You might not expect a country with a 95% Muslim population to ban the hijab but that’s exactly what happened in Tajikistan last week.
The central Asian nation’s parliament has approved a bill to outlaw the hijab, describing it as an “alien garment”. It has also banned the practice of youngsters going door to door collecting money during Eid, said Free Press Kashmir.
‘Ancestral values’
In a statement, President Emomali Rahmon said that the hijab ban is aimed at “protecting ancestral values and culture”. Those violating it will be fined on a scale ranging from 7,920 Tajikistani somoni (around £590) for ordinary citizens, 54,000 somoni (£4,000) for government officials, and 57,600 somoni (about £4,200) if they are religious figures.
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The ban on headscarves is seen “as a reflection of the political line” that the government of president-for-life Rahmon has been “pursuing” since 1997, said Euronews.
His administration has “had its sights set on what they describe as extremism for a long time”, said the news site, particularly since he blunted the influence of the Tajikistan Islamic Resurrection Party and then banned it altogether.
Rahmon is a polarising figure, who has held on to power in elections that “fall far short of being free or fair”, said the BBC. His measures have sparked international attention: in 2023, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom designated Tajikistan a “country of special concern”.
‘Alien mannerisms’
Analysts have counted 35 religion-related measures taken by Rahmon’s government. As part of an “anti-radicalisation campaign” in 2016, the Tajik police said they cut the beards of 13,000 men and closed 160 stores that sold headscarves. One man told the BBC he would never forget the humiliation he felt while being forcibly shaved at a police station.
Thousands of men were imprisoned for “adopting mannerisms alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture” and the president told people not to wear black, even during mourning. The authorities had previously told parents to give their children traditional Tajik names, rather than Arabic or foreign-sounding names.
In 2017, the Tajikistan Religious Affairs Committee said that almost 2,000 mosques were closed down in just one year, with some places of worship converted into tea shops or medical centres.
Experts believe the hijab ban was influenced by a terror attack in Moscow in April. Four of the attackers were said to have had Tajik passports, according to Russian authorities.
There are restrictions on Islamic religious dress in other countries, including France, which prohibits wearing “symbols or clothes through which students conspicuously display their religious affiliation,” and Austria. In addition, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Norway and Bulgaria have laws prohibiting the use of Islamic garments.
Several Muslim-majority countries have banned the burqa and hijab in educational establishments and government buildings, including Tunisia, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
A version of this article appeared in The Week’s Global Digest newsletter. For a look ahead to the world each week, sign up here.
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