Speech of Emomali Rahmon at the meeting with representatives of Tajik intelligentsia

Speech of Emomali Rahmon at the meeting with representatives of Tajik intelligentsia, dedicated to the topic "Society and the mission of intelligentsia"(S. Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre,Dushanbe, March 20, 2009)Esteemed audience,Dear friends,By the established good good tradition, every year we meet with representatives of our country's intelligentsia on the eve of our forefathers' New Year — the feast of Nowruz.Thanks to our gaining independence, Nowruz is celebrated in Tajikistan as the most significant all-nation holiday.This ancient feast, symbolizing the creation of life and revival of Nature, is a sacred and revered event for us Tajiks, since our fate, culture and Aryan customs have been since the time immemorial connected with the traditions of Nowruz and their development. All good traditions of celebrating Nowruz are a source of morality and upbringing, creativity and love for the beautiful, being very important and instructive for our people even these days. Rites and customs of celebrating Nowruz embody in themselves certain ideas and notions, be it connected with either accomplishment of houses, yards, prospects and residential quarters, or with decoration of festive tables with gifts of our lavish soil and reception of guests, or with peasants' sowing chores which come together with Nowruz. I an quite sure that these spring days our people, continuing good traditions of forefathers, will liven up the work on accompllishment, sowing and planting saplings, thus laying a secure basis for further enriching their tables. Seizing the opportunity, I congratulate the noble people of Tajikistan, all Tajiks and Persian-speaking peoples of the world, and all of you, esteemed audience, on the occasion of the bright feast of Nowruz and wish every family and every member of society prosperity and calmness, joy and merriment, happiness and successes. Before the See of God the Most High, I pray that at this crisis and uneasy period He protect our state and our people from terrestrial and celestial disasters, strengthen peace and order on our land for ever and in the new year that comes with Nowruz grant every Tajik family abundance, good fortune, happiness and prosperity.It is for the tenth time that we are meeting today with you, representatives of our country's intelligentsia, to take counsel and discuss some important issues. The preceding years of the period of independence were not only the period of consistent efforts for systematically developing our economy and stage-by-stage raising people's standard of life, but the period of the development of culture, science and spirituality, as well. The Government of Tajikistan has been consistently undertaking necessary measures aimed at ensuring opportunities for creative activities of intelligentsia and developing scientific, cuktural and educational institutions, including Academy of Sciences, creative unions, universities, institutes and schools of general education. The efforts of the Government are directed towards ensuring conditions wherein our country's intelligentsia could conduct researches and effectively work in the interests of society.Our policy in the field of science, culture and education is pivoted on the mobilization of spiritual and intellectual opportunities, and the rational use of our country's scientific potential with the aim of finding out ways of the solution of modern social and economic problems, thus ensuring our society's sustainable development. During that whole period, one of top priorities of our state's policy has been the development of science, culture, education and of the process of raising spirituality. These branches will be at the centre of the Government's attention in the future, as well. This year, the Nowruz meeting with our country's intelligentsia has coincided with an unforgettable event in our cuktural life, that is, the completion of reconstructing the historical building of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Sadriddin Ayni, which made it possible to reshape in modern way this great centre of the Tajik theatrical and musical art.On this occasion, I congratulate our intelligentsia, that theatre's troupe and all representatives of arts and culture. Besides, I tender my thanks and appreciation to builders, engineers, arrchitects and all those who made precious contribution to the repair and reconstruction of this magnificent temple of arts. The theatre, in whose splendid auditorium we have gathered today, has been playing a significant role in the floorishing of musical art and the formation of traditions of the Tajik national opera and ballet.As early as in the middle of the past century, first Tajik operas — The Uprising of Vose, The Blacksmith Kaveh, Rudaki, Pulod and Gulru, Leyli and Mejnun, Shirak, The Golden Village and others — were staged in the theatre with the participation of famous performers and highly aprreciated by true connoisseurs of art both in Tajikistan and abroad.We Tajiks pride ourselves upon that precisely from the stage of this theatre the road to global glory of the bright star of the world's ballet — Malika Sabirova — had begun.I am quite sure that in future the troupe of the Tajik