Kyrgyzstan’s increasingly authoritarian government is
adopting a counter-productive approach to the country’s
growing radicalisation. Instead of tackling the root causes
of a phenomenon that has seen increasing numbers,
including many women, joining groups such as Hizb
ut-Tahrir (HT), it is resorting to heavy-handed police
methods that risk pushing yet more Kyrgyz towards
radicalism. The authorities view HT, which describes
itself as a revolutionary party that aims to restore by
peaceful means the caliphate that once ruled the Muslim
world, as a major security threat. But for some men
and ever more women, it offers a sense of identity and
belonging, solutions to the day-to-day failings of the
society they live in, and an alternative to what they
widely view as the Western-style social model that
prevails in Kyrgyzstan. Without a major effort to tackle
endemic corruption and economic failure, radical ranks
are likely to swell, while repression may push at least
some HT members into violence. This report focuses
primarily on the increasingly important role that women
are playing in the movement.