Interview by Maria Sidelnikova exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The problem of lack of mosques and wearing hijab in school has both supporters and opponents in the Russian society. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the head of the Republic of Ingushetia, told Vestnik Kavkaza about his view on the issue.
- - Nowadays in Moscow and in the country generally there is a critical lack of mosques. How would you comment on this situation?
- - There is no need to create problems. No need to create platforms for bargaining. We must have political will and determine where to build mosques and how many mosques there should be, where there should be churches and where there should be synagogues, as well as catholic churches. That is, one should not infringe people's rights. If we look at imperial times and at some of those periods, at that time it was easy not to build a mosque. One could tell everyone: there will be no mosque, you should not bother. After all, there was no democracy. But somehow, it was treated with understanding. And today, I think we should just come to this realization. We should not leave this issue to the mercy of the man in the street. In Mytishchi, people will come out. These are not people that are coming out, these are organizers, who lead people who are against them. It will be there, it will be here. And then, when my people come out and say: do not build churches by our home. Then what could this lead us to? This is wrong. It necessary for churches, the Union of Muslims of Russia and those responsible for synagogues and Catholic churches to gather and discuss how many they need. First of all, one should not turn this into some sort of a political trade - it is a religious issue. Discuss how many they need, voice their proposal at a general level. Should there be 20 in Moscow? So, 20 mosques should be built in Moscow. It does not require any budget money. Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Jews will collect money and build their mosques, synagogues and churches. I think this is how it should be done. Of course, there have to be as many as required. Today I read how the Moscow administration chooses sites. I read online: a golf course will be set aside for ... This is all wrong. Today a golf course, and the next day on the principle of leftovers? This is wrong. Again we are creating inter-religious animosity between people. And then we wonder where does it all come from? This is the cause, because there are no conditions for the realization of human rights, including religious ones. If you develop a common scheme, a political decision, and implement it all, there will be no protests, no demonstrations. And, of course, no doubt, when everything is settled, it will be easier to calm down the frantic, active part that disguises itself with religion, when it starts to go crazy. Because then everyone will understand. Today, when the young and other Muslims gather around a mosque, because sometimes there is not enough space, and occupy streets, side-streets, everything, it creates a negative reaction on the part of the population that does not pray near mosques or in mosques. But many of course understand it: where else to go? When the Orthodox Church has festivities and people gather around, no one puts special emphasis on this. I do not reproach Muslims, but those who consider themselves Muslims, pray and then leave trash behind them. I would reproach them, because Muslims should not behave this way. If you stand in a street, at an intersection or elsewhere and pray, you should take away these pieces of wallpaper, clean up after yourself as a devout Muslim, because the first commandment is the purity of the body and of the soul. And how can you leave these things after yourself? And this provokes a negative reaction from an orthodox or an ignorant person, who looks out the window and watches it. How can they approve of the religion of these people after them? Of course, imams have to be very good ideologues, as well as parents and everyone else saying that only an enemy of religion can behave in this way. In any religion there should be people who are afraid of God. A man who fears God, who has God in his heart, will always be clean, honest and decent. I think these things need to be addressed in a complex way. But in general there must be political will to determine how many to build, and to build them, without being afraid.
- - What do you think about the issue of the hijab in Russia?
- - I also think that this is only bargaining. I have totally banned in the republic in general this issue being raised in the universities and in government offices, or other public places where there are people wearing hijabs. It is a woman's privilege. No one should stand in her way, no one should interfere with it. No one needs to pay attention to it. You should not pay any attention to it. We're talking about hijabs. Yesterday I was at an event of bailiffs and there were nuns there. Why is their outfit different from those wearing hijabs? They are not different at all. They also cover their faces. It is a religious approach. Why do we have to pay attention to it? One should be the way he wants to be. Do not bother each other, leave each other alone, and that's all. Do you know what I usually say about it? Maybe this is the wrong example, but nonetheless. Today I am a trolleybus driver, and you're a bus driver, and the other guy is a tram driver. We cannot argue with each other, that one has a better profession, and make everyone become a trolleybus driver. A man chooses for himself, leave him alone, let him wear what he wants to wear. Only in schools do we have statutes in the republic. All of this is defined according to a standard procedure. At the moment we even want to establish a general dress code for schools, like in the Stavropol Territory. If school regulations do not mention "hijab" in the dress code, then a child can wear a hijab before school. Then, when the child goes to school, there are religious lessons, there are classes on work, lessons of physical education, there are general lessons. There everyone should wear the same uniform, because it is a non-religious institution, it is a secular institution. This is the first thing. Secondly, everyone should be equal. There is a psychological factor. No one can prove to me that a little girl in the first, second or third grade does not want to have bows, braids and dress nicely. There is no one who can persuade me. A child sees other children, and she wants the same beautiful bows, and the same beautiful hair clips. These are the laws of physics. In this case, we create a psychological barrier. Firstly, for some reason we see all those in hijabs as suicide bombers and not only in other regions of Russia, even in our schools they are treated with suspicion. And immediately we create a barrier between children. Recently, in Stavropol Territory a school was broadcast where children wear hijabs. Girls in hijabs were sitting separated from other girls. Why do we create this psychological barrier between children? Leave them alone, let them study. When they grow up, before entering a university, after high school, and before entering a higher education institution, let them choose for themselves. If you want to wear a hijab, go ahead and wear it. She is a student, she has chosen her own profession, her own lifestyle. She is an adult, let her choose. But it seems to be, and this is my opinion, my purely personal opinion, that in schools children should in no way be disunited.
