On February 29, 2024, the Minister of Culture of Tajikistan Matlubakhon Sattoriyon met with a group of prominent writers, including the first deputy chairman of the Union of Writers Ato Mirhodja, poets and writers: Muhammad Goib, Rustami Vakhhob, Ato Hamdam, Jum’a Quddus, Sirojiddin Ikromi, Azizi Aziz, Abdullohi Rahnamo, Tolibi Lukmon, and others.
The official met to discuss current issues of modernity and to seek solutions to problems. The writers complained about low fees, and later Mirhodja wrote an ode on his social media page in honor of high payments, arguing that the absence of writers of the caliber of Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Aini, Ulughzoda, Aini, and Ikromi is directly related to high payments. “They did not have to worry about their daily bread,” emphasized the public figure. He nostalgically recalled Soviet times, noting that “the Soviet government paid special attention to literature and writers, creating the best spiritual and material conditions for the creativity of literary figures, their upbringing, and support.” He cited the example of the writer Aini, claiming that in Panjakent there was a collective farm that was obliged to provide for Aini’s family. “Thanks to the fees, ustod became so wealthy that in 1940, the Opera and Ballet Theater was built at his expense,” concluded the writer Mirhodja. The writer likely forgot who is credited with the construction of the Opera and Ballet Theater.
Ato Mirhodja became animated, citing examples of the wealth of Rudaki and Ferdowsi, who, according to legends, were fully supported by rulers during their lifetimes. The deputy chairman of the Union of Writers, on behalf of his colleagues, stated that “despite the existing problems in the life of the Tajik intelligentsia, today the intelligentsia is forming as an important part of society and becoming the standard-bearer of spirituality among the people. The intelligentsia, with all its being, tries to fulfill its mission and responsibility to the nation and its past, present, and future, and to be, as they say, the conscience, honor, and compassionate eye of society and the vigilant eye of the nation.”