Islamism on the Rise in Ferghana
Several months ago, I expressed skepticism at the claim that the IMU was making a comeback: given its invocation any time one of the governments that poke territory into Ferghana feel the need to crack down on their citizens, it just didn’t seem credible. That isn’t to say Islamism is not gaining market share, as recounted by a recent Alisher Saipov documentary about the increasing popularity of Hizb-ut-Tahrir on Channel Four. The BBC has picked up this meme as well:
Both are very worth watching. Writing at neweurasia—Uzbekistan
Both are very worth watching. Writing at neweurasia—Uzbekistan, blogger Libertad notes his reaction:
I think that officials of both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan need to take another, more effective approach in dealing with religious organizations, especially Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Here I fully agree with Tim Epkenhans, director of OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, who told to BBC reporter that “the security agencies [of the region] definitely provided these [Islamic] organizations with certain myth that they are doing something bad against the government” and that “the very disproportionate prosecution of Islamic organizations, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir, is in the end generating more conflict and violence than it solves.”
Indeed, that is the pattern of most Muslim-majority societies that have gradually radicalized. Government over-reach and poor planning result in an increase, rather than a decrease, in the social capital of these radical groups. But as long as groups like the IMU serve as the Great Boogeyman to gullible Western policy-makers, I doubt we will see much change.
Hesperophobia (fear or hatred of the West).
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