24th Annual Chinggis Khan Ceremony Keynote Speech

24th Annual Chinggis Khan Ceremony Keynote Speech

The keynote speech for the 24th Annual Chinggis Khan Ceremony was given by Dawood A. Changezi, a Hazara leader for the human rights of the Hazara Mongols worldwide. His vision will play a vital role in preserving and promoting pan-Mongol culture and history globally. He is a founder and board member of the Mongol Heritage Foundation and an organization for the progress and equality of Hazara people. He also served as president of Hazara Unity USA from 2001 to 2004.


Keynote Speech Transcript

President of MACA Mr. Sanj Altans, Board of Directors, members, distinguished guests and Great Mongols, I am truly honored to stand before you to deliver the keynote address for the 24th annual Changez Khan Memorial Ceremony.

Before I start my formal speech I would like to quote our great president “ Ibrahim Lincoln “ he said if you can not say what you want to say in 20 Minutes, you should go away write a book about it.

So, I will try my best to conclude my speech briefly.

As you know my name is Dawood Ali Changezi, I am Hazara Mongol from Pakistan and Afghanistan region. I believe that I am 100% Mongol and I am proud to be named Changezi who was king of kings, khagan of Mongol empire and greatest of all time conqueror Chingges Khan.

I really admire MACA for their efforts for celebrating memorial ceremony of Changez Khan for last 24 years. It is not easy task to arrange such a great event every year. We know how difficult it is to cut out time from our daily lives and devote ourselves for such a great purpose.

I really appreciate the time and hard work they place for our great king and nation for last 24 years. Trust me it require a lot of commitment, courage and sincerity. All of us here want to work and do some thing about our great culture and history, but we have many other commitments and responsibilities. Only some of us make it possible to extract time for our daily life and serve our society. Those who are working for you always need your help and your support. It is always good to appreciate them and help them as much as we can.

I would like to thank our great country United State of America for giving us the opportunity and environment to express ourselves and present our great culture freely. I have been in different countries where these kinds of freedom were rarely seen by their own citizens.

Today, we were given opportunity on this platform through MACA (Mongol American Cultural Association) to meet Mongols of the world and especially it is an unforgettable moment for me to meet; Kalmyks, Buryat, Tuvan and Hazara Mongols under one umbrella.

Many of us under this roof might not have heard about Hazara Mongols. I want those to know that Hazara Mongols are 13 million in population. 9 million Afghan Hazaras , 2-3 Million Iran Hazaras, 1.2 Million Pakistani Hazaras, 500 thousand Hazaras are living in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada. Genetic and historic studies have proven and is widely accepted that Hazaras are Mongolian ancestry. Some Hazara tribes are named after famous Mongol generals, for example the Tulai Khan Hazara who are named after Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. Hazaragi words, culture and history is an obvious proof and many authentic books written by famous American and European writers have been written on this topic.

I can declare myself Mongolian without any fear in USA, but it is not possible in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and China. We were genocide for hundreds of years and are still being in the worst situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan about which many of our friends know in sitting in this Hall. The most common reason they punish is, “why do not we look like them, why our look is Mongolian”. Still they don’t like us being Mongol and they don’t want us to call ourselves Mongolian. They are trying their best to destroy our identity, history and culture. They are always being ignorant and paranoid.

http://www.maca-usa.org/eTolbo.html