· May, 2013

Stories about Tajikistan from May, 2013

Tajik Constitution's ‘Fairy Tales’

  31 May 2013

Mardikornoma blog comments [tj] on the constitution of Tajikistan, suggesting that it has become more of a fairy tales book than the country's supreme law: As I skim through the pages of Tajikistan's Constitution, I cannot help thinking that this document must be from some other country.

Central Asia's ‘Weird, Sad’ World Records

  31 May 2013

As Turkmenistan celebrates a recent Guinness World Record award for the highest density of white marble buildings, Caravanistan writes about the “weird, sad, and revealing” world records held by other countries of Central Asia.

YouTube Blocked in Tajikistan After Video of President Dancing Goes Viral

  27 May 2013

As tensions surrounding elections slated for November continue to poison the political mood in Tajikistan, a video of President Emomali Rahmon singing and dancing at his son's wedding has gone viral, giving opposition figures yet another reason to criticize the excesses of the ruling family and the Tajik authorities yet another reason to block the video-sharing platform YouTube. The wedding took place in 2007, but the video was uploaded to YouTube on May 18, 2013.

Wikipedia to Appear in Shughni

  12 May 2013

“Good news Pamiris,” writes [ru] Bektour Iskender, President of Kloop Media, a Kyrgyz news portal and blogging platform. “Wikipedia has provided permission to begin a version of the site in Shughni.” Shughni is one of the main languages spoken in Gorno Badakhshan province (GBAO), a remote, eastern part of Tajikistan...

Stop Somonizing Tajikistan!

  6 May 2013

It is a pity that instead of the 'leninization' of the monument space we now have its 'somonization'. Every town erects a Somoni statue. How much more can we take? Why do we need so many identical monuments? Somoni might have been a heroic figure (which is impossible to ascertain now because the country's history is excessively ideologized and politicized), but we should not turn him into a new Lenin, a 'father' or 'grandfather' of the nation.

From Russia with No Love…for Central Asia

  3 May 2013

Migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus are the usual victims of racist sentiment in Russia. Aware of deepening anti-migrant feelings, many of Moscow's politicians promote right-wing policies. But there is one politician that always goes a step further than the rest.