5 months ago
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Tajikistan parliament has approved the law banning hijab referred to as 'alien garments' ahead of Eid al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha imposing penalties for offenders. The move comes as part of the government's continuous efforts to curb public display of religion and to promote Tajiki culture. It also banned Idi, the custom in which children seek gift and money during Eid.
The Muslim-majority country is dominated by various sects of Islam -- Sunni Muslim population in majority.
Ban on hijab in Tajikistan: All you need to know
- Tajikistan president Emomali Rahmon gave his assent to the bill to prohibit hijab, AKIpress reported.
- The lower chamber of parliament approved the bill on June 8, reported Asia Plus.
- The law mostly targets the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, and other traditional items of Islamic clothing, which started coming to Tajikistan in recent years from the Middle East.
- Tajikistan sees hijab associated with Islamic extremists.
- Penalties for offenders vary from the equivalent of 7,920 somonis for individuals and to 39,500 somonis for legal entities. Government officials and religious authorities reportedly face much higher fines of 54,000 somonis and 57,600 somonis, respectively, if found guilty.
- There was an unofficial ban on hijab in Tajikistan for years. The education ministry banned both Islamic clothing and western-style miniskirts for students in 2007.
- The government wants to promote Tajik national dress instead and conducted campaigns for the same in recent years.
- Tajikistan has also unofficially banned bushy beards. There are existing laws in the country to restrict Islamic prayer to specific locations.
- Two years ago, selling black clothes was banned in the country’s capital city Dushanbe.
- The official hijab ban has been condemned by the Union of Islamic Scholars and clerics in Afghanistan, and by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Banning the hijab is a violation of religious freedom and such bans on religious attire should have no place in any nation that respects the rights of its people," said CAIR director Corey Saylor.
