The Voice of Islam does not often cover events in Kazakhstan (although we would be happy to provide a platform on our website for Kazakh believers who wish to do so), but nevertheless our resource has been blocked in that country for several years. Frankly, at first we did not understand why, since our attitude toward the Nazarbayev regime had long been quite cautious.
There was a time when the current Kazakh authorities were quite tolerant of Islamic preaching, as long as it did not touch on political issues. Given the complex geopolitical situation in Kazakhstan and its equally complex ethnodemographic situation, many Muslims at that time felt it was wrong to «rock the boat» lest they play into the hands of this Muslim country’s unfriendly neighbors.
Nevertheless, we could not ignore the attacks by the Kazakh authorities on schoolchildren, especially girls wearing headscarves, from religious families, which became a clear indication of a change in the regime’s policy toward Islam. Apparently, this did not go unnoticed, and our website was blocked in Kazakhstan without warning or explanation (at least in Russia, we are in constant dispute with Roskomnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office through our lawyers).
But what is happening now in Kazakhstan in the fight against religious families is sheer madness. In particular, in Aktobe, arrests of fathers of schoolgirls wearing headscarves have begun — three such persons have already been arrested for periods ranging from 3 to 5 days. Four other parents have been fined, and a total of 43 parents whose daughters continue to wear headscarves to school are being prepared for reprisals.
However, such «lenient» punishments did not satisfy Berdybek Saparbayev (pictured), the Akim (head) of the Aktobe region. Reporting on the situation at an open meeting with residents, his deputy Kulparsyn Aidarkhanova said that work was being done with «problematic» families. «These are very difficult families, but we work with them. We visit their homes, veterans talk to them,» she assured her boss. But this «liberalism» did not satisfy him. «They should be put in jail for 10-25 days. Let them sit and think about the future of their children,» he said.
So in Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan, people are already being jailed for sending their children to school wearing headscarves. It may only be for 3-5 days now, but soon it may be for 10-25 days. It seems that the spread of the Chinese experience of re-education camps for Muslim Kazakhs in Kazakhstan itself is not far off.
In this light, Astana’s official position on the persecution of Kazakhs in China looks completely different. The Nazarbayev regime does not protect them, as one might assume from the repression of Muslims in Kazakhstan, not out of fear of Beijing, but out of ideological solidarity with it and a desire to adopt its experience.