Tajikistan cops shave beards of 13000 men, convinces women to abandon hijab

Tajikistan removes headscarves from 1700 women and shaves beards off 13000 men to tackle jihadism

Police in Tajikistan shaved the beards of almost 13,000 men and convinced 1,770 women to stop wearing the hijab in the previous year in a bid to tackle "foreign influences", it has been reported.

Tajikistan's secular leadership has long sought to prevent a spillover of what it sees as unwelcome traditions from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The regional police force distributed a photograph of a sullen, bare-chinned man who had undergone a forced shaving after he was found to have an "overly long and unkempt beard".

According to a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty blog on Central Asia, officials have been "working overtime" to regulate everyday life in Tajikistan so that it conforms to the government's idea of traditional Tajik values.

The head of south-west Khathlon region's police, Bahroom Sharifzoda, also said they convinced over 1,700 women to abandon headscarves.

Emomali Rahmon is known for taking steps to promote and protect Tajikistan's stability, says Radio Liberty ^[1], a broadcasting organisation.

Last week, the parliament voted to ban Arabic or "foreign-sounding names" after a rise in babies named Mohammad.

Tajikistan's Supreme Court in September 2015, banned the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan - the country's only registered Islamic political party, which the government blamed on radical Islamism, after ongoing violence.

The nation was formerly a part of the Soviet Union and remains heavily dependent on Russian Federation, having struggled economically since its independence.

Rahmon, who has ruled since 1994 is expected to end his current presidential term in 2020.

There are thought to be up to 2,000 fighters from Tajikistan with ISIS in Syria.