Uzbek imam sacked after urging president to allow hijabs, beards

The president specifically barred female students from wearing hijabs in schools last month.


Reuters September 10, 2018
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks during a press conference following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, April 5, 2017. PHOTO:REUTERS

TASHKENT: An Uzbek imam has been sacked after urging President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to lift a ban on personal religious symbols such as hijabs and beards, in a case showing the limits of newly-proclaimed tolerance in the majority-Muslim country.

Mirziyoyev, who came to power in 2016, has relaxed restrictions on religious freedoms as part of his campaign of liberal economic and political reforms in the former Soviet republic of 32 million. But his government stopped short of lifting a decades-long ban on religious clothes and attributes, and specifically barred female students from wearing hijabs in schools by a decree issued last month.

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The move prompted criticism on social networks led by Fazliddin Parpiyev, then imam of the Omina mosque in Tashkent. He published a video address to Mirziyoyev on Facebook last week, an unusual move for an Uzbek cleric.

Parpiyev, 32, said in the video that despite the recent reforms Muslims were still being oppressed over the hijab and beard issue and asked Mirziyoyev for help "in maintaining freedom of conscience".

On Sunday, Parpiyev wrote on his Facebook page he had been dismissed from his post by the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, which is close to the government, and that some fellow clerics have urged him to disavow his previous statement.

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"I do not regret what I have said in my video address," he wrote. "However, my smartphone has been taken away from me by my father which gives me reasons to believe that he could be under pressure as well." The Muslim Board could not be reached for comment on Monday.

COMMENTS (2)

Bunny Rabbit | 6 years ago | Reply this is called give an inch and they take a yard : no offence meant to any particular religion but those incoming people should learn to adapt to the rules and rituals of the host country and not vice versa. no one becomes a non muslim by removing hijab or beard. these are mere outside external features.
Zarrwer | 6 years ago | Reply Very Good
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