Has Kazakhstan Blacklisted Beards and Hijabs?

Bearded men and headscarved women beware: Kazakhstan's controversial new law on religion may not have come into force yet, but zealous officials are already cracking down – even though the legislation has nothing to say about facial hair or the hijab.

Bearded men in South Kazakhstan Province are being ordered to shave, reports the Vremya tabloid, quoting a man who says that he and a colleague were summoned to the local authorities in Suzak District and told, “For the sake of peace and quiet in the country shave your beards off.” District governor Berik Meyirbekov told Vremya that the shave order had been issued “so that any person looks pleasant and tidy in front of people and society.”

Elsewhere a row has erupted in the conservative city of Shymkent over wearing hijab in schools, reports Channel 31: Some schools are demanding girls remove their headscarves. Parents are protesting. The new law does not mention the hijab, so wearing it is legal anywhere in Kazakhstan – although President Nursultan Nazarbayev has previously expressed his disapproval.

Most controversially, the new religion law bans prayer in state institutions (from government offices to military barracks and educational establishments) and introduces rigorous registration requirements for religious associations.

The legislation comes into force on October 26, but security officials are already trying to implement it, says Forum 18, an Oslo-based religious rights watchdog.

Forum 18 said that in the oil city of Atyrau in western Kazakhstan – the scene of extremist activity that sparked the hasty adoption of the controversial law – a raid on a Protestant prayer meeting left a 17-year-old girl unconscious after she was elbowed by a police officer. The watchdog also reported the brief detention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Almaty on the grounds that the new legislation bans missionary activity on the street. 

Watch out for more confusion and consternation over religious freedom as the law takes effect next week.