Kazakhstan imposes ban on hijab in educational institutions, causing public resentment

The recent Kazakh government’s ban on wearing the hijab in educational institutions has sparked public resentment in the country.

According to official figures, nearly 70% of Kazakhstan’s population is Muslim, while supporters of the ban stress that Kazakhstan is a secular state.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Education, Janybek Bisembayev, confirmed that in the Atyrau region alone, 150 girls have dropped out of school since the beginning of September due to the ban, and in the Turkestan region.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also commented on the issue at the National Teachers’ Conference in the capital, Astana, saying that “religious freedom is guaranteed by law in our country,” adding that Kazakhstan was and will remain a secular state. However, opponents say that ‘such restrictions violate the principles of freedom of conscience’.”

Togyan Kogayly, a member of the Social Council, who said that “the ban is illegal and the hijab is actually a head covering worn by girls in Kazakhstan since puberty, that is, from a certain age”.

Kogyaly added: “The law enshrines the right to wear clothing, and the ban that has been enacted is an intended obstacle to the exercise of this right.”

The spiritual administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan has proposed a solution that would require girls who wish to wear the hijab to be educated in a school or Islamic educational institution.