DUSHANBE, May 5, 2016, Asia-Plus — Tajik authorities’ intention to abolish Russian-style last names has caused outraged reaction from Russian members of parliament.
A new law banning giving newborn babies last names with Russian-style endings went into effect in Tajikistan on April 29.
Deputy Chief of the Tajik Service for Registration of Citizens, Jaloliddin Rahimov, says the new regulations were approved by President Emomali Rahmon in March.
According to the new law, ethnic Tajik children whose parents have surnames from the Soviet era that end with the Russian “ov” for men and “ova” for women will instead be given documents that use traditional Tajik suffixes – “i,” “zod,” “zoda,” “iyon,” “far” or “pour.”
The regulation applies to the birth certificates of newborn ethnic Tajiks or ethnic Tajik children receiving identification documents for the first time.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has discouraged the use of Slavic names to boost patriotism, having changed his own surname from Rahmonov in 2007 in a move that prompted ministers, civil servants, and his own children to follow suit.
According to
EurasiaNet.org
, Rahimov said that officials would have “clarifying conversations” with people wanting to keep their names unchanged.
“If the situation doesn’t change, then within 10 years our children will be split into two groups — one will be proud of their Tajik names, and the others will have foreign names,” Rahimov was quoted as saying.
At the same time, Rahimov noted that the proposal should only be considered a recommendation not an obligation.
Adults who previously obtained documents with a Russian-style surname and choose to continue using that surname will be allowed to do so
In January, the lower house of parliament voted to make it illegal to give babies non-Tajik names or to seal nuptials without a medical certificate. The language and terminology committee at the Academy of Sciences drew up a list of 4,000 suitable names to make sure wayward parents do not try to endow their children with names like Sang (Stone), Safol (Ceramic), Zogh (Crow) and Gurg (Wolf).
The surname rule has caused outraged response from Russian MPs in Russia.
Ilya Drozdov, a member of the virulently nationalist-chauvinist LDPR, suggested harsh retaliations. “All it would take is a phone call to an official — it wouldn’t even have to be a particularly important one — with a nod and wink to say, guys, tomorrow we will close the border and bring in a visa regime. After that I think they will be happy to take Ivanov and Petrov as surnames and they will recall how they spoke Russian back in Soviet times,” Drozdov said.
EurasiaNet.org
reports that while back-pedaling, Rahimov did manage to state his case for Tajikistan’s sovereignty, however.
“Tajikistan is an independent state and questions regarding the names of its citizens are an internal matter for the state. Nobody has the right to interfere. Why should language, culture or even names in one state be controlled by and agreed upon with another state?” he said.
Many Tajiks prefer to keep their Russia-style last names for the simple reason that it helps them adapt more smoothly to life in Russia, where hundreds of thousands go for work.
