Tajikistan's de-radicalization program is counter productive

This piece is a rebuttal to Tajikistan's de-radicalization program by force shaving the beards and banning sales of Hijab items of the Tajikistani people. It is counterproductive, indeed, it will increase radicalization to defend their honor.  Link

January 23, 2016 - The Government of Jumhurii Tojikiston (Democratic nation of Tajikistan) has brutally imposed its way of life on her citizens by, "Shaving off 13,000 beards, shutting shops selling hijab: Tajikistan 'fights radicalisation' in Khatlon region of the country.  

Individuals who do not believe in genuine freedom,  and the arrogant ones who believe  that they know what is good for others are the ones going to rejoice this imposition.  Even in America, those who talk about liberty will become hypocrites in this case reflecting their bias towards Muslims.  We shall see how many politicians and how many talk show hosts will defend the liberties of the people, even though they do not agree with them.

I am saddened for Muslims; I remember a Hadith where Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had wished that his people had a book to follow like the other people, and I admire him for giving us the book. I wish he had also wished that we elected our leaders through the consent of the people and had instituted a system of democracy. 

I am saddened that throughout the Muslims history, with the exception of first 30 years of the rightly guided Caliphs, and the immediate past 70 years of democracies, we were deprived for a full 1300 years to give our input and our consent to the government.  Of course, that was the way with other nations too except the United States that had its democracy for 239 years. 

We still do not have the Muslim majority Governments that are run by the consent of the people with a few exceptions like Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia, Malaysia and now Pakistan.  Iran does hold elections, but it�s an oligarchy that runs the show without the consent of the people.  

I also appreciate the prophet for giving us the freedom to elect our leaders through the consent of the people rather than imposed from above.  If he had wished �Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.� (From our immortal declaration, �We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;�) we would have had mature democracies that would have brought free will in our practices and consent of the governed for the Government. This is what is missing in most of the Muslims societies and communities. 


We took the crap far too long and finally things are turning around, thank God for it. In the last 15 years, we have witnessed tremendous questioning, steps that will lead to fixing our problems like radicalization. This could not have been imagined 50 years ago, as the oppressors among us would have pointed their fatwa guns to shut you up. Thank God, the oppression from within is coming to an end. Finally, we are learning to honor 
the God-given freedom. 

We have questioned Sharia, broken it down to personal and public Sharia, while holding on to the personal Sharia, which is how we pray and fast, and whole heartedly accepting the civil and criminals laws enshrined in our constitution as our only public law.  We are questioning the Hadiths, which contradict the essence of Quran and many of the hadiths do not meet the criteria of "Rahmatul Aalameen", Prophet Muhammad could not have said anything remotely close to some of the fake hadiths, that suit the right wingers among us but would not have met the requirements of common sense. 

What Tajikistan is doing is wrong � shaving beards does not unradicalize the men, and neither banning the Hijab will deradicalize women.  Humans can be suppressed with brutal power, but the pent up anger will explode one day.  Education stands a better chance of deradicalizing the individuals.

Extremism of any kind is bad; they swing the pendulum from one end to the other and never allow the stability and equilibrium in a given society.  We are generally familiar with religious extremists, now we see a new breed of secular extremists, who in the name of secularism have become tyrants, and want to impose their ideals on others.    

I am not sure swinging the pendulum to the other extreme will bring stability.  Unfortunately we have a bad example of Turkey, where Ataturk Mustafa Kemal Pasha forced people to be secular, which survived for nearly 80 years.  Will Turkey swing the other way? Time will tell.  

One of the few reasons for these problems is a loss of moderation � the prophet did not want us to be saints or completely materialistic, he wanted us to live a life of balance, i.e., enjoy the God given life while earning God�s grace, but never abandon present life for Akhira (life here after).  

I suggest the government of Tajikistan to abandon the impositions and bring prosperity to the people, and institute educational programs deradicalizing the individuals.  I will be happy to consult in building cohesive Islamic societies, where we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one us; and if we do that conflicts fade and solutions will emerge for effectively functioning societies.

Mike Ghouse
www.MuslimSpeaker.com =Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in.

