Securitization of Yakin Inkar Movement in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

The issue of Islamic resurgence is a significant security concern to many states around the globe. In Kyrgyzstan, by 2016, the issue came under the public scrutiny and revolved mainly around two religious’ movements – Tablighi Jamaat and Yakin Inkar. The latter was banned by the government under the pretext of the fight against extremism, the former continuing to freely operate in the country, despite the close interconnection of the two and Yakin Inkar being viewed as an offshoot of Tablighi Jamaat. This question attracted my attention and gave me the incentive to research this issue. This study attempts to answer the question of what was the rationale to ban Yakin Inkar while allowing Tablighi Jamaat to continue to operate freely in the country. As a result, thesis attempts to test three hypotheses derived from this question. It argues that Yakin Inkar’s vision that disregards the state authority was seen as a challenge to the state, which led to its blocking. The study also attempts to scrutinize the apolitical nature of Tablighi Jamaat. The study uses securitization of religion as a theoretical framework and ethnological methodological approach, such as passive participant observation, as well as interviews to attain its research objectives. The study aims to contribute to the literature on systematic and rigorous studies on Yakin Inkar movement in Kyrgyzstan