Tajikistan has detained thousands of faith healers and fortune tellers in an ongoing government clampdown, with the president praising the police raids.  But many Tajiks say the government should instead tackle more pressing issues, such as unemployment and a shortage of electricity.

Tajik authorities have intensified raids targeting fortune tellers and faith healers in recent months amid a new government clampdown on the centuries-old practices.

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports that  Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, said last month that law-enforcement agencies have detained 1,500 people engaged in "witchcraft and fortune telling" and more than 5,000 "semiliterate mullahs," a Tajik euphemism for faith healers.

Rahmon reportedly said the measures took place on his orders, but he did not elaborate on the timespan during which the 6,500 arrests had taken place.

According to an Interior Ministry report dated August 24, more than 150 soothsayers were detained in that month alone.

Police and state-run media regularly publish the names and photos of alleged healers and occult practitioners detained in the raids.  TV channels often then air their "confessions."

In an unprecedented move, police are now registering fortune tellers, faith healers, and their clients to keep a tab on them and their activities, according to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service.

In June, Tajikistan introduced tougher punishments for fortune-telling, which has been outlawed since 2008.

First-time offenders face a misdemeanor charge, punishable by a fine or up to 15 days in jail.  Repeat offenses, however, are considered criminal and punishable by a fine of up to US$13,500 or two years in prison.

Soothsaying is also banned in Islam, to which the overwhelming majority of Tajikistan's some 10 million citizens adhere.

The law does not prohibit faith healing, but dozens of people who practice it have been charged with other crimes, such as fraud.

Several male faith healers were jailed for molesting their female clients during their alleged healing rites.

Most of those who seek help from soothsayers and faith healers are women.

Some sought-after soothsayers in Dushanbe have claimed in the past that their customers include family members of high-ranking government officials, seeking help on behalf of their relatives. RFE/RL cannot independently confirm that report.

RFE/RL notes that despite being banned both by law and religion, fortune tellers in Tajikistan's conservative society have no shortage of clients who want a glimpse of the future and more.

According to several people who spoke to RFE/RL, customers often come to fortune tellers to cast a spell that would stop their spouses from leaving them, to make their businesses flourish, or prevent a relative standing trial from going to jail.

According to RFE/RL, fortune tellers and faith healers charge anywhere from an equivalent of US$2 to several hundred dollars, depending on their popularity and location.