America’s Attempt to Start A War Near the Russian Border

The United States is trying to destabilize the situation in Central Asia by speculating on religion and “the freedom to practice religion.” U.S. Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Ian Kelly strongly criticized the situation in Tajikistan, where the government, in his words, is taking steps to repress its religious population.

In the first place, this religious freedom fighter (Kelly) was appalled that President Emomalii Rahmon’s proposed bill on “parental responsibility for child rearing” would bar any Tajik under 18 years of age from being a member of a religious organization. Under this bill, parents who look the other way will be fined. If this measure does not work, they may lose their parental rights.

Ian Kelly fears that minors will be generally prohibited from attending religious ceremonies and services, except for funerals. The U.S. ambassador to the OSCE admonished Dushanbe regarding this matter: “We encourage the government of Tajikistan to remove this draft provision, which would constitute a serious violation of religious freedom.” He also recalled other egregious actions that from his point of view defied true democracy, adding, “We note with concern that a de facto ban on women attending mosques is already in effect in Tajikistan.”

Just recall that a few years ago, Tajikistan’s Ulema Council forbade the female population from attending mosques that do not have special facilities for women. However, the opinions of Muslims apparently do not matter to Americans like Kelly. In his view, women should visit mosques, despite clear-cut preexisting rules.

But that’s not all. American defenders of religious freedom are disturbed by another act of “repression” against believers: the attempt by Tajik authorities to limit the number of their citizens who are studying in religious educational institutions outside the country. Back in late August 2010, Rahmon expressed serious concerns that students who undergo this experience would “return to their homeland as terrorists and extremists,” and urged the students’ parents to immediately bring their children back to their homeland.

It should be noted that the Tajik leadership expresses a desire to preserve the secular nature of the state. In keeping with this, Rahmon has banned female students from attending schools and universities in Muslim headscarves. He recently came out with harsh criticism against women who wear these scarves in their everyday lives.

And oddly enough, American diplomats, who can hardly be suspected of sincere sympathy for Islam, are adopting the role of defenders of Tajik Muslims. What is the reason for so much attention to this group of people? Experts Sergei Mikheyev and Heidar Jemal express their opinions in an interview by the website Pravda.Ru.

Sergei Mikheyev, general director of the Political Conjuncture Center, said, “It’s not surprising that the Americans are trying to put pressure on Rahmon. First of all, the U.S. intelligence services and the government-funded NGOs have traditionally supported the most intimate contacts with the Islamists in Central Asia, including radicals of the terrorist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Furthermore, they direct the activities of Saudi funds, representatives of which are responsible for subversive and often terrorist acts in many countries around the world.”

“Americans verbally condemn terrorism, but actually encourage it where it is profitable. In Central Asia their objective is destabilization of the situation in Tajikistan, using the example of the events in Andijan, Uzbekistan in 2005. And they do so in order to create a favorable situation for military intervention and expansion of the U.S. military presence in the region,” he added.

Heidar Jemal, chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, said, “It is ridiculous to think that Americans, who have shed so much blood in Muslim countries, have suddenly begun to genuinely defend Muslims. The fact is that the U.S. is now actively engaged in igniting war in the vast territory from Maghreb to India, and especially in the immediate vicinity of the Russian border.”

“Their policy with regard to Tajikistan is one of the links that are being worked on to ignite a big fire in the Old World. For example, what Americans are doing in that country should not be considered without regard to what they are doing in North Africa. Now they persist in trying to get their European NATO allies involved in an operation against Libya and pit the Southern Mediterranean against the Northern. Plus, Americans are the ones who actively supported the anti-Gadhafi jihadists over the last three years.”

“As for Tajikistan, the Americans do not like the fact that Rahmon maintains ties with Moscow and stubbornly refuses to aggravate relations with Tashkent. They also want to pit Tajikistan and Uzbekistan against each other, using radical movements such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, since this has somewhat worked in the past. The U.S. ambassador’s statement to the OSCE may serve as a kind of signal to the forces, which the U.S. has nurtured and fed. By igniting a serious fire in the region, Americans provide a global source of instability around the Russian borders,” Jemal concluded.