Authorities conduct raids against hijabs and beards

Daily reports are coming from cities and regions of Tajikistan that government officials are conducting raids in public places against “clothing that does not conform to national culture.”

As reported by Radio Ozodi on May 23, according to the norms provided in Article 18 of the new edition of the law “On the Regulation of Traditions and Rituals” and the Code of Administrative Offenses, fines ranging from 8,000 to 65,000 somoni (from 800 to 6,500 dollars) will be imposed for “importing and selling clothing that does not conform to national culture” and for wearing such clothing in public places in Tajikistan.

On May 23, Azda TV received a voice message from the chairman of one of the mahallas in Tajikistan, who published an appeal in one of the Tajik groups on WhatsApp.

“We were at a government meeting today. Starting tomorrow, raids will begin. Explain to your wives, sisters, and female relatives not to wear hijabs. Women will be fined 5,000 somoni. Men under 47 years old are prohibited from wearing beards and long hair,” said the mahalla chairman.

According to him, if bearded men or men with long hair are detained, they will be sent for 15 days of forced labor at the Rogun Hydroelectric Power Station, and in addition, they face a fine of 8,000 somoni.

He also warned that all government agencies, including the city hukumat, district hukumat, State National Security Committee employees, prosecutors, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will participate in this raid. According to him, “they will go door to door.”

It is unknown when this voice message was recorded. However, it has been reported multiple times that in the past week, women in hijabs and bearded men have been checked and detained in all state, educational, and medical institutions in the country.

An entrepreneur from the capital’s Korvon market, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Azda TV on Thursday that the market administration forced all bearded men to shave their beards and women in hijabs to remove their scarves and head coverings, otherwise they face fines of 5,000 to 10,000 somoni.

Experts believe that the Parliament of Tajikistan has adopted amendments to the law “On the Regulation of Traditions and Rituals,” prohibiting “clothing that does not conform to national culture,” which mainly implies Islamic clothing, particularly the wearing of hijabs.

This occurred against the backdrop of an attack on a shopping center in Moscow, where the main suspects were citizens of Tajikistan.

In light of the tense situation in the world and Tajikistan’s geographical location next to Afghanistan, the government is highly concerned about the potential attack by terrorist groups on the country.

In particular, this is indicated by the special operation of the State National Security Committee of Tajikistan in the Yazgulom Valley of the Vanj District of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan.

A source told Azda TV on Tuesday, May 21 of this year, that details of this operation are still unknown; however, it is known that on May 16, GKNB officers detained about 18-20 young people from the village of Jamag on unknown charges and took them to Dushanbe. Nothing is known about their fate. The authorities are not saying anything about their whereabouts or the reason for their detention.