State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will also continue glorious traditions of our theatrical art and make a significant contribution to the development of our modern national culture. Esteemed friends,Development of any society depends in many ways on intelligentsia which is its intellectual elite.In all periods of history great socio-economic, scientific and cultural achievements, construction and formation of social system have been the product of, first of all, ideas and mind of intellectuals, their talent and skills.In our mind, under present circumstances of human society's development, when the process of globalization embraces all countries, including Tajikistan, the question of the role, place and stances of an intellectual is gaining new essence and contents.The word intelligentsia implies thinking, wise and conscientious people who are distinguished with creative and active approach to the processes of societal development. In other words, the notion intellectual means a creative and educated person, being active in society's life and having broad world-view.Loooking back at our history, we will see which enormous efforts were exerted by our wise ancestors to strengthening of the nation and protection of its cultural values. Lofty ideas and invaluable works of our nation's oustanding representatives made it possible for the Tajik culture and language to preserve, through all historical periods, their place and role in the world's civilization, notwithstanding any political and ideological pressure of foreign conquerors. Great merits of our nation's glorious sons lie in that today we have our own state and pride ourselves upon our language, culture, history and national values. Our language and culture are like a mirror which reflects the whole path traversed by Tajiks, with all historical riss and falls. In this mirror we see that for our ancestors the notions of Mother, Motherland, Independence, Language and Culture were always synonimous. In all times and epochs language and culture have been reflecting the identity of every nation. Thanks to language, culture and fundamental traditions, national authenticity was strengthened. That is why even today all intellectuals should, like their civilization-founding ancestors, exert every effort to the preservation of the national language and culture, their development, constant familiarization of the world community with them, so that they could be handed down to generations to come as an invaluable legacy.In this connection, I would like to turn to the topic which I had already touched upon many times before, underscoring its immeasurable significance. I mean the issue of the development and perfection of the Tajik language in the status of a state language.We all see that today the process of globalization exerts not only positive, but also negative influence upon all aspects of humankind's life.The impact of globalization is especially felt in the field of language and culture which are main factors of our nation's consolidation. If, under such circumstances, we don't respect and protect our beloved language, it may soon turn into a language with a limited sphere of usage, or even into a tongue of intra-house intercourse. We see characteristic examples of this phenomenon in the names of many firms, offices, entertainment and service institutions, periodical press and in the names of children as well. Unfortunately, although we had many times attracted attention to this issue, this process, on the contrary, picks up speed in the capital and some other towns and areas, which conradicts to the Law on the Language and traditions of the Tajik people. You know pretty well that every Tajik name is an indication to national character, so defying this fact means, first of all, direspect for mother tongue and state language, for national history and culture, and as whole, for the nation and Motherland. If on one hand the rational and reasonable solution of the problem is a duty of every intellectual of this country, on the other hand, it is among main tasks of management of ministries, agencies and executive bodies of state power in regions, towns and districts. I am quite sure that managers of firms and institutions, as well as businessmen, are concerned about picking a beautiful and proper national name, yet they face som difficukties in this. So the Academy of Scences, Terminology Committee and other relevant bodies and institutions should help them in this noble action.At the same time, we should not forget that the Tajik language is now used not only in domestic office work and intercourse, but in our external relations as well. International nrmative and legal documents are signed in this language, scientific and literary works of various peoples of the world are translated into it. So it is obvious that we should organize the studying of our ancestors' language in proper way. Besides this, together with studying foreign languages, we should enliven the studying of our forefathers' alphabet as well. In this connection, Education Ministry and higher schools of the country should undertake efficient measures for the development of teaching old characters of our fncestors. Our country's intelligentsia must make a significant contribution to this process.We must respect the Tajik language as a national