Tajikistan President Urges Parents To Take Kids Out Of Madrassas

It's a well known fact that Muslim 'madrassas' (Muslim religious schools) are often a great way of radicalizing Muslim youth. Many believe they are a breeding ground for future jihadis, and though I'm sure most probably will not graduate from those schools and immediately grab a Kalashnikov along with their Qu'ran and head for the hills, I am sure that some will; but even 'some' is one too many.

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This is what Emomali Rahmon, President of the predominately Muslim Tajikistan (a former republic of the former Soviet Union) seems to be thinking when he advised the parents of kids who are attending madrassas in other countries to bring them home. Tajikistan, although a Sunni Muslim majority country (approximately 95%) also happens to be very secular and wants to remain so. The threat of having children radicalized in foreign madrassas and then bringing that ideology back to the homeland is not appealing, in the least, to Rahmon. He has no love for them claiming that:

"Many parents think that by sending their children to study in madrassas in Muslim countries they will be giving them a good financial position in the future," he said in remarks carried on state television.

"Unfortunately, most of them do not learn from mullahs, but from terrorists and extremists. They must all return home, otherwise they will become enemies and traitors," he added.

Although he was diplomatic enough not to mention names, he was more than likely referring to Pakistan.

Not that there are that many studying abroad, but there are reasons some believe the youth are being drawn into radicalism.

The government's religious affairs committee said two months ago that there were "dozens of Tajiks" studying at religious schools and universities abroad.

Analysts say deepening economic hardship and social problems are pushing Tajiks toward radical Islam, threatening stability in the otherwise secular nation of seven million.

Industrial output declined by 6.3 percent last year in Tajikistan, one of the poorest former Soviet republics.

The whole central Asian region seems to be battling the same thing- an increase in religious extremism. Though mostly Muslim, most of the countries in that region are secular. Uzbekistan is also having troubles with a rise in extremism.

Twenty-five militants whom the government alleges are members of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) escaped from prison late Sunday, killing six guards and seizing weapons in a nighttime jaibreak.

Government officials said the militants were likely headed for the remote Rasht Valley region near the Afghan border, where many of them were arrested last year during a government clampdown on the restive area.

Guards along the rugged border with Afghanistan -- as well as neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and China -- were put on high alert to prevent the escaped militants from leaving the country.

The trouble is that in some of those countries with less than stellar human rights records, there are claims by Human Rights organizations that those governments are simply using the terrorist threat as a pretext to halt all political dissidence. Even though Tajikistan's constitution provides for freedom of religion it has apparently imprisoned Muslims from groups that are not officially 'endorsed' by the government, labeling them extremists. Perhaps they are, perhaps not, but I can understand the fear of radicalism.

Rahmon has taken it a step further, with attempts to shut down all unregistered religious schools in the country.

Rakhmon said the government's religion committee would determine how many religious leaders the country needs and "send them to religious institutions that do not have extremist or terrorist aims".

I'm not a big promoter of government interfering in one's life, but with the rise in religious extremism worldwide, Muslim majority countries like Tajikistan might do well to make every attempt to ensure that their countries don't turn into another Iran or Afghanistan under the Taliban.