DUSHANBE, October 11, 2010, Asia-Plus — According to the preliminary data, 1,432 Tajik students are currently undergoing religious studies abroad, Mavlon Mukhtorov, the deputy head of the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on October 11.
According to him, the exact number of Tajik students attending religious schools abroad will be announced at the end of the year.
“To-date, 50 Tajik students attending religious schools in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have returned home,” said Mukhtorov, “They have returned home voluntarily following president’s call upon parents of students undergoing religious studies abroad to bring their children back home.”
The CRA official stressed that no coercive measures would be introduced to bring students back to Tajikistan.
In the meantime, the October 7 RFE/RL item titled “Tajikistan Suspicious of Its Students” says Tajik authorities note that graduates of foreign religious schools could pose a threat to their homeland — and they”re taking steps to address the issue.
Tajik students studying at Cairo”s Al-Azhar University say they are concerned about Dushanbe”s request that the prominent Islamic school send back anyone studying outside official government quotas.
Representatives of the students told RFE/RL”s Tajik Service that they have appealed to Tajikistan”s Embassy in Cairo and the university administration to allow some 50 Tajik students to complete their studies at Al-Azhar. The students entered the university privately and now fear the Al-Azhar might send them home, as required by the authorities in Dushanbe. “Some students are returning home because their parents have been questioned about their children”s whereabouts,” student representatives say.
According to the article, the Education Ministry announced recently that students returning from foreign Islamic schools would take a “rehabilitation” program.” The ministry did not elaborate on the details.
Education officials say they do not have the exact number of Tajik citizens undergoing religious studies abroad. They estimate there are at least 6,000 Tajik citizens undergoing religious studies abroad. However, they say that only some 2,000 have informed the authorities about their religious studies abroad.
