Categories: christianity
Date: 02 April 2009 13:24:15
Tajikistan
Languages: Tajik, Uzbek, Russian
Since 2007, the government in Tajikistan has been working on a new religion law that will place restrictions on sharing one's beliefs and on religious education for children and young people. For example, children younger than seven years can be forbidden religious education, and young people may be banned from being members or participants of organisations. Church registration will be even more difficult than it is at the moment and only Tajik citizens will be allowed to lead religious organisations.
The last of these restrictions will be a particular problem because there are very few Tajik believers among the small Christian community. Only about 1.5% of the population is Christian, and for a long time this was composed of ethnic European believers rather than Tajik. Also while there is now a growing number of believers among the Tajik, who are traditionally Muslim, converts frequently face much pressure from their family and/or community to return to Islam.
The current government is trying to control all religious activity especially after an influx of Muslim missionaries helped to spread a more radical form of Islam. The government is clamping down on Christians too: in the past year, several churches have been declared illegal, church buildings have been seized without compensation and at least one church has been demolished.