Kazakhstani mission helps fight religious extremism

ALMATY – The new National Information and Propaganda Group on Religious Issues (RIPG) is touring Kazakhstan to explain the dangers of extremism to the public. Since early August, the group has been to Almaty and to the Northern Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda and Atyrau oblasts.

“The religious teachings of various orientations that have circulated widely among our youth in these times arouse concern,” said Aidar Abuov, director of the International Centre for Cultures and Religions and a member of RIPG. “Religious illiteracy and our society’s atheistic past played a significant role in (causing) this situation.”

The country’s agencies in charge of monitoring religion, he said, decided to form the RIPG and send it on an anti-extremist mission.

The number of followers of non-traditional Islamic groups in Kazakhstan is growing, said RIPG member Murat Mynbayev, deputy chairman of the Hajji Association and rector of the Rukhaniyat Muslim University. He attributed the growth to religious illiteracy, a situation he called “soil for extremist groups.”

RIPG members have been highlighting the differences between religion and extremism for the public, youth and NGOs.

“Such meetings are especially important during Ramadan,” undergraduate Bekkasim Ibdraimov, who attended a meeting in Almaty Oblast, said. “When I asked how to distinguish between true Islam and deception, analysts explained that Islam promotes peace and constructive endeavour and teaches honesty and tolerance. Islam is opposed to violence and aggression.”

After Kazakhstan proclaimed independence, religious missionaries arrived from all over the world, theologian Balgabek Myrzayev said.

“No one is against the strengthening of Muslim ideas in Kazakhstan, but one wouldn’t like terrorist acts or clashes with extremists, like those in Aktobe, to occur again,” analyst Yegor Vassilyev said. “Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic country, and our feelings of religious tolerance mustn’t be extinguished.”

“Many young attendees said they’d like the chance to meet with mullahs and other religious personages more often to ask questions,” undergraduate Gorkhmaz Kerimov of Atyrau Oblast said. “As we discussed the general level of education of our clergy, we were told that insufficiently educated mullahs would be either fired or retrained.”

“I can’t agree our imams are uneducated,” Nurbek Yesmaganbet, chief imam of the central mosque of Atyrau, contended. “We are always ready to help, explain and hold conversations.”

“At meetings, arguments have often arisen, as have accusations of incompetence of local clerics,” Vassilyev said. “This is useful also because it helps identify problems that are specific to each region; you can’t compare Aktau and Almaty, for example.”

To complement the RIPG, Kazakhstani analysts and theologians have been studying other countries’ experience in resisting religious extremism, Balgabek Myrzayev, executive director of the Fund for Support of Islamic Culture and Education, said.

“Kazakhstan is concerned that it has become perceived as a country where extremist influence is growing,” Vassilyev said. “The official media carry several publications per day about true Islam and the damage wrought by religious extremism. Only half a year ago, we would only shrug at any mention of extremism in Kazakhstan, thinking that had nothing at all to do with us.”

After the recent events in Aktobe, all law enforcement agencies in the country have been on high alert, a National Security Committee official said, speaking on terms of anonymity.

“So far the secret services have been fast enough to detect and suppress extremist activity, but we’ve also taken steps to strengthen our security system as a whole, both locally and internationally,” he said. Such steps include reinforcing the borders, he said.

The problem is soluble, because “extremism is a phenomenon imposed on Kazakhstan from without,” Vassilyev said.

“The Kazakhstani population, compared to those in neighbouring countries, lives in prosperity,” he said. “There are no reasons for a growth of extremism; it’s simply the nearness of Dagestan, Afghanistan, etc., making itself felt.”

A survey carried out by the Institute for Political Solutions in July showed that of the 2,000-odd respondents, 63.5% identify themselves as Muslims; 30% do not rule out the possibility of terrorist acts in the country; and the majority favours the advancement of the ideas of moderate Islam in Kazakhstan.