President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon (who had been in power since 1992) made a special commission to oversee an “appropriate” dress code for both men and women. That order was issued on Monday 31st July 2017.
According to the official sources, he ordered a special commission to oversee an “appropriate” dress code for both men and women.
He criticized women in his speech for wearing “foreign” black clothing in March on the event of Mother’s Day. He implemented a law immediately to wear proper Islamic dress. He said, “Black Islamic dress has become increasingly popular in Tajikistan despite of previous condemnations.”
Reuter’s news agency stated, “His first criticism was voiced in 2015 after which a campaign against the hijab began with heads of institutions demanding that their employees not appear at work wearing one.”
The president said back in 2015,”Wearing the hijab and blindly copying a culture that is foreign to us is not the sign of having high moral and ethical standards for women,
“The hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion.”
The Culture Minister Shamsuddin Omurbekzoda said, “The new commission is tasked with combating this “alien” culture,
“It will design clothes “taking into consideration Tajik traditions” and “modern” life,
“The ministry is preparing samples of national women’s clothing, “in order to avoid wearing foreign clothes.”
In his speech, the culture minister clarified that what he meant “alien” as “Arab”. That didn’t help either, since it was not clear how he made a distinction between Islamic culture and Arab culture.
Then he used another ironic excuse saying the Islamic hijab was not suited to the hot climate of Tajikistan and it was, therefore, “unhygienic”.
He added, “No one knows the people who hide behind these covers.”
Russia called them as an extremist state; he increased security near Tajik border due to tilt of Tajik President towards Islam leads a breakup of the Soviet Union. New mosques have been built attracting more people for prayer.
President implemented more Islamic study groups that had appeared and more women and men donned Islamic-style dress.
Russian President said, “The political message of a dress code is quite clear.
“It is to control an important element of people’s private lives and impose a set of centrally designed uniform on the masses.”
The Tajik President has said, “The Almighty is known by the mind and worshipped in his heart, not by the garment, satr, hijab, turban and beard.”
Tajikistan, the new commission would enforce “modern” Tajik fashion. The dress code in Tajikistan is the last in a long line of measures to impose secular appearances.
Reporter: Syeda Faiza Bukhari
