Yesterday, on December 26, a "task" sent to the heads of secondary education institutions in the Fergana region stated that the attendance of schoolchildren at Friday prayers has become a "serious issue" and that measures will be taken against the parents and teachers of students who attend mosques. A "warning letter" was sent to the schools' social media groups by deputy directors with the following content:
"Dear class leaders, the National Guard and security personnel are currently holding a meeting. Tomorrow, Friday prayers in mosques will be inspected."
Any student caught on video during prayer will be subject to disciplinary action against their parents, and if the incident occurs during class, the subject teacher will be subject to disciplinary action. Warn your students during "Class Hour"! This is a very serious matter: be careful!
"Please also share this message with parents and guardians through class groups," the post says.
It is clear that while the issue of providing quality education in educational institutions remains, teachers who are surrounded by students' headscarves have been given another "task". And this is to prevent students from going to the mosque not only during classes, but also in their free time.
Why such rules are being developed for students is, as always, unclear. It seems that students who go to the mosque, learn not to betray someone else's rights, and are taught decency and goodness will not contribute to the development of the country in the future... In fact, weren't the officials who are drowning in the swamp of corruption and who are unable to provide the population with gas every winter, even with their own money, once students who were educated in an atheistic spirit? If the corrupt had been educated in an Islamic spirit and in accordance with our national values, wouldn't they have become specialists who would think not only about their own "petty interests" but also about the people's problems? Do those who give orders from above ever ask themselves such questions?
The current situation in Uzbekistan indicates that even the limited freedoms granted to believers after 2017 are being stifled again. While studying the information, I came across a report by Ozodlik that in 2016, parents of students at Secondary School No. 30 in Andijan were asked to write letters of guarantee not to send their children to the mosque during the summer holidays. The news that is currently emerging indicates that the situation with freedom of religion in the country is deteriorating again.
We need to think about the consequences tomorrow of restricting young people's religious education today, banning them from even attending mosques, and raising them in a way that is alien to their own values.
