Since late spring, the Tajik authorities have been carrying out a massive renewed campaign against women wearing the hijab (Islamic headscarf). Working groups are raiding bazaars and public places in Dushanbe to reveal women wearing the hijab. They are reportedly carrying out explanatory work among women wearing hijab.
Meanwhile, women, vendors at Dushanbe’s open-air markets, say members of the working group were not carrying out explanatory work but were threatening them with fines, up to 1,000 somoni, it they do not take off hijab.
“Those who did not want to dispute with them were silently re-tying their scarfs baring neck and those who were trying to be indignant were threatened with a heavy fine. If a week ago they told us that the fine for wearing hijab will be 100 somoni, now they say that the fine will be 1,000 somoni,” one of vendors, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to her, members of the working groups were stopping not only young women but also women of advanced ages and even elderly women.
Representatives of the Committee for Family and Women’s Affairs deny these allegations as absolutely unfounded. They claimed the raids were merely an “awareness campaign.” According to them, no fines are provided for wearing hijab.
Recall, President Emomali Rahmon and other officials in mid-July made public statements against wearing the hijab and beards.
Speaking on July 11, Rahmon praised 10-year-old legislation governing rituals and traditions in the country. He, in particular, said that hijabs and black dresses for women are not in line with Tajikistan's traditions, and that beards are not necessarily a reflection of religiosity.
He called on Tajiks to "love God with their hearts" and not seek to show their "righteousness" through external attributes. Rahmon said citizens should preserve what he called the "true culture of Tajiks" and resist "alien cultures and traditions" he said were being propagated on the Internet.
The first attempts to ban hijab and miniskirts in Tajikistan date back to 2007, when the ministry of education forbade women from wearing the veil to school.
In his Mother’s Day speech on March 7, 2015, President Emomali Rahmon criticized women who wear “foreign” clothing, especially the black veils associated with conservative Islam. The president never specifically named Islamic hijab, but his target was clear: “Strangers” are using these clothes in their drive “to promote obtrusive ideas and want to create another new extremist trend in our country.”
Within days, officials began threatening shopkeepers who sell hijabs. The Dushanbe mayor issued an order for municipal authorities to dissuade women from ‘extremism’. The mayor of the second largest city, Khujand, demanded that the sale of “Iranian and Afghan” clothes be prevented, leading to inspections of shops selling Islamic clothing by police and tax officials.
