Tajikistan has opened a criminal investigation after 14 prison inmates died of food poisoning while being transferred from Tajikistan’s northern Sogd region to prisons in Dushanbe, Norak, and Yovon in southern Tajikistan on July 7. “During transportation, one of the prisoners shared three pieces of bread with another 15 inmates in Varzab Valley,” the Justice Ministry said in a …
Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir reflects on Chitral’s place in what was once a largely Buddhist region Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was once Gandhara, one of the earliest centres of Buddhism. The Peshawar Valley, in particular, has several archaeological sites dating to the Buddhist era with Takht Bhai in Mardan and Ranigat in Swabi being among the most well known. …
Displaced from their land by multinational mining companies, nomadic herders defied the odds to preserve their heritage for future generations by Rod Austin Just 10 years ago, the district of Khanbogd, in southern Mongolia’s Omnogovi province, was a barely known region of eastern Asia. That changed with the discovery of gold and copper deposits below the seemingly endless Gobi desert, home to a …
Herald Special In remote Tajik mountains, Pamiris keep unique culture alive. The Pamir mountains of northern Tajikistan are sometimes known as “Baam-e-Jahan” (the roof of the world) or High Asia. Isolated by the rugged terrain, the Pamiri people who live there have preserved some of the Zoroastrian traditions that preceded the advent of Islam. They claim that they are descendants …
Zaynab Mukhammad-Dost The Turkish and Turkic Collections at the British Library are the largest collections of manuscript and printed material from the Turkic world housed anywhere in the United Kingdom, says Michael Erdman in an Interview with Zaynab Mukhammad-Dost. What is special about the British Library’s Turkish and Turkic collections? What is the most treasured item? Does the British Museum, …
Herald Report The University of Central Asia (UCA) organised the “Festival of Togetherness” on its campus in Khorog, Tajikistan, recently. Badakhshan TV produced a special news report in Tajiki language highlighting the salient features of the festival. The festival is one of UCA students’ initiatives and its objective is to showcase the cultures, traditions and values of different nations, and to encourage …
Herald Report Experts, academics and government representatives have called for sustainable exploration of mineral deposits and safeguarding the interests of indigenous communities and environment. They discussed the environmental and economic challenges in mining sector at a roundtable conference organised by the University of Central Asia’s Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA) of the Graduate School of Development in Bishkek, …
KHUJAND, Tajikistan — A court in Tajikistan has sentenced a former member of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) to 15 years in prison after a controversial extremism trial. The April 9 ruling at a hearing in the northern city of Khujand followed Naimjon Samiev’s return late last year from Russia to Tajikistan under murky circumstances, with rights …
Pioneering music prize recognises exceptional achievement in the preservation and revitalisation of Muslim musical heritage. Herald Report The Aga Khan Music Awards ceremony kicked off at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal on March 29, says a statement issued from the Awards secretariat, Lisbon. Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims Friday arrived in Lisbon to preside …
Pioneering music prize recognises exceptional achievement in the preservation and revitalisation of Muslim musical heritage. Herald Report The Aga Khan Music Awards for 2019 has been announced. The master jury announced the names of the laureates and finalists for the awards’ inaugural cycle, says a statement issued from Lisbon, Portugal. Established in 2018 the $500,000 wards are given in recognition …
