This country is banning hijabs despite its 98% Muslim population

A country which is almost entirely Muslim is set to ban the hijab as it is ‘alien’ to its culture.

Tajikistan has long had an unofficial ban on the religious wear in public institutions, but a new draft law would ban the importation, selling, wearing and advertisement of the hijab.

Those who break the new law could also be fined heavily, from $740 for individuals to $5,400 for legal entities.

Tajik lawmaker Mavludakhon Mirzoeva told Radio Free Europe the draft bill includes a ban on clothes deemed ‘foreign’ to Tajik culture.

Though controversial, the bill is expected to be approved and signed into law by President Emomali Rahmon.

In recent years, special task forces worked to enforce the ban. Police also often raided marketplaces to arrest those breaking the unofficial ban.

Tajikistan also previously banned bushy beards, and forced many men to shave theirs against their will.

Late last year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said of Tajikistan: ‘As part of an effort to maintain complete, authoritarian control over all segments of society, the government of Tajikistan commits systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

‘The Tajik government has placed undue restrictions on all facets of religious practice, including prayer, celebrations, education, and rituals.’

In 2022, authorities temporarily closed all Islamic bookstores in the capital for ‘violating the religion law’.

In 2023, Abdullo Rahmonzoda, the head of the Committee for Youth and Sports, suggested that bloggers shouldn’t grow beards.

His reasoning was ‘promoting’ them online could be seen as sympathising with ‘terrorist groups’ and ‘threatening national security’.

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