Don’t make the president a “Kadushokh”!

Tajik scholar and social media activist Umed Jaihoni proposed that the leadership of the executive office of the President of Tajikistan impose strict penalties on officials who display pyramids of various figures made from pumpkins, melons, watermelons, and other vegetables along the route of the president.

Photo: Internet

On October 12, Umed Jaihoni wrote on his Facebook page:

“A person always creates a connection in their mind between phenomena, events, concepts, and other objects, which in psychology is called ‘association’ and ‘associative thinking’. That is, if people always see the president next to a pumpkin, they will involuntarily associate them with each other, and in their minds he will represent ‘Kadushokha’ (King-Pumpkin).”

“The executive office must strictly prohibit the collection and display of any types of pumpkins and other agricultural products during the president’s trips to cities and regions. Especially at a time when the president has practically become the leader of Tajiks on both sides of the Amu Darya, which is his historical role, it is necessary to firmly stop the display of pumpkins,” the Tajik scholar added.

“The image of the president is equal to the image of the country and the nation. Any insult to the president is an insult to the country and the nation. The executive office of the president must keep this in mind,” Jaihoni emphasized.

It should be noted that in recent years, it has become fashionable in Tajikistan to greet Emomali Rahmon with displays of unusual figures made from melons and vegetables. Rahmon himself enjoys this form of greeting very much. Recently, in Dushanbe, similar decorations made from melons, vegetables, and fruits were used to welcome heads of state members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.