“I faced condemnation from others, so now I try not to display the fact that I am a Christian. In the beginning, even my parents didn’t accept my decision. But when they saw that I had not changed at all, and, on the contrary, they realised  that I became a better person. But sometimes I have problems with my wife. She doesn’t understand me.” Umed explains.

“We don’t usually discuss my religion, and I never talk to my neighbours about it,” he continued.  “It is better if they do not know. I cannot explain my decision to everyone, as there are a lot of fanatics.”

Tajikistan’s population of nine million is overwhelmingly Muslim. Although the state theoretically respects the freedoms of religious minorities, local Christians are regularly discriminated against. 

Many Christian missionaries came to Tajikistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union, bringing a number of new Protestant movements. There are now 67 non-Muslim religious associations registered in Tajikistan, mostly Christian. These non-Muslim groups have also been affected by the increasingly tighter controls in the religious sphere. With interest growing in Islam, especially in rural areas, the state has introduced numerous measures it says are needed to counter radicalisation.

However, local and international human rights activists have criticised the authorities’ approach to religious freedom, describing it as part of a wider policy of discrimination. The focus has been on Islamism, but minority groups have also been affected.

Source: iwpr.net