“The tribulations of one people are the tribulations of all. That which weakens one weakens all.”
Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III
President of the League of Nations
On October 6, 1937, as President of the League of Nations, Imam Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III delivered the adjournment session.
“Indeed, all the problems that fall to the League may ultimately be reduced to one – that of man, and the dignity of man. It is in that sense that the work of the League assumes its true significance and acquires its permanent value. The tribulations of one people are the tribulations of all. That which weakens one weakens all. That which is a gain to one is surely a gain to all. This is no empty ideal. It is a veritable compass to guide aright the efforts of statesmen in every country and of all men of goodwill who, desiring the good of their own people, desire the good of the whole world.”
“The Task Before the League of Nations”
Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III, Geneva, Switzerland
October 6, 1937
Speech at The Institute of Ismaili Studies
The League of Nations was an international organization formed by several world leaders after World War I, with its headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland, to preserve peace and settle disputes by arbitration. From 1932, Imam Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III had served as the Indian delegate to the Disarmament Conference at the Assembly of the League of Nations. In 1937, he was elected President of the League for the eighteenth session of the Assembly. The organization was eventually replaced by the United Nations.*
*Farhad Daftary, Zulfikar Hirji, The Ismailis: An Illustrated History, Azimuth Editions in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Compiled by Nimira Dewji
Ismailimail 