value, take care of it and lay necessary ground for its development and introduction into all spheres of society's life. It especially important for our mother tongue's turning into the language of science, because reaching this stage is considered the highest point of its development. The necessity of working out scientific terms for various spheres of the Tajik language's use is not only an internal problem of linguistics, but is also a pressing question of state policy in the field of language.While fulfilling their historical mission, our scholars should, just like their enlightened ancestors, make contribution to the development of our tongue and its turning into a modern scientific language. So the Academy of Sciences, as well as relevant ministries and agencies should undertake concret measures in this direction.For this purpose, last year, for the first time in the history of the Tajik state, the Year of the Tajik Language was declared. In our opinion, under present circumstances this step has had a positive influence on further development and perfection of our mother tongue and strengthening of its status as a state language. We all know that this year twenty years will have passed since the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan "On the Language" was adopted.At present, this legal act, worked out in the Soviet times and with consideration of then political reality, does not in адд measure meet the needs of our society, so the question arises of working out its new version.In view of this, a working group for the preparation of a new draft was established, which should work out a new draft based on historical and literary norms, requirements and changes of society, as well as national intersts, with consequent presenting it for the approval of Tajikistan's Government.The new law will be aimed, first of all, at preserving the identity of the Tajik language in the status of a state language and ensuring its general use and all-sided development in all spheres of our country's social, economic and political life. Such is the dictate of our times.Development of the Tajik language, reinforcement of its status as a state language and broadening the sphere of its use require the working out of relevant terminological glossaries and complete exlanatory dictionary of the Tajik language, so respective specialists should be very earnest and serious about this work.The Academy of Sciences Institute of Language and Literature named after Rudaki was given the task of preparing the six-volume Complete Explanatory Dictionary of the Tajik Language, which must be published during five years to come. The problem of language cannot be solved without proper studies and researches of its historical periods based on written heritage.In the connection with studying various aspects of the Tajik language, including its literary version and its norms, as well as linguistic theory and practice, in short, all issues related to it, the question arises of founding a scientific linguistic journal. In view of this, I have recently given the Finance Ministry and the Academy of Sciences respective instructions concerning the establishment of such a scientific linguistic journal, and its publication will start this year. There is no doubt that the publication of the journal will help strengthen and develop the state language, which is a main factor of raising national self-conscience and reinforcing national unity.I am quite sure that that the adoption of the new law "On the State Language of the Republic of Tajikistan", along with other measures related to the national language, will remove many artificial obstacles in this field and begin a new stage of strengthening and developing the state language. The state status of the Tajik language must be protected on the basis of the Republic of Tajikistan's Constitution and legislation.Present-day Tajik intellectuals should be fully aware of the necessity of pushing forward social, economic, political, spiritual and cultural life of our Motherland. They shoul understand with full responsibility that the future of our beloved Tajikistan depends on forms and methods of teaching, use of achievements of modern sciences, introduction of new techniques and technologies and, last but not least, upbringing of specialist that would meet the requirements of our times.Practical introduction of any novelty into practice may only be possible in the result of studying accomplishments of advanced world science.Although Tajikistan's nature is infinitely rich and diverse, the studying of natural resources and possibilities of their use does not fully meet our present-day requirements. Every year natural didasters cause huge material losses to our country's national economy.Nowadays we feel great anxiety about consequences of climate warming, shortage of water and droughts caused by the reduction of resources in glaciers, soil degradation and environmental pollution. In this connection, the Academy of Sciences, specialized scientific research institutes, scientists and specialists from universities and institutes of the country should pay special attention analysis, studying and determination of ways of solving this problem, with consequent submitting of their conclusions.One another problem which also causes the concern of the