan Gafurov published more than 500 works in Russian, Tajik, and other languages. His monumental study, Tadzhiki: Drevneĭshaya, drevnyaya, i srednevekovaya istoriya (The Tajiks: Prehistory, Ancient, and Medieval History), was edited by Boris A. Litvinskiĭ.Bobodzhan Gafurov was a regular visitor to India and a friend of Nehru. Gafurov also visited Kashmir in 1972 or 1973.
(3)
***The Tajiks are a wonderful people. They are proud of their culture and traditions. Tajikistan has a rich cultural heritage, influenced by Persian, Islamic, and Central Asian traditions. The country celebrates Nowruz (Persian New Year) and has a strong tradition of poetry, music, and craftsmanship. The official language is Tajik, a variety of Persian. The country takes pride in its Persian literary heritage, with famous poets like Rudaki and Ferdowsi celebrated as part of the national identity. Tajiks are believed to have descended from Aryans, an ancient Indo-European people that also gave birth to early Hindus, Iranians, Greeks and Europeans, and have links with the ancient Samanid, Sogdian and Bactrian empires. Between the first and fourth centuries, the area that is now Tajikistan and adjoining territories were part of the Kushan Empire, which had close cultural ties to India. The Kushans played an important role in the expansion of Buddhism by spreading the faith to the Soghdians, who in turn brought it to China and the Turks. In the years before the eighth century, the Sassanids (Sassanians) exerted a strong Persian cultural and linguistic influence on the area. Iran's last pre-Islamic empire, the Sassanids (A.D. 226-651), ruled mainly over what is now Iran and Iraq. At its height, it ruled over what is now the Caucasus, the southwestern side of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Under the Sassanids, the Persian language and culture, as well as the Zoroastrian religion, spread among the peoples of Central Asia, including the ancestors of the modern Tajiks. Archeologists have excavated a road paved with alabaster that dates back to the time of Alexander the Great. Located in southern Tajikistan near the Pyandzh River and the border with Afghanistan, the road led to a temple where both Greek gods and local gods were worshipped. In the eighth century A.D., Arabs conquered modern-day Tajikistan and brought with them Islam, which within one century was the predominant religion of the region. The Samanid Empire, centered in Bukhara, played a crucial role in the cultural and political development of the region. The Samanids promoted Persian culture, literature, and arts, leading to a renaissance of Persian civilization.
(4)
**** Tursunzoda’s visit to India in the 1940s resulted in the publication of the book that made him famous: Qissa-ye-Hindustan. It was published in two volumes, right before Independence and then after. It consists of several poems dealing with India, such as Rud-e-Gang (The River Ganga), Tara Chandr and Taj Mahal. Tursunzoda was everywhere in South Asia – exchanging poems of mutual admiration with the literary giant Faiz Ahmed Faiz, hobnobbing with the father of the Progressive Movement and Communist leader Sajjad Zaheer in the USSR, and collaborating with Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi writers and theatre artists such as Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Balraj Sahni and Ali Sardar Jafri from the 1950s. Heavily promoted by the Soviet state, he was also popular in Indian revolutionary circles, and went on to win the Nehru International Prize in 1968. In 1970, he published his poem Az Gang ta Kreml (From the Ganga to the Kremlin) about an Indian’s visit to Moscow to meet Vladimir Lenin. This was subsequently made into one of the first Tajik films, Subhe Gang (Dawn over the Ganga), and released in Russian as Voskhod nad Gangom in 1975. Like many Tajiks, he greatly admired the poet Bedil. He popularised Indian love stories from Bedil’s works, such as that of the Hindu musician, Madhav Nala, and the Muslim courtesan, Kama Kandala, which Tajik musician Ziyodullo Shahidi adapted as the Tajik opera Komde-Madan.
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.