Tajik national news agency Khovar has released a statement, in which it says that holding ‘Immortal Regiment’ march allegedly contradicts Islamic values.

According to the statement, instable situation in Afghanistan’s regions bordering Tajikistan does not allow holding additional actions, except those that are planned to be held in Victory Park.  “Besides, Islamic traditions prohibit from going into the street with portraits of dead people; this action contradicts Islamic and madhab values,” the statement says.

According to Khovar, the president has approved the plan of events and scenario for military parade and relevant bodies have begun organization works and cultural events.

“Meanwhile, nothing steps have been taken regarding the “Immortal Regiment” march because it is an initiative of separate non-government organizations,” Khovar says in its statement. 

A military parade dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory over Nazism will take place in Dushanbe’s Victory Park on May 9 and servicemen of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan will also participate in that military parade.

President Emomali Rahmon, members of the government, parliamentarians and representatives of diplomatic corps will attend the parade.   

“In the second part of the event, the oath taking ceremony of 3,000 conscripts will take place.  They will lay wreaths at the Military Glory Memorial,” according to the statement.  

Recall, Dushanbe authorities have not given permission for carrying out the ‘Immortal Regiment’ initiative in the Tajik capital this year.  The Dushanbe mayor’s office said it banned the “Immortal Regiment” march for the purpose of security.  

The so-called “Immortal Regiment” was supposed to march across Dushanbe on May 9 in honor of the veterans of World War II.  A procession of the relatives of those who fought in World War II (WW II) were going to commemorate the triumph over Nazi Germany on May 9, which is celebrated in the CIS nations as Victory Day.  

The procession was supposed to start in the morning of May 9. Starting from the 800th Anniversary of Moscow Square, the “Regiment” was to walk to Victory Park via Roudaki Avenue.

Last year, more than 100 people carrying photographs of their relatives who took part in World War Two participated in the “Immortal Regiment” march in Dushanbe to pay tribute to WW II heroes.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ is a public non-profit organization, created in Russia on a voluntary basis with the aim of "immortalizing" the memory of home front workers, partisans and members of the resistance, concentration camp prisoners, survivors of the Siege of Leningrad and children of war.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ brings together people of all ages, social groups and political beliefs.  Anyone can carry on the memory of war veterans and enroll to participate in the march to honor the memory of those who earned the hard-won victory in 1945.

Since its inception in 2007, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ initiative has been met with unprecedented support, and by 2015 it had received national status.  

In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the victory in WW II, more than 1 million people took part in the event in Moscow, and up to 12 million across Russia.  Participants marched along the streets of cities around the country bearing portraits of their ancestors who were killed or participated in the war.