In Tajikistan, fraudsters sold permits to wear beards and hijabs

In Tajikistan, wanted by fraudsters selling permits to wear beards and hijabs.

“The Committee on Religious Affairs appeals to all citizens of the country with a request to assist in identifying persons involved in the sale of fictitious documents that allegedly give citizens of the country the right to wear a beard and hijab,” the department said in a statement.

“These acts by unknown persons are aimed against state power in the country and to denigrate Islam... In general, issuing documents that allegedly give a man the right to wear a beard and a woman to wear a hijab is complete absurdity,” the Committee’s statement emphasizes.

The Tajik social media sector is actively discussing the news, noting that “for an unknown reason, the Committee on Religious Affairs does not consider the right of the Tajik police to unlawfully detain citizens with beards, bring them to the police station and forcibly shave off their beards absurd.”

The most egregious case of “beard shaving” was what social media users called such actions against the famous Tajik human rights activist and blogger Rustam Gulov, who subsequently filed a lawsuit against employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Tajikistan is a secular state, and the constitution guarantees freedom of worship, but in recent years, fearing the radicalization of the population, the government has been fighting external manifestations of religiosity. Schoolgirls and students do not have the right to wear hijabs, women working in state institutions are also deprived of this right.

In the last month, a number of reports of drives of men with thick facial hair appeared on the face to the police stations, where their beards are shaved off.

Experts believe that such steps by the government will lead to the opposite result - officials will only be treated worse, and underground religious movements will attract even more supporters.