Tajikistan: A Land of Strange Laws, Quite Conservative and Closed

(Patria) - Although I have visited many conservative and quite closed countries, this one seems to be one of the most extreme so far, says travel writer Robert Dacešin for Punkufer about Tajikistan, a country he visited a few years ago.

Regardless of dedicating his life to travel and experiencing the most diverse excitements on his journeys, Tajikistan did not leave him indifferent.

- Among other things, New Year's, Christmas, and any form of public celebration are banned here. Organizing weddings with many people is forbidden, and at funerals, it is not allowed to cry loudly, put hands on your head, or show excessive emotions.

Children are forbidden from being given foreign names, men are not allowed to wear long beards, and all martial arts that promote violence are also banned - says Dacešin.

According to him, those brave enough to celebrate a birthday in a Tajikistani cafe or restaurant can freely set aside some money for a fine.

A few years ago, Amirbek Isayev learned a lesson about the ban on celebrations the hard way, after having to pay a fine of approximately 600 euros, which is a huge sum in Tajikistan.

The key evidence was a photo on Facebook showing the celebrant and a cake. He was found guilty regardless of the waiter's testimony in court that no one congratulated Amirbek on his birthday.

Since 2016, citizens must name their children from the official state registry, and restaurants must also have appropriate names.

Those who want to open an Italian restaurant in Dushanbe cannot name it Bella Italia or something similar, because the law on the state language stipulates that restaurants must have traditional names.

- When we talk about this country, Tajikistan, or the Land of Tajiks, it is the smallest country in Central Asia, formed after the collapse of the USSR, with about ten million people living there today, while twice as many Tajiks live outside the country, as many as 20 million.

The capital and largest city is Dushanbe, and mountains cover almost 90 percent of Tajikistan's territory.

Some are truly high, so the country's highest peak, Ismail Samani, is at an altitude of 7,495 meters and was once the highest peak in the entire Soviet Union, called Communism Peak.

Tajikistan was also the least developed republic of the former Soviet Union, and it still ranks among the poorest countries in this part of the world - concludes Dacešin.