South Kazakhstan looking to curtail extremism

    By Alexander Bogatik
    Authorities in Zhambyl Oblast are taking an active role in trying to tamp down the spread of extremist propaganda.
    "Our employees tell us about ... mis-interpretations of the Koran and of the possible recruitment of people into extremist organizations," Sr. Lt. Almas Jumatayev, chief human resources specialist of the oblast's Department for Emergency Situations, said.
    In response, during the past two months, authorities have hosted 10 seminars as part of a campaign to combat the spread of terrorist or extremist propaganda.
    "Kazakhstan has encountered the threats inherent in radical Islam," Bekbolat Orynbekov, first deputy Zhambyl akim, said. "Followers of destructive movements are recruiting new adherents all over Kazakhstan. Preventive ... measures therefore are essential."
    The leaders at the workshops have included college instructors, clerics, theologians and employees of the Committee for National Security (KNB), oblast prosecutor's office and Department for Religious Affairs (UDR).
    Young people threatened by 'brainwashing'
    Meetings and lectures devoted to preventing extremism regularly occur in Zhambyl secondary schools, universities and professional schools.
    "We regularly conduct meetings and seminars on the risks and dangers posed by extremist organizations," Jadra, a female employee of the Zhambyl Public Services Centre, said. "We convey the information we've heard ... to our children."
    During the meetings, the instructors discuss the correct interpretation of the Koran and warn against extremist organizations, giving clear examples.
    "We are constantly being convened to hear about Islam, cults and traditional religious teachings," Alina Zolotareva, a second-year undergraduate at a polytechnic college in Zhambyl, said. "For example, we were recently told that [in 2011], a suicide bomber killed people in Taraz. And we were told about the police hero Gaziz Baitasov, who stopped this criminal [at the cost of his own life]."
    Online approach
    Authorities are also concerned about extremists using the internet to lure impressionable youth.
    In the past year, more than 3,000 Zhambyl residents visited extremist- and terrorist-themed websites, according to a statistic cited during a recent Taraz scholarly conference on the threat of radicalism.
    "Last year, the authorities in Kazakhstan blocked 1,100 foreign internet portals containing material inciting inter-faith discord and calling for 'jihad,'" Kanat Nauryzbayev, a department chief in the Zhambyl Oblast office of the KNB, said.
    The high proportion of youth among internet users and among Central Asian populations makes it likely that the majority of visitors to such websites are young.
    "Young people show an interest in foreign religious movements," Taraz State University Rector Makhmetgali Sarybekov said. "According to a poll taken last year by the Ministry of Education and Science, 16% of Kazakhstani undergraduates are interested in destructive religious movements."
    Media and NGOs aid the fight
    The Zhambyl media and NGOs are involved in the push for the prevention of extremism. However, these efforts take place only when the government makes relevant budgetary allocations.
    Local newspapers, for example, don't produce very much original material on the topic, Rakhiya Turmakhanbetova, director of the Domestic Policy Directorate of the akim's office for Zhambyl Oblast, said.
    "They often reprint articles from other publications," she said. "Much depends on the quality of [our] journalists' work. We need to conduct seminars with religious scholars involved to educate our journalists."
    Journalists say they are aware of what needs to be done, but threats and other challenges sometimes mean limited coverage.
    Rallying society – which includes the task of convincing people that publicity against such issues must be pursued – is essential as the country steps up its fight against the spread of extremist propaganda, Orynbekov said.
    "Executive branch agencies, law enforcement and ... religious organizations, ethnic cultural centres and NGOs must work together," he said. "Then we'll be able to achieve good results,” according to Central Asia Onlne.