ISLAM IN THE FERGHANA VALLEY 315
arose with the de-legitimation of all authority and quickly degenerated into simple
aggression and terrorism. With the first appearance of the radical manifestations
of re-Islamization, it was clear that intra-confessional differences, sometimes with
a regional dimension, had become a major force for destabilization across the
region. In Tajikistan at this time youths, drawn largely from among the religious
fundamentalists, tied black scarves on their heads with the words of the faith in one
God (“La ilaha illa-1-lah”), and also organized demonstrations, thus contributing to
the outbreak of the civil war. In Osh young Wahhabis, encouraged by their leaders,
began seizing mosques, mounting demonstrations, and joining in the battle for the
mosques in Andijan and Namangan.
Thanks to this, in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan the question of regula-
tions to ensure stability arose even before the new governments appeared. About
this time the American expert Zbigniew Brzezinski declared that religious conflict
in Central Asia would turn the region into something like the Balkans. The situation
had indeed become very tense and complicated by the mounting economic dif-
ficulties, which brought a humanitarian catastrophe in their wake. Besides this, the
success of the Taliban in Afghanistan marked the emergence of a very aggressive
Islamic state, ready to intervene in the internal affairs of its neighbors.
The new governments of the region, with no experience in the politics of religion,
sought ways to stabilize the situation. Most found means for doing so within their
own countries, in their own environments. The most dramatic challenges arose from
the very aggressive actions of the fundamentalists in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In
Tajikistan this eventually led to the legalization of the IRPT, while in Uzbekistan
the government mustered enough will and determination to stop all acts of extreme
aggression by the new Islamists.
Viewing this situation in hindsight, it seems clear that the collapse of the USSR
did not leave Central Asian champions of the new political Islam in a mood to
engage in accommodating dialogue. This was especially the case in Tajikistan
and not least of all within the IRPT.
50
Quite the contrary, once they gained full
freedom of religion, the Islamists of the region charged forward to establish an
Islamic state based solely on sharia law, all the while showing extreme intoler-
ance toward the governments, infidels, and apostates. The latter were in fact those
Muslims satisfied with the religious freedom they now enjoyed and disinclined to
engage in confrontations amid what was already a very fragile political, social,
and ethnic situation.
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