Mohit Nayal - The Invisible Wall of China

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China

New States within the Region of Central Asia

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Introduction

The region of Central Asia comprising of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan had been under the control of Soviet Union for more than 70 years. The nations within the region gained their independence in 1991, once Soviet Union disintegrated. A large majority of the people from this region are Muslims. However, during the Soviet rule, the religious freedom of the Muslims was limited and the religion was under state control.

Islam in Central Asia

Islam is the worlds second largest religion with over one billion adherents, representing 22 percent of the worlds population. Therefore, in 1991, after the region gained independence, the mindset of its people, behind the iron curtains, was still of the 1920s.

In comparison to the practices of Islam in other Muslim nations like the Saudi Arabia or Iran, the practices of Islam in Central Asia were as such very moderate. The moderation was due to the acceptance for the nomadic practices of ancient times. It was like the fermentation of a mares milk into mildly intoxicating Qymyz which reflected a less strict attitude towards alcohol. Similarly, Islam in Central Asia accommodated the needs of nomadic Kazakh and Kyrgyz women to ride horses and work equally with men, free of the hijab (Islamic dress) adopted by more sedentary communities, like the Uzbeks and people from Tajikistan Then there are Kazakhs, who are essentially nomads, originally one of the tribes of Genghis Khans Mongol horde. Sharing boundaries with Kazakhstan is a much smaller state of Kyrgyzstan, which is also a nomadic state. Kyrgyzstans biggest problem is that it lacks self-reliance in the production sector and largely depends upon exports.

On the eve of independence in 1991, the religious passions in Central Asia were at the peak and therefore groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir and IMU came into existence. Hizb-ut-Tahrir proclaimed the means of non-violence, and intent to get the complete region of Central Asia under the Islamic rule.

There are 130 ethnic groups in Central Asia. Large majorities of these groups have past affiliations with Turkey and speak in various versions of the Turkish language. The Soviets during the Cold war era ensured that no region retained its ethnic cohesiveness. Therefore, people of Soviet Union where forced to migrate to regions where the ethnic minorities dominated the land. Thus, a large number of Russians from the mainland migrated into the Soviet Provinces in Central Asia. By the end of the 1980s, more than 5 million Russians had migrated to Kazakhstan, 2 million to Uzbekistan, over 0.9 million to Kyrgyzstan, 0.38 million to Tajikistan, and more than 0.3 million to Turkmenistan . Once the region became independent, some of the Russians migrated back to the mainland. However, a substantial strength of Russians continued to stay in the region. The other minority groups existing in Central Asia are the Baptists, Roman Catholics, Korean Protestants, Zoroastrians, Hare Krishna and Jews. Governments of all states within this region, claim that its people freely exercise their right to religion. As a measure for ensuring secularism, almost all the governments insist that the religious institutions must get state approval. Fortunately, the religious institutions do not govern the present political ideology. Still, the possibility of Islamic groups acquiring a dominating position in the political arena in future needs closer monitoring by the international organisations. Due to this uncertainty and because of the weak governments, the minority groups of the region constantly stay in fear. On the religious front, the governments in the region claim to promote the religious practices of the minority community. However, large number of international agencies functioning there, feel that the things on ground are quite contrary to those which the states claim them to be.