world community is connected with the present all-embracing financial and economic crisis and its negative influence on all the coubtries of the world. The present state of affairs requires that we deeply realize the negative impact of the crisis on our society's life, work out a scientifically substaniated programme of measures aimed at the maximum possible prevention of its negative consequences and implement this programme in a consistent way. Thrifty consumption of water resources, electric power and gas, efficient use of financial possibilities of the state and domestic entrepreneurs, establishment of new jobs and development of our economy's main branches, especially energetic, industrial and agricultural sectors, with the aim of ensuring our country's energetic and alimentary security — those are the pivot of the above-mentioned steps. Reaching these ends will undobtedly require the active participation and mobilization of the whole intellectual potential of our country.Esteemed representatives of intelligentsia,At the present stage, when one of the main tasks of our society is connected with livening up the process of formation and reinforcement of national self-cognizance and national unity, we feel with special acuteness the requirements of our people in what regards the revival and restoration of historical memory and cultural and scientific monuments of the past.In this regard, studying ideas of oustatnding representatives of science and cukture of our past, from Aryans to the Samanids, and from Middle Age to various periods of our new and newest history is gaining special importance.Great is the role of scholars, poets, writers and professors of higher schhools in conducting studies of the rich cukture of our people, since it is they who first of all make invaluable contribution to rresearch of our ancestors' legacy.Thanks to constant efforts and fruitful activities of intelligentsia, we have undertaken, through the years of independence, a series of measures aimed at the strengthening of unity and national self-conscience, as well as revival of our forefathers' national values.This past year we celebrated the 1150th anniversary of the classic of the Tajik-Persian literature Abu Abdullah Rudaki and the centennial of the great scholar Bobojon Ghafurov. In the connection with the jubilees, The Book of Knowledge and Selected Works by Rudaki and Ghafurov's substantial work, The Tajiks, were published and a series of significant scientific and cuktural events was held. The Academy of Sciences makes a great contribution to studying, translating and publishing invaluable written heritage of scientists, thinkers and outstanding political and religious figures of our people.Thus, researchers of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Written Heritage at the Republic of Tajikistan's Academy of Sciences, to commemorate the 950th anniversary of Muhammad Ghazali, prepared for printing his two-volume work The Alchemy of Happiness, which, when an opportunity occurs, will be published in five thousand copies in the cycle The Legacy of Islamic Cukture.At present, the publication of Ibn Sina's works in Tajik and Russian continues, with four volumes already printed in both languages.Besides, our people gets acquainted with invaluable heritage of ancestors through Tabari's History, Shahnameh by Firdowsi and other masterpieces, of which consists the 50-volume anthology The Stars of Literature.The celebration of the Year of the commemoration of the oustanding Islamic jurist, founder of a highly respected madhhab (schhol of Islamic jurisprudence) Abu Hanifa Nu'man bin Thabit, known as the Great Imam and a Tajik by origin, is one another step aimed at the revival of lofty spiritual values of our ancestors and their propagation in our society.The Year of the Commemoration of the Great Imam will make it possible to liven up the process of the reinforcement of national self-consciousness and recognition of Tajik scientists and scholars' contribution to the development and spreading of human civilization.In the connection to the role and status of intelligentsia in our society, I would like to stress one more point. In my opinion, it is quite pertinent at this meeting of ours.It is said in the holy Koran that upon creating Man, Lord the Most High produced pencil as means of creative activity.This shows us magbificence, nobleness and high status of people related to writing, that is, writers, scientists, workers of educational institutions and intelligentsia as a whole.Esteemed audience,We may also cite dozens of names from not so distant history of our Motherland, who selflessly served the interests of the nation.In 2011 it will 100 years since one of such great sons of the Tajik people, staunch fighter for peace and herald of ideals of unity and friendship> the Hero of Tajikistan Mirzo Tursunzadeh was born.We must celebrate with dignity the jubilee of the master of word who won infinite recognition in Asia and Africa.We propose that the Republic of Tajikistan's National Commission for UNESCO affairs undertake measures aimed at introducing the 100th anniversary of Mirzo Tusunzadeh into the List of Celebrations of this respected organization.At the same time, taking into consideration outstanding merits of the famous writers Sotim Ulughzadeh and Jalol