The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has expressed concern over recently adopted amendments to Tajikistan’s law on the regulation of traditions and ceremonies, saying it worsens religious freedom violations in the Central Asian state, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.
The amendments, signed by President Emomali Rahmon on June 20, among other restrictions bans children’s games of “idgardak” during two major Islamic holidays — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha — and forbids the sale, import, promotion, and wearing of clothes that are “foreign to national culture.”
That provision is considered as targeting traditional Islamic head scarves for women, known as hijab.
Previously adopted regulations in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic have also imposed restrictions on circumcisions, baby-naming rituals, weddings, religious pilgrimage ceremonies, and funerals.
“The Tajik government, undeterred by the repeated CPC [country of particular concern] designations [by the U.S. government], continues to find new ways to further restrict religious freedom, as evident by its tightening of the already repressive 2007 traditions law,” USCIRF Vice Chairman Eric Ueland said in the June 26 statement.
“While the State Department importantly designates Tajikistan as a CPC, naming and shaming is evidently not enough. The designation will only be effective if accompanied by actions, such as targeted sanctions or other consequences.”
In an apparent attempt to target hijabs and other Islamic clothing, the Tajik government carried out a campaign to promote national dress in recent years.
In 2018, the government introduced a 376-page manual — The Guidebook Of Recommended Outfits In Tajikistan — which outlined what Tajik women should wear for different occasions.
The country has also unofficially banned bushy beards. Thousands of men in the past decade have reportedly been stopped by police and had their beards shaved off against their will.
“It is troubling to witness the recent onslaught of harassment against those who express their faith in ways that do not correspond with the state’s preferred interpretation,” USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman said.
“We urge the U.S. government to condition security assistance to the Tajik government on reform of the traditions law, the 2009 religion law, and all other legislation that criminalizes the peaceful expression of religion in the country,” she added.
