Page 202 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
200

Communist Mentality Uneasy Over the Islamic
Revival in Central Asia
The religious re-awakening that began in the Turkic states in the
1980s alarmed the Kremlin. The Mikhail Gorbachev administration in
particular was greatly concerned at the growth in religious feeling. That
was something frequently reflected in the newspapers of the time, and
all the measures to be taken by the Kremlin were set out. According to
the Uzbek daily Pravda Vostoka, in a speech Gorbachev gave to local
party officials he called for a "firm and uncompromising struggle
against religious phenomena." Then he said, "We must be strict above
all with Communist and senior officials, particularly those who say
they defend our morality and ideals but in fact help promote backward
views and themselves take part in religious ceremonies." 49
On Gorbachev's firm stand against faith, Time reports:
Indeed, it is rare for a Soviet General Secretary to attack religion so
directly;that is usually left to underlings. Beyond that, the critique sug-
gested that Kremlin is concerned that the state's struggle against reli-
gion has not been going well. Finally, the fact that Gorbachev chose
Tashkent as the place to attack religion indicated that the Soviet leader-
ship is specifically fearful about the currents ...sweeping the Islamic
world, which might eventually infect the fast-growing Muslim na-
tionalities of Soviet Central Asia.
[Since 1918], the regime has placed rigid limits upon churches,
synagogues and mosques and waged
a campaign of oppression against be-
lievers. The training of religious lead-
ers is tightly restricted, and religious
education of children under the age
of 18 is illegal. At the same time, all
schoolchildren are indoctrinated in
atheism.
Islam has become a special prob-
lem, and a special concern. Soviet
Islam A. Karimov
Muslims are concentrated in the