COUNTRIES

Ilova Sokolova 12.10.23

“Will niqab, hijab and short pants be forbidden?” Journalists asked this question to the minister of culture and information of Kazakhstan. According to Aida Balayeva, “We will definitely study these norms and offer our solutions.” This answer came amid parliamentary inquiries about “strange movements under the guise of Islam” threatening the principles of the Kazakh society.

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Botagoz Omarova 02.10.23

Kazakhstan should live according to Sharia law, according to Nurtas Adambai, a prominent Kazakh actor and director. How does the republic assess this statement? (more…)

Ilova Sokolova 25.09.23

“My daughter wears a headscarf and she is not allowed to attend public school. I teach her at home, and she also attends the course of English at the training centre,” a mother based in West Kazakhstan region said wondering why her child cannot pursue secondary education. (more…)

Ilova Sokolova 28.08.23

“I am a religious person, and I thought that people would be honest and I wanted to invest some money in the campaign,” a Kazakhstani man who invested his money in the Ponzi scheme, Mudarabah Capital, explained his behaviour. The scheme has duped 200 persons. Why did they rise to the ‘religious’ bait so easily?

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Alina Levchenko 07.08.23

In Kazakhstan, religious symbols have become the corporate marketing tools. Experts, interviewed by CABAR.asia, specify several reasons why it happens in the secular state.

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Botagoz Omarova 18.07.23

Is it the ideological revolution, tribute to the fashion, a way to get married, or a paid flash mob?  These are the motives behind the new phenomenon in Kazakhstan social media: girls with many followers on Instagram, so-called insta celebrities, started wearing hijabs. CABAR.asia is figuring out what or who could stay behind the ‘mass veiling.” (more…)

CABAR.asia 12.07.23

The problem of Kazakhstan, as well as other ex-Soviet countries, is the assurance that religion a priori carries threat, in particular, to the political structure and cultural identity, experts say. Therefore, religion laws contain provisions that discriminate against religious people. (more…)

Talgat Umarov 24.06.23

Uralsk still has a community of Old Believers of the Russian Orthodox Church. The parish officially has 50 parishioners, yet fewer people attend church services.  Believers repair their church that was built in 1888 at their own cost, observe traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, which existed until the 17th century and thank authorities of Kazakhstan for not oppressing them. (more…)

Anar Bekbassova 08.05.23

Schoolgirls wearing hijabs and headscarves have divided the society of Kazakhstan. Some call the ban on wearing religious head covering the oppression of girls. Others believe this ban is a normal practice in a secular state. Still others develop the model of a headscarf acceptable for schools. (more…)

Alina Levchenko 10.04.23

Since 2011, religious associations in Kazakhstan have been forced to choose: either register or stop existing. Representatives of the authorities believe that registration will stop radical ideas from spreading. But human rights defenders see it as an excessive control by the state over law-abiding citizens. (more…)

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