Posted on 09/12/2007 9:31:29 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - Female civil servants must wear Islamic headscarves or be fired, the maverick head of Russia's Chechnya region said on Tuesday, an edict that may put him at odds with his secular masters in Moscow.
The Kremlin installed 30-year-old Ramzan Kadyrov as Chechnya's president to crush a decade-old separatist insurgency, but some observers say he has turned the region into a private fiefdom where Russian laws are flouted.
Russian law separates the state from religion and gives both sexes equal rights. But Kadyrov, who this year made a pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, said Chechnya had different traditions.
"I know everyone will say, 'Ramzan declares (rigid Islamic) sharia law'. But I reply that I am a Muslim, I respect Chechen traditions, and I am proud of this," Kadyrov, son of a Muslim cleric, told a meeting of local officials.
"I repeat once again -- women must either wear headscarves, or they should not work (for state institutions)," he said. "You may say I make unlawful statements, but I will not back down."
Kadyrov said he had been "literally shocked seeing our young women walking around in T-shirts and miniskirts in our city (Chechen capital Grozny)".
A keen amateur boxer who kept a lion as a pet, Kadyrov said women were the root of all crime committed in Chechnya because they were inviting men to have sex with them.
Families often declare blood feuds on men they believed have dishonoured their daughters, and in some cases they also kill their daughter for bringing shame on the family. "This only complicates the work of the police," Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov's hardline policies and the cult of personality he has built around himself make many Russian officials uneasy, but they are unlikely to take any action against him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin came to office seven years ago pledging to defeat Chechen separatists and he personally awarded Kadyrov Russia's highest honour for his work in stamping out the insurgency.
Analysts say that for Putin, who is to step down next year, turning on his protege Kadyrov over his unorthodox policies would mean losing face.
Wow...Thanks former President Bill Clinton! (rolling eyes)
Sounds like he has a very firm and realistic grasp of things.
Clueless people who once again show why nothing substantive comes out of the muslim world, with the exception of the black stuff under their feet.
got a link?
Chechen might be a good place to try out DAD
Kadyrov himself is a “former” rebel. In fact, many “former rebels” have been brought into the Russian army by the Russian President Putin. Why not? This is after all the army where they castrate you and call it “hazing.” Putin even sent 2 battalions of the muslim “former rebels” to Lebanon as “peacekeepers” to protect hizb-allah from Israel.
I recall during the fighting in Chechnya many Arab Jihadists arrived to aid Chechens in their war against Russia. Many of these Arab Muslims were aghast at the "un-Islamic" behavior of the Chechens, who engaged in such activities as eating pork, drinking alcohol and wearing Western clothing. Much to the annoyance of the Chechens, these Arab Jihadists quickly tried to impose their Middle Eastern customs upon them and the Arabs soon wore out their welcome.
It’s as if the lunatics and criminals (Muslims) were let out and are now ruling the roost... how long will this be tolerated...
You got that right.
I see he has his priorities on straight.
We wouldn't want to "complicate" the work of the police, would we now?
And folks tell me Russia has no use for the FOAB.
The Ghosts of 300 Children and adults in the Beslyn School tell me differently.
W
Ah, trading one lunatic tyrant for another....
thanks, bfl
Interesting post, thread. Thanks to all.
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