DUSHANBE, September 25, Asia-Plus — We managed to save and protect our party despite strong pressure on Islam, Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT), remarked at the seventh IRPT congress in Dushanbe on September 25.
“In our society, the Islamic Revival Party is recognized as constructive party and the results of parliamentary elections can serve as evidence of its authority,” Kabiri said.
Drawing attention of those present to the fact that politicians and researchers from different countries have lately been attributing the activities of terrorist and extremist forces to the Muslim people, Kabiri stressed that extremism and terrorism have no relation to Islam.
According to him, the year of 2008 will be a year of improvement of party’s structures. The IRPT leader noted that the number of the party members has increased from 19,000 in 2004 to more than 25,000. “However, we should strive for not increasing the number of members but for improving quality of our members,” Kabiri stressed.
The IRPT head noted that 2006 was a year of serious test for the party and it stood it successfully. “We have gained confidence of both state structures and society as a whole, including other political parties,” said Kabiri, “The fact that we have come out for women wearing headscarves or hejabs is evidence of rising authority of our party. We have always highly rated universal values and it is position.”
He noted that the IRPT and the country’s authorities have different views only on ways of achieving goals, “while many our goals agree with each other.”
Kabiri noted that it is necessary to provide access of the population to Islamic values and give up violation of human rights. “There are no any grounds for closing mosques and putting ban hejab-wearing. We hope the government will thin seriously of our proposals.”
Today, the congress is also electing members of the party board and central revision commission.
