Officials of the Aga Khan Medical Center (Aga Khan) in the city of Khorog confirmed the discussion with government representatives. They said in a statement on October 11 that “legal issues are being discussed with the relevant authorities”, but did not provide details.
Previously, the Prosecutor’s Office of Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region wanted to invalidate a decision of the mayor of Khorug (from 2018) and a state license (from 2019) in connection with the Aga Khan Medical Center (Aga Khan).
Upon fulfillment of this requirement, the Aga Khan Medical Center (Aga Khan) will be transformed from an independent institution into a state office and will be subordinated to the government of the National Medical Center.
A representative of the Aga Khan Medical Center said in a telephone conversation on October 12 that the dispute is proceeding on the basis of the complaint of the Prosecutor’s Office in the Badakhshan Regional Court.
“Until the decision is made, employees and specialists will continue their activities,” added our interviewee. However, he said that they do not know what will happen to the Aga Khan Medical Center (Aga Khan), whether it will remain independent or become state-owned.
Our efforts to get a comment from the authorities and their rationale for the litigation have so far been unsuccessful.
The start of the court hearing has increased the noise about the possible closure of the Aga Khan Medical Center (Aga Khan) in the city of Khorog. In telephone conversations, some of the residents expressed concern about what will happen to the conditions, space and fate of its employees and representatives in Rushon and Darvaz districts if the Center becomes a state.
Alim Sherzamonov, a Badakhshan activist and representative of the opposition in Europe, says that “with the start of the court dispute, they closed the door of the Aga Khan Medical Center one day”. Its officials said in a statement on October 11 that “the door of the Aga Khan Medical Center in Khorog city is open and is working normally.”
The Aga Khan Medical Center is part of the Aga Khan Health Service. It was built in Khorog in 2018 at a cost of 25 million dollars.
Until now, several institutions belonging to the Aga Khan Foundation in Tajikistan have become state-owned or changed their names. In particular, in September of this year , “Lyceum for gifted students” started to work instead of Agakhan Lyceum in Khorog city. Agakhan Lyceum was active for 25 years.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan said in August of this year that one of the reasons for the nationalization of the lyceum was that “it was operating outside the curriculum and its teachers did not know the Tajik language.” The representatives of the Aga Khan organization in Khorug called these claims baseless.
The land of the University belonging to the Aqah Khan Network and the “Serena” hotel in Khorug were also handed over to the state.
Source : Радио Озоди