Ikrami, whose centennials we have also to celebrate, the Ministry of Cukture, Academy of Sciences, Writers' Union, Executive Staff of Tajikistan's President and Dushanbe city council should undertake measures for the immortalization of their memory.In our opinion, it would be expedient to give the Institute of Languages the name of Sotim Ukughzadeh, who was also famous as a brilliant translator, while the name of Jalol Ikrami should be given to a prospect in the capital of the country.We have repeatedly stressed the role and significance of education for the development of society, in all times and epochs. Without the development of educational system, it is impossible to imagine the progress of society.Intellectuals should acquaint teenagers and young people with the latest achievements of the world's science and culture, thus stimulating them to the studying of modern sciences and technologies.To familiarize our youth with the universal human civilization and out of respect for it, writers and professors of higher schools should pay much attention to the questions of studying other nations' languages, as well as to the translation and publication of scientific, literary and cuktural works of peoples of the world.Spiritual values of humankind from the very beginnig were куалусеув шт variuos treatises or books. Our people's respect for Book originates in ancient days, and we see it more clearly at the present stage of our society's development.Printed production, including books, newspapers and magazines, plays a significant role in spiritual upbringing, economic development, formation and propagation of societal ideas. That is why we are seriously interested in the development of the printing branch.At the same time, I would like to remind that today we have limited opportunities in this field and therefore are not able to satisfy demand of our people for books. Int this connection, I would like, seizing the opportunity, to make a request to you, representatives of intelligentsia. Undoubtedly, in your home libraries there are many books which you had already made use of. They could be handed over to public libraries or those of higher schools so that our youth have an opportunity to use them.Such a good deed on your part would help develop enlightenment of our society, which is in our common interests. I hope you will support my request.One of main directions of our country's cultural policy in these complex conditions of the modern world is connected with the preservation and correct use of historical and cultural heritage of our people, as well as with national feasts and traditions. All ancient towns, fortresses, burial-vaults of great people and pictograms shoul be considered invaluable and sacred by Tajikistan's citizens, who must see the preservation of this legacy as their duty.We should exert efforts so that unique monuments like Sarazm, Khulbuk, Ajina-teppa, ancient Penjikent, Gissar Fortress, Takhti Sangin, Khoja Mashhad and some others be inserted into the UNESCO List of World Heritage. Those are not only monuments belonging to the Tajik people, but are also considered spiritual heritage of humankind.Dear fellow-countrymen,Today our society is on the threshhold of a very significant date for the state of Tajiks, that is, the 20th of the Republic of Tajikistan's independence which will be celebrated on September 9, 2011. At the present stage our people is living under the banner of independence, and it was thanks to independence the state of Tajiks was recognized as a full member of the world community.During that period our nation passed through hard examinations and faced with multiple difficulties in the process of constructing our state and state system. As a result, every decent and patriotically minded citizen realized that independence is a sacred value and precious property, and it should be cherished like the apple of one's eye. Such is the important lesson of the history of our independence. We must be grateful that our Motherland is free and our state is independent.The preparation of our peple to the solemn celebration of the twentieth anniversary of state independence, which event will be truly sacred for our country's people, must start right now.Our intelligentsia should bend every effort to studying and explanation to people of the essence of unprecedented achievements related to the period of independence, make significant contribution to raising the level of society's enlightenment and spirituality, as well as strengthen national unity and upbring feelings of patriotism and national prude. In the connection of the afore-mentioned, we may come to a conclusion that an intellectual is like a torch that illuminates society's road and leads people along a correct path. In view of the fact that representatives of other peoples and nations are also living in Tajikistan, one of the most important tasks of our intelligentsia is to propagate and strengthen friendship and mutual understanding, which belong to lofty human values.I see the mission of modern intellectuals in that they should be always a cresset for the people of independent Tajikistan. Considering such a high status of intelligentsia in society, one may once again stress that it is the most valuable possession and decoration of our society. Translated by NIAT "Khovar"