DUSHANBE, May 21, Asia-Plus  -- Local authorities of the Vahdat, some 16 kilometers to the east of Dushanbe, have proposed to set up a commission that would inspect activities of mosques in the territory of the city and the district of Vahdat, Asia-Plus has learned at the Vahdat mayor’s office.       

The source at the mayor’s office said that they suggested that the commission members should include representatives from Vahdat’s education department, committee for youth, sports and tourism affairs, committee for family and women’s affairs, and prosecutor’s office.   

According to him, the local authorities are concerned that pupils spend too much time in mosques, to the detriment of their education.

The commission will study reasons for the fact that many children in the district prefer attending mosques for attending schools.  “Many teenagers in the district attend mosques during school hours,” said the source.  “To distract pupils from fanaticism we have worked out a plan of events for school students during the summer holidays.  We plan to send 3,500 pupils to summer camps in one shift alone.”  In all, there are 61,000 children in the Vahdat district, according to him.   

Besides, the commission also intends to check registration documents of the mosques in Vahdat.  “We are not going to put obstacles in the way of activity of mosques in the district; on contrary, we want the mosques functioning without proper registration to complete their paperwork and be registered with the Ministry of Culture,” the source said. 

He added that 73 officially registered mosques now function in the district.  “However, there are many mosques that are functioning without proper registration and disseminating ideas of the outlawed religious extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir and other religious groups in the district,” the source said.