DUSHANBE, November 21, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Speaking in an interview with Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, Education Minister Abduajbbor Rahmonov called an open letter of the Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament) Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda to him and the State Adviser to the President for Social Policy Saymurod Fattoyev over textbooks on history that allegedly discredit Islam and Islamic values “unfounded.”

 The minister noted that those debates of Mr. Turajonzoda with him had lasted for some two months.  According to him, Mr. Turajonzoda made these assertions over textbooks two months ago.  The minister said he had instructed to review the history textbooks.  “I told him that work on reviewing the textbooks has started,” the minister said, noting that was impossible to do everything at once.  “At first, we should provide schools with textbooks,” Rahmonov said.

We will recall that in an open letter to the education minister and presidential adviser Turajonzoda called for refusal of using some textbooks books on history that discredit Islam and Islamic values.

Turajonzoda added that authors of textbooks on history were ignorant of history of Islam and their view of Islam and Islamic values was preconceived, unscientific and to certain extent libelous and insulting.

He argued that teaching of those issues in such a form was a breeding ground for school students’ distrust in Islam and led to poisoning of minds of Muslim children in Tajikistan.