Tajik police reprimanded for forcing Muslims to shave beards
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 27 April 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tajik police reprimanded for forcing Muslims to shave beards, 27 April 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5565ba4832.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
April 27, 2015
By RFE/RL's Tajik Service
DUSHANBE – Two Tajik police officers have been reprimanded for forcing Muslims to shave their beards, and have been warned of harsher consequences if complaints by Muslims continue.
Deputy Interior Minister Ikrom Umarzoda told RFE/RL on April 27 that two law enforcement officers in the northern Sughd region were officially rebuked after local residents complained that they were forced to shave their beards.
"We have ordered regional police departments to talk to local residents about extremism, but have never called on them to work with people through force and pressure," Umarzoda said.
There have been increasing reports of police officers' pressuring Muslims across the country to shave their beards.
Amid reports of hundreds of young Tajiks traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight along with Islamic militants, President Emomali Rahmon's government has repeatedly called for the strengthening of secular principles in the mostly Muslim country of 8.5 million.
Tajikistan has banned headscarves for schoolgirls, barred minors from mosques, and forced thousands of students to return home from Islamic schools abroad in recent months amid reports that many Tajiks have joined militants in Iraq and Syria.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
