Apparently, this year was the last in which Russian pilgrims could (and will) go on Hajj through tour companies — at least until better times come to the country. This is suggested by the state’s latest tightening initiative in the religious sphere: yesterday, amendments were made to two federal laws, which are expected to come into force on November 1, 2019: «On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation» and the federal law «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations.»
Previously, religious pilgrimages were considered a type of tourist trips that could be sold by tour companies on a general basis. At the same time, the organizing structures — both commercial and religious — were subject to requirements, including liability insurance. Now, religious pilgrimages will be organized only by religious organizations, and the new amendments do not require them to insure pilgrims, which was the responsibility of tourism companies.
Considering that currently up to a third of all religious pilgrimages in the country are organized by tour companies, the corresponding market will effectively be transformed — the law will be used to achieve what was often done by criminal means before. And although all religious experts agree that this transformation was advocated by the Russian Orthodox Church, there is no doubt that individual regional parliaments, which fight for a monopoly on sending pilgrims to the Hajj in certain regions, will benefit from it.
However, in addition to the commercial aspect, the new initiative clearly has a political aspect — following the trend of tightening control in the country as a whole and in the religious sphere in particular. This includes bans on gathering in private homes for religious meetings and initiatives for total surveillance of all religious premises in the country with video cameras. It is not surprising that the turn has come to pilgrimages, which the state has decided to make a monopoly of its agents in the religious sphere.
What will be the next step? Will the organizers of pilgrimages be required to videotape them and submit reports on their progress to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs?