Tag Archives: society

Tajikistan sets up fashion commission

JULY 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Concerned about so-called ‘Alien’ clothing, the Tajik government has set up a special commission to persuade ordinary Tajiks to dress in traditional clothes, media reported. Officials in Tajikistan are worried about the spread of extremist Islam and have waged various campaigns against beards that they consider to be too long and also against women’s clothes considered to be too conservative, such as the hijab.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Uzbekistan to reform tax collection system

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JULY 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have said that they intend to reform the country’s tax system in line with a swathe of liberalisations across the country. It is unclear what officials meant by this but media reported that the government wanted to increase the amount of tax collected and cut down on corruption.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Chinese arrest Kazakhs in the West

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JULY 7 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in China have been detaining Kazakhs in an apparent crackdown on ethnic minorities, angering relatives in Kazakhstan, media reported. There have been reports from China for the past month that the authorities were targeting ethnic minorities, including Kazakhs, living in the Xinjiang region of western China.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Fire burns market in Tajikistan

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JULY 3 2017 (The Bulletin) — A fire burnt down most of the biggest bazaar in Dushanbe, destroying hundreds of people’s livelihoods. Police have not yet determined how the fire at the Korvon bazaar started but arson has not been ruled out. The state news agency reported that President Emomali Rakhmon ordered his officials to exempt traders from rent and other taxes.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Uzbekistan banns foreign songs

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JULY 4 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have banned local singers from covering foreign songs, the US-funded RFE/RL report by quoting government officials, possibly an attempt to exert more control over Uzbek culture. Last month, the Uzbek authorities also ruled that musicians needed to ask for permission before posting their music videos online. The apparent need to exert more control and authority over Uzbek culture contrasts with a more relaxed stance towards business under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Pay gas bill, says Uzbek imam

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JUNE 29 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek media quoted an imam at a mosque in Tashkent telling worshippers during a sermon that they wouldn’t be allowed to undertake the Hajj to Mecca unless they had paid off their utility bills. The reports show just how much control the government has over life in Uzbekistan, including influencing imams’ sermons, and also how desperate the authorities are to collect cash for unpaid utility bills.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Uzbekistan to rise utility prices

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JUNE 30 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will raise the cost of electricity and gas it supplies to households by 7% from July 15, media reported quoting the state- owned Uzbekenergo and Uzbekneftegas. This is the second utility price rise in less than a year, the uzdaily.uz website reported. The price rise shows the inflationary pressure built into the Uzbek economy. Last month the Uzbek Central Bank increased its key interest rate to try to dampen inflation.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Online music vids need permission in Uzbekistan

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JULY 1 2017 (The Bulletin) — Musicians in Uzbekistan now have to apply for a licence to post their videos online, rules that officials say are needed to preserve Uzbek traditions and culture. The Uzbek language service of the US- funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that a music video by the Uzbek pop singer Munisa Rizayeva had irked the authorities as being too Hispanic. They said that she had “Hispanicised” words on the music video for her song “Sakramento”.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

LG & Coke sponsor Games in Turkmen capital

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JUNE 27 2017 (The Bulletin) — Korea’s LG International and Coca- Cola will be the main sponsors for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) to be held in Ashgabat in September, a sports media website reported. AIMAG is seen by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov as an important prestige occasion and is the first major international sports event that Turkmenistan has hosted.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Mirziyoyev sets up his own youth movement for Uzbekistan

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TASHKENT, JUNE 30 2017 (The Bulletin) — In a speech to hundreds of youth activists, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that he was renaming their organisation as the Uzbekistan Youth Union, a deliberate break from the Kamolot brand it had used under former President Islam Karimov.

Kamolot had been one of Karimov’s most successful propaganda tools, sweeping up thousands of people aged between 14 and 30. Kamolot, which means perfection in Uzbek, was set up in 2001 as a successor to the Soviet-era Komsomol. Its detractors said it was used by Karimov to create thousands of pliant Uzbeks who would spread his ideology. It was not compulsory to join Kamolot but those that did often found their path smoothed to good government jobs.

During his speech, Mr Mirzioyev, who appears to be relishing his role as the arch-reformer since taking the over the presidency in September 2016 a few days after Karimov died, said that Kamolot had been a narrow project aimed at promoting a few people above everybody else.

“The activity of the movement has been limited to a narrow circle, and was aimed only at its members. The youth who did not join the movement remained out of sight,” he said, also announcing a doubling of the youth movement budget to $51m.

Still, he appeared to contradict himself shortly afterwards with the appointment of 23-year-old Alisher Sadullayev, a former Kamolot member, as his education minister.

And people commentating online after the announcement were sceptical, suggesting that Mr Mirzioyev was aiming to ape Mr Karimov’s Kamolot rather than build a new all-inclusive youth movement.

“I don’t think that there will be a lot of difference between Kamolot and UYU (Uzbekistan Youth Union). The only difference I’m sure about is how UYU members will call them- selves the children of Mirziyoyev’,” one commentator said.

Another was more whimsical. He wrote on Facebook: “Kamolot is dead, long live UYU!”

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)