Chechnya is set to institutionalise the right to wear religious symbols, such as hijabs, crosses, or Jewish caps, in schools. A relevant bill has been put before the Chechen Parliament. The move comes in response to a statement made on 24 January by Russian Education Minister Olga Vasilyeva, calling for a ban on the hijab in schools.
Chairman of Parliament Magomed Daudov published a statement on the institution’s official website in support of the bill.
‘The irresponsible statement by the minister of education and science prompted us to send a similar signal. We, the deputies of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic, representing the ruling party, United Russia, fully support the position of the President of the Chechen Republic, Hero of Russia, Ramzan Kadyrov, to immediately initiate the adoption of this law in a multinational Chechen Republic, where children of different nationalities live. If they wish so, they can wear hijabs, crosses, and Jewish caps at schools. This law protecting their rights will allow them to talk with pride about the great spiritual values of their ancient religions in classrooms’, Magomed Daudov wrote.
Chechnya’s ombudsman, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, supported the initiative to allow wearing of religious symbols at schools. He expressed hope that the decision of Chechen legislators would serve as an example for other regions.
Nukhazhiyev considered a ban on headscarves in Russian schools as ‘violating the constitutional rights of citizens and possibly giving rise to ethnic and religious conflicts’.
In Chechen society, which in recent years has undergone strong Islamisation, the sight of young girls wearing the hijab has become a familiar sight, which is why the majority supports the Chechen authorities in this matter. Teachers believe that wearing the hijab is good for discipline among students.
‘In my second grade, all girls wear obligatory headscarves together with uniforms. Some of them also wear hijabs. I can’t say that wearing certain clothes affects their performance, but it clearly influences their discipline. Girls in hijab behave modestly, apparently feeling the responsibility’, said Leyla, a primary school teacher from Grozny.
The education minister’s comments were made in support of a ban on wearing of hijabs in a Tatar school in Mordovia. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov reacted sharply to the federal minister’s comments and said that his daughters would never give up wearing their hijabs at school.
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has publicly accused three Russian lawmakers — Daghestani Federation Council Senator Suleiman Kerimov, as well as State Duma MPs Bekkhan Barakhoev and Rizvan Kurbanov — of plotting to assassinate him and threatened to declare a blood feud against them.
At a meeting with Chechnya’s commanders and security forces leaders on 9 October, Kadyrov, speaking in Chechen, reportedly claimed to have information about a contract on his life. He warned that if the thre
A man who set fire to a Quran and was subsequently beaten up by Adam Kadyrov while in detention in Chechnya has been charged with high treason for allegedly sharing information with Ukrainian security services.
The Volgograd Prosecutor’s Office approved the charges against 20-year-old Nikita Zhuravel on Thursday. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Zhuravel gained public attention after footage purportedly of him burning a Quran appeared on social media. He was arrested and later
The Mufti of Chechnya and known advisor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Salakh Mezhiev, has been elected chair of the Coordination Centre of Muslims of the North Caucasus.
On 28 September, the Council of Muftis unanimously elected Mezhiyev during a meeting in Cherkessk, the capital city of Karachay–Cherkessia.
‘I congratulate the respected Sheikh Salakh-Khadzhi Mezhiev on his election to this post. I am confident that he will justify the high trust placed in him by religious leaders o
Exiled from their republic due to threats to their lives, Chechen activists in the West navigate a difficult balance between visibility and caution, facing erasure by both Russian and Western society. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might offer Chechnya and its activists a shift in the tides.
‘Ukraine’s incredible incursion into the Kursk region made me finally believe that Russia could soon be defeated’. This is what Ali Bakaev, a Chechen online activist who now lives in London tells m
Chechnya is set to institutionalise the right to wear religious symbols, such as hijabs, crosses, or Jewish caps, in schools. A relevant bill has been put before the Chechen Parliament. The move comes in response to a 
