CHECHNYA: Chechnya Muslim Leader Calls For Women To Cover Up

Date: 
Friday, February 4, 2011
Source: 
Reuters
Countries: 
Europe
Europe
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Human Rights

The spiritual leader of Russia's Muslim Chechnya region called on women on Wednesday to dress more "modestly" and only show their face and hands, in the latest attempt by authorities to install Islamic ideas.

A decade after Moscow drove separatists from power in the second of two wars, Chechnya rests on a shaky peace. Spiritual leaders are gaining influence and power in the region, leading analysts to say Chechnya is evolving towards autonomy once again.

"Women must understand our request," mufti Sultan Mirzayev told Reuters in an interview in the Chechen capital Grozny.

"We are not forcing anyone, but we are calling on women to wear traditional Islamic dress, where only the hands and face are visible," he said.

The mufti's words carry no legal weight but are generally followed because he is a respected spiritual leader and because of his ties to Chechnya's hardline, Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Kadyrov, who has repeatedly spoken out about his dislike for women who dress less appropriately than what he deems acceptable, ordered an edict in 2007 that banned women from going bareheaded in state buildings.

Though it was in direct violation of Russian law, it is still strictly observed four years later.

A spate of attacks last year on women for not wearing headscarves, which rights groups and assailants alike said were orchestrated by authorities, sparked outrage from Chechen women who said being forced to dress a certain way violated the Russian constitution.

Mirzayev said "short skirts, a naked head and loose hair" on women make men think they "only had half a brain" and would deter men from speaking to them. "This is our religion where there is nothing but modesty," he added.

Mirzayev also praised the Russian Orthodox Church for its proposal last month that women adhere to a "dress code" which involved more modest clothes, a move that sparked outrage from Russian feminists.