Press Release
Should Kyrgyzstan Follow Uzbekistan in its War on Islam and the Muslims?
(Translated)

The head of the human rights organization "Memorial,"  Vitaly Ponomarev, said that, "Karimov took advantage of the Islamic ideology to get rid of the opposition forces of the democratic state. "According to Vitaly, there were views at that time that Karimov should adopt the Islamic thoughts to be able to subdue the Muslims and weaken their strength.

However, by the year 1991, and because of his personal animosity to Muslim, Karimov has changed the direction of his war greatly to this day. Experts believe that the reason behind it was the strength of the "Justice" Islamic movement, which was very prevalent at that time in the city of Namangan, where it embarked then on establishing the rule of Islam in the city. During the negotiations with the occupiers of the regional administration office buildings in Namangan, they heavily insulted Karimov and they even asked him to announce the establishment of the Islamic state.

However, Karimov led the war on Islam and the Muslims slowly, continuously and hypocritically, and he even went to Mecca to perform the obligation of Hajj. In the meantime, he began to disqualify Scholars of Islam, who refused to sell their afterlife for the minimum finite pleasures, one after the other, and imprisoned them under the pretext of "finding" weapons and ammunition in their possession and drugs with others, and many were forced to leave the country. But the real war began in 1999; when Karimov cemented his regime in Uzbekistan, by wiping out almost entirely the Islamists and other opposition forces.

Heading from his project to "completely wipe out Islam from the life of the Uzbek people," Karimov began a fierce war against Hizb ut Tahrir, the Islamic political party, in order to achieve that end.

In his speech broadcasted across Uzbekistan on 09/06/1999, the President of the Iranian Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan, Talib Yaakobov, has presented evidence from the Ministry of Interior Affairs stating that they have a list of 8000 members of Hizb ut Tahrir, and that 4000 of them have been arrested. The war on Islam accelerated and intensified day after day, but despite the daily arrest of hundreds of members of Hizb ut Tahrir, the youth who love Islam were joining the ranks of the party constantly. Karimov himself did not understand clearly that this war is a conflict between ideologies, and he does not have a doctrine that can stand in the face of the doctrine of Islam. Karimov has been a victim of his project, which is a desperate attempt to delay the return of Islam and the containment of its creed that has spread quickly and spectacularly. Yes, Karimov was not able to understand the results of what he was undertaking, and when he realized it was too late.

There were criticisms by some politicians, specifically the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in her statement of the policy pursued by Karimov, knowing that Karimov's violence will escalate at this campaign against Islam and not subside, where she has expressed regret of not being able to convince him that Uzbekistan may eventually turn into a "barrel of exploding gunpowder," which will hit the world. Now all those political expectations have materialized. It is true that Karimov was able to fulfil his wishes in some small political actions, but he was often defeated. He was defeated in his war against Islam as a creed.

Despite serving tens of years in prison or in exile, the members, the heroes who have embodied the Islamic creed holistically, did not stop for one moment in their struggle. On the contrary, their belief in Islam has increased and they are positive that the victory will be realised. The fear of Allah (swt) was present among the Muslims in prisons, including members of Hizb ut Tahrir, who were punished by the government on the pretext that they are individuals in the community not to the liking of Karimov, some of them were martyred, and some of them are waiting for the Shahada (martyrdom).

This is in fact not a defeat for the Karimov regime, but it is a defeat of all doctrines of disbelief in the world in front of the Islamic creed. The Western politicians' warning to Karimov was as if they wanted to tell him that: "Whatever you do, you will be defeated in front of the doctrine of Islam undoubtedly and thus you will weaken us and rekindle the hope in the Muslims and encourage them," and so was the case. Muslims around the whole world followed the example of the steadfastness and resolve of the Muslims in Uzbekistan. The credit behind the growth of the party and its increasing popularity among the people is due to the steadfastness of their brothers who are members of the party in Uzbekistan.

The one who scrutinizes the welcoming speech of the Uzbek President during the "Independence Day" celebration this year finds that he spoke at length and expressed great concern about the issue of security. It was evident that he is very much focused on the growing threat that targets the democratic state of Uzbekistan, and the expansion of the threat of "terrorism" in the Middle East, and the acceleration of events and unrest all over the world.

The Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev is trying to follow the steps of his neighbors, as he is stepping up his war against Islam and the Muslims every day, and it seems that he did not learn from what took place.
We in Hizb ut Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan wish to address President Atambayev!

We advise you not to take a hostile position towards Islam and Muslims, as Karimov did; because we are determined to resume the Islamic way of life and fight the Kuffar and all their oppressive policies against Kyrgyzstan and all other Muslim countries on the basis of the Islamic creed. We will not accept that Muslims fight with each other in any way!

We think, actually believe, that you do not harbor any hostile feelings against the Muslims, but at the same time we recognize that you are subjected to the pressures exercised by those stuck in mud swamps, the likes of Karimov and Putin, and we encourage you not to hesitate to stand by Islam and the Muslims and support them, and stand not by Kufr and the Kuffar.

We advise that you do not end up as a "weapon" in the hands of the criminal Kuffar against Muslims in the battle of Islam and Kufr. Otherwise, we also in Kyrgyzstan, with the help of Allah (swt), will show steadfastness and resilience that the whole Islamic world will know about. However, we ask Allah (swt) that these feelings are manifested in our struggle against the Kuffar, and not with Muslims.

Head of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Kyrgyzstan