Li-Changchun wrote:

Tashkent (AsiaNews) – Unregistered religious activities are illegal in
Uzbekistan; any believer caught praying or meditating in group—including in
the privacy of the home—is liable for punishment.

All religious groups, Muslim groups included, are under government control.
Muslims involved in unregistered groups are especially targeted for harsh
treatment; they can be arrested and detained for years for allegedly
“undermining the constitutional basis of the Uzbek Republic”.

However, new religious groups are in a catch-22 situation since it is nearly
impossible for them to be legally registered.

Missionary activity is banned as is religious proselytizing. Anyone caught
involved in either activity can be heavily fined or end up in prison.

Anyone who wants to teach religion must get a government license.

The government also censors religious literature and bans its import.
....
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=3120



I believe most Uzbeks are historically Muslims. However, in that general
area of the former USSR, atheism is probably still state mandated. The
recently overthrown dictator of Kyrgyzstan had ruled since 1985, when it
was still a SSR. To the professors at Stanford, locked away in the ivory
tower, state enforced atheism still sounds like a good idea, because
religion is so "illogical" and "unscientific" to them. Never mind that
most of the world, including (especially) the US, has been moving in the
opposite direction.


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