Tajik authorities resume fight against beards and hijabs?

In the Khatlon region, police detained a young man because of his beard.

An eyewitness to the incident told Azda TV on Wednesday on condition of anonymity that the young bearded man was detained right on the street, asked about the reasons for growing his beard, and later forced to shave it off. However, the young man refused to do so.

Upon hearing the refusal, law enforcement officers forcibly took the young man to the police station, forcibly shaved him, fined him, and arrested him for 10 days on charges of violating public order.

According to eyewitnesses, the young man did not attend the mosque and was not a religious person, but this did not help him avoid forced shaving of his beard.

This is not the first time that law enforcement officers have detained bearded men, taken them to the police station, forcibly shaved them, sometimes fined them, and released them only after a written promise not to grow a beard again.

Officially, the law does not prohibit growing a beard, but in recent years, authorities have intensified control over the appearance of citizens. Such measures are referred to by the authorities as “operations within the framework of combating foreign culture and regulating the appearance of residents.” However, experts note that this action by the authorities is more aimed at combating Islamic religious values.

Previously, authorities banned young people under the age of 18 from attending mosques.

Also, earlier the Ministry of Education prohibited schoolgirls and female students from wearing hijabs, and boys from having beards, which later unofficially gained the status of law.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan also prohibited all students from participating in the “idgardaq” ceremony.

On June 19, the Upper Chamber of the Parliament of Tajikistan adopted amendments to the law “On the Regulation of Traditions and Ceremonies,” which prohibit “the import, sale, and wearing in public places of clothing alien to national culture,” as well as idgardaq (children’s celebrations on the occasion of the two main Muslim holidays – Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha).

After the amendments were adopted, law enforcement agencies forcibly shaved the beards of young men and removed headscarves from women on the streets of cities and districts.

International organizations have criticized the actions of the authorities, noting that control over appearance and clothing violates residents’ rights to freedom of expression and religion and may be considered discrimination based on religion.

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