Monday, June 25, 2012 -
Tajikistan’s Islamic Revival Party (IRP), the only legal Islamic political party in Central Asia, said Monday it was barred from celebrating a national Tajik holiday.
The annual National Unity Day held June 27 commemorates a treaty signed between Islamic rebels and the Tajikistan government in Moscow on 27 June 1997 that brought to an end a bloody five-year-long civil war.
IRP deputy chairman Mahmadali Hoit told the media that two district authorities in the southern province of Khatlon prevented its local offices from organizing events to mark the major holiday.
Authorities in Qumsangir district “justified their refusal by saying that the building belongs to the state and it cannot be used by political parties for holding any events or actions,” the Asia-Plus news agency cited Hoit as saying.
In Danghara district, officials “did not allow us to hold the event because our party is not registered as tax payer with the tax inspectorate of the district,” he added.
The party is organizing a series of meetings and roundtables across the country this month dedicated to the holiday.
The events are expected to be attended by senior officials of political parties, including government representatives and members of the former United Tajik Opposition (UTO) and former Commission for National Reconciliation.
The IRP won two seats in parliamentary elections in 2010 and has between 25,000 and 30,000 members. The party publishes a newspaper entitled “Najot,” meaning “Salvation.”
Originally registered in 1991, the IRP was banned by the Supreme Court two years later. In 1999, the party was legalized once again.