Tajikistan 'fights radicalisation' by Shaving off 13,000 beards and shutting shops selling hijab:

Tajikistan fights radicalization | WorldMuslimCongress.com

January 23, 2016 - The Government of Jumhurii Tojikiston (Democratic nation of Tajikistan) has brutally imposed its way of life on her citizens by, "Shaving off 13,000 beards, shutting shops selling hijab: Tajikistan 'fights radicalisation' in Khatlon region of the country.
My advise to the government of  Tajikistan to abandon the impositions and institute educational programs to deradicalize individuals.  I will be happy to consult in building cohesive Islamic societies, where we learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one us, and if we do that conflicts fade and solutions will emerge for effectively functioning societies. 

My article will be available with the title, "Tajikistan fights radicalization"
Mike Ghouse

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Shaving off 13,000 beards, shutting shops selling hijab: Tajikistan 'fights radicalisation'
DAWN.COM http://www.dawn.com/news/1234918 � UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO
      
TAJIKISTAN: As part of an "anti-radicalisation campaign", police in the Khatlon region reportedly shaved the beards of 13,000 men and shut down 160 shops selling the hijab, reported BBC earlier this week.

According to the report, hundreds of thousands of men have been arrested in recent years for adopting mannerisms "alien and inconsistent with Tajik" culture � maintaining a beard is considered among the gravest of these offences.

The BBC interviewed nine men who said they had been detained in the street and forcibly taken to the police department for an arrest, or to a barber shop to be shaved.

Women are given their own prescriptions: their dress, the government has stated, must be in traditional Tajik colours. Black, the colour most commonly associated with the burqa, is automatically outlawed in these circumstances.

"Even in mourning, Tajik women [should] wear white, not black," President Emomali Rakhmon has warned the Tajiks.


The fear of 'alien values'
President Emomali Rahmon has been ruling the country since 1994 and is soon expected to approve a legislation that will promote secular values, which includes banning Arabic-sounding and "foreign" names officially.

With sections of the Middle East and Asia falling to extremism and militancy, the Central Asian states increasingly fear the spread of radicalisation.

Estimates suggest that between 1,500 and 4,000 Central Asians could have joined different militant groups in Syria, as of June 2015.

Women have been told to "wear clothes of traditional colours and cut, not black." �AFP
Women have been told to "wear clothes of traditional colours and cut, not black." �AFP
In response, countries like Tajikistan have launched official campaigns and taken measures that discourage Islamic cultural practices. In September last year, Tajikistan's Supreme Court banned the Islamic Renaissance Party, which is the only registered Islamic political party in the Muslim-majority country, Al Jazeera reported.

President Rakhmon has also warned Tajiks: "Don't worship alien values, don't follow alien culture. Wear clothes of traditional colours and cut, not black."

The fight for secular values
The fight to maintain secular values has affected men, women and children alike. The state has placed a ban on hijabs in all educational institutions, and state institutions follow the same rule.

Parents are discouraged from giving their children Arabic names, and are pressured to opt for more traditional and familiar Tajik names.

According to the BBC report, Tajik police said they shut down 160 shops that sold the hijab, and convinced over 1,500 women to stop wearing the Islamic code of dress.

In the south-west region of Khathlon, police reported that law enforcement agencies have successfully convinced over 1500 women to stop wearing headscarves.

Even though Tajikistan is a 99% Muslim, atheism was encouraged during 70 years of Soviet rule.

'Do not shave'

One man, Djovid Akramov, said he was outside his house with his seven-year-old son when the police intercepted him and rushed him to a station to remove his beard.

"They called me a Salafist, a radical, a public enemy," Djovid told the BBC. "And then two of them held my arms while another one shaved half of my beard."

Shaving off men's beards is not an unprecedented response to battling extremism, since growing a beard is a traditional Islamic practice.

The Taliban have particularly warned men against shaving their beards. In Pakistan, a barber shop in Buner was found with a 'do not shave' warning written across its front window, reportedly by militants.

Upper Dir Barbers in the town of Darora were also warned to stop shaving beards, the residents told Dawn in 2008. A threatening leaflet was circulated by a group of the Taliban, after which barbers stopped trimming and shaving beards completely.