We continue with our countdown to Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee with a reflection on some of Imam’s vast work. We also highlight some of the changes occurring in the world during that time, focusing mainly on the developments in science and technology.
“I hope….that the benefit of this hospital will spread far beyond the patients who enter its doors. It is, after all, to be a training institution, not only for doctors but also for nurses.
The Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi will naturally become the hub and focal point of the Ismaili health institutions. We plan to train not only doctors and nurses but health visitors for our own clinics throughout Pakistan….If, at a later date, we enter the field of medical research, the objectives of that research will be specifically directed to the needs of this country.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam
February 3, 1971
1968 to 1972
Mawlana Hazar Imam
- donated the Aga Khan Palace at Yarawda, Poona to the Indian Government as a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi (1969).
- presided over the opening of the IPS Tanzania by President Nyerere (1970).
- presided over the foundation ceremony of Aga Khan Medical College and Hospital in Karachi by President Yahya Khan of Pakistan (1971).
- launched , with Prince Amyn, a tourist game lodge and hotel project in Nairobi, Kenya (1971).
- established IPS Uganda in Kampala (1972).
- visited Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Syria, France, India, Pakistan, addressing various institutions including Karachi Chamber of Commerce, Secretary of the Federal Minister of Tourism, members of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, and the youth in the Jamat.
For titles and honours bestowed upon Mawlana Hazar Imam, visit AKDN or view the matrix.
Mawlana Hazar Imam with some of the world leaders:
Selected World Events – 1968 to 1972
- The Tupolev Tu-144, the world’s first commercial supersonic transport aircraft was flown for the first time at a speed of 2,000 km per (1968).
- Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 – NASA.
- The Soviet Union’s Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 rendezvous and dock and perform the first in-orbit crew transfer (1969).
- The first Internet message was sent at University of California on the ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet (1969).
- IBM introduced the floppy disk (1971).
- ARP (Autoradiopuhelin, “car radio phone”) was the first commercially operated public mobile phone network in Finland (1971).
- Motorola produced a handheld mobile phone (1973).
- The first operational LCD (liquid crystal display) panel was introduced.
- Idi Amin seized power in Uganda (1971) expelling all Asians in 1972.
- Intel introduced the microprocessor (1972).
- The first commercial arcade video game,Computer Space by Nutting Associates, was introduced in 1971. In the same year, Atari introduced the arcade version of Pong, the first video game. The home version came out in 1974. History of video games.
- Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to leave the solar system (1972).
Sources:
Hikmat, July 1977 and December 1986
Ilm, various issues
The Ismaili Canada, various issues
Compiled by Nimira Dewji
Ismailimail 