A conservative Sunni Muslim movement that is banned in most of Central Asia has made inroads into Kyrgyzstan with recruiting efforts that include offers of a free Islamic education in Bangladesh for children from poor, rural families. Documents obtained by RFE/RL confirm that security officials in Kyrgyzstan are increasingly concerned about a movement called Tablighi Jaamat, which means “Messengers’ Assembly” in Arabic. Authorities have been alerted about the movement and told to monitor the activities of its members. Although it proclaims to be pacifist and apolitical, Tablighi Jamaat has been banned in Russia as an extremist organization. It also is prohibited in Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The chairman of the Kyrgyz parliament’s Education, Science, Culture, and Sports Committee, Kanybek Osmonaliev, says the government in Bishkek should prevent Kyrgyzstan from being a Tablighi bastion in Central Asia. Osmonaliev says the Kyrgyz government should enforce existing legislation that bans children younger than 16 from being sent to religious schools abroad: “Unfortunately, there are vested interests who make a business out of sending children to Islamic schools in Bangladesh,” Osmonaliev told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service. “Our special institutions such as the National Security Service, the Interior Ministry, the Education Ministry, and local governments don’t pay enough attention to what is happening. In some cases, they even close their eyes. Some members of parliament are trying to raise public awareness and draft legal instruments on this issue. But no one in the government is taking this into consideration.”
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:44:29 +0000
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