Tajikistan Enacts Formal Hijab Ban in New Law! But Why? The Tajik government has officially banned the wearing of the Hijab, solidifying years of unofficial curbs on religious clothing.. This law was passed in the lower house of Parliament (Majlisi Namoyandagon) on 8 May and agreed by the upper house (Majlisi Milli) on 19 June, after the Eid celebrations. This law completes the process initiated when President Emomali Rahmon expressed his disapproval of hijab, referring to it as “foreign clothing.”

Information on the New Law

The new law is an amendment of a myriad of the previous law, ‘On Regulation of Holidays and Ceremonies’, to prohibit the “import, sale, promotion, and wearing of clothing deemed foreign to the national culture.” This pertains, among others, to the Islamic hijab, which is a traditional head covering used by the womenfolk to cover the hair and other parts of their bodies from view.

According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, violations of this rule come with heavy fines: 7,920 somonis ($747) in the case of individual offenders, and 39,500 somonis ($3,724) in all other instances. This regulation also disallows the distribution of money to youngsters, a practice called Eidi, during Eid as a part of Eid-related festivals, and it has also set a restriction on the celebration period of Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha.

Rahmon’s Motivation and Historical Context

The attempts of President Emomali Rahmon to ban the hijab are part of a wider campaign aiming at instilling “Tajiki” culture while minimizing public expressions of religiosity. In office since 1994, Rahmon has maintained the secular tradition of leadership that sets him apart from religious political factions. He aligned himself with pro-Soviet forces in the civil war that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Since 2016, under the government of President Rahmon, attempts to consolidate power have been obvious, evidenced by constitutional reforms that did away with presidential term limits. He also prohibited faith-based political parties that would undermine his power.

Massoumeh Torfeh, formerly UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan spokesperson, told Al Jazeera in 2015, “Rahmon had developed an aversion to religious garb because people became more religious after the Soviet Union collapsed.” Some other observers, however, believe the apparent threat from radical Islam has been exaggerated, pointing out that Islamic rituals have been part of the local culture for a long time—even during Soviet times.

Prior Measures Against Religious Clothing

This is the latest in a string of prior measures designed to clamp down on the religious clothing. In 2007, a decree for the regulation of holidays and ceremonies was passed, which in effect banned hijabs from schools and government institutions. Rahmon ratcheted up his anti-hijab campaign in 2015 by labeling it as “a sign of poor education.”

In 2017, the government launched an automated phone call campaign urging Tajik women to dress more traditionally. In 2018, a manual was published that included, among other things, 376 pages of standardized examples on how women can dress, including the form and color of various headscarves permitted under Tajik tradition.

Conclusion

Such a legislative prohibition on the hijab marks merely the latest—albeit significant—step in President Rahmon’s taking bigger and bigger strides toward the establishment of a cultural identity for Tajikistan. While this steps squarely to his vision for a secular and culturally united nation, it does not come without certain qualms over religious liberty and what place human choice plays in public and private life. The world is keen to wait and see how the new regulations will change the country’s social fabric as Tajikistan makes these changes.