Mosque Checks May Ignite Unrest

17-Aug-07

As the authorities in Tajikistan deny allegations that they are systematically closing and demolishing mosques in the capital Dushanbe, NBCentralAsia observers warn that a heavy-handed approach to this sensitive issue could spark widespread unrest.

On August 7, leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party, IRP, a major opposition political force in Tajikistan, sent an open letter to President Imomali Rahmon asking him to stop his officials engaging in “anti-constitutional and anti-Islamic acts” by knocking down mosques in the capital, local news agencies reported.

The letter was signed by prominent figures such as IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri, Muhammadsharif Himmatzoda who like Kabiri sits in the lower house of parliament, and Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a well-known Islamic cleric who is a member of the legislature’s upper chamber.

Kabiri says that the authorities have demolished two mosques in Dushanbe over the past month and suspended the activity of more than a hundred others.

Interviewed by NBCentralAsia, Kabiri argued that the authorities had drawn a false connection between the rising number of mosques and the phenomenon of Islamic extremism.

“I think it’s the wrong way to fight against radicalism and extremism because Islam and the mosques have never been the source of it,” he said.

Officials denied mosques were being torn down. Dushanbe’s deputy prosecutor Saifiddin Mushiddinov said the authorities were simply checking the operating licenses of religious organisations as a matter of routine procedure.

“All of the officially registered mosques in Dushanbe are working, and we haven’t made any decisions about the ones that are operating without permission,” said Muhsiddinov. “The question of whether they should be demolished is a legal matter to be decided by the prosecutor general’s office, but that is not on the agenda right now.”

NBCentralAsia analysts say the license checks have already caused considerable anger and if the authorities now take tough measures against mosques, the public reaction could be more extreme and on a wider scale.

Political analyst Parviz Mullojanov says the authorities have failed to adopt the sensitive approach needed in a predominantly Muslim country. Tajikistan is constitutionally a secular state. but around 90 per cent of the population count themselves as Muslim.

Mullojanov said the authorities needed to realise that it is one thing to close down cafés and restaurants for health and safety reasons – no one is going to object to that – but “demolishing just one mosque will meet with a completely different reaction”.

(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)