BISHKEK: Lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday gave their backing to new government proposals for tighter controls on religion, prompted by concern about a rise in extremism in the central Asian state.

The authorities in Bishkek want to modify the law on “freedom of religion and religious associations” as part of a wider crackdown on Islamist radicals.

The amendments, which were adopted in first reading at parliament, include banning religiously-based political parties and door-to-door preaching activities.

They also propose creating “central bodies” to regulate religious associations and require anyone wanting to receive religious education abroad to obtain prior consent to prevent a “destructive influence” from outside the country.

Kyrgyzstan is secular but with a Muslim majority. Thousands of people from the country, and other former Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) joined fighter groups in Syria and Iraq in the last decade.

In mid-October, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which includes Central Asian countries, Russia, Iran and China, reported that fighters from the region were among religious groups in Syria that helped bring down strongman Bashar al Assad last week.

Last month, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov urged the country’s main religious leaders to “fight against radical elements” and “guide those who have strayed from the right path”.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024