Forum18: Ismaili Aga Khan commemoration obstructed

Forum 18 (Oslo), dated 19 March 2025 and by-lined Felix Corley and Mushfig Bayram, reports that Tajik authorities obstructed Ismaili Shia commemorations in February following the death of Aga Khan IV (Prince Karim Al-Hussaini), who died in Lisbon on 4 February at the age of 88. The report states that on 5 February hundreds of Ismailis gathered at the Ismaili Centre in Khorugh (GBAO) in minus 20°C cold and that National Security Committee (NSC) secret police officers removed external loudspeakers and threatened those who protested. On 11 February, as the global homage ceremony for the new 50th imam Aga Khan V (Prince Rahim) began at 4pm, the Dushanbe City Administration cut electricity to the Ismaili Centre and police prevented use of a backup generator. The article finds systemic repression since 2022: the regime has replaced leaders of Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board (ITREB), jamatkhanas and the National Council, ended the diplomatic status of the Aga Khan Foundation in October 2024, censored the December 2024 farman message, and in June 2022 destroyed the mountainside “Welcome Our Imam” slogan above Khorugh. Religious leader Muzaffar Davlatmirov is named as serving a five-year sentence in Yavan. UN Special Rapporteur Nazila Ghanea’s April 2023 visit and Ombudsperson Umed Bobozoda are cited; internal sources include Pamir Inside and exiled Pamiri human rights defenders.