TASHKENT -
Mahfuza, a mother of three in a small town in the
Ferghana Valley, has better things to do than
spend her afternoons at crowded, smoke-filled
Internet clubs. But as a high-school algebra
teacher, she has an extracurricular assignment
from her bosses: she must monitor the clubs'
clientele - many of them her students - while they
play computer games, surf social networking
websites, and watch music videos.
A decree
from Uzbekistan's government last spring obliged
teachers like Mahfuza (she asked her last name be
withheld to protect her from possible reprisals)
to frequent Internet clubs to
ensure students do not fall
prey to supposedly subversive ideas. She's not
thrilled about the task.
"Students spend
so much time playing games featuring violence,
such as a [first-person shoot-'em-up] game called
Counter-Strike, and chatting with complete
strangers online. Parents don't seem to care, and
the burden falls on us, poor teachers," Mahfuza
told EurasiaNet.org.
But Mahfuza has no
choice. "The state pays our salaries, so we must
comply with their rules even if we find them
distasteful," said a vice principal at the
secondary school where Mahfuza teaches. He also
spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing
retaliation for criticizing authorities.
President Islam Karimov's administration
has long relied on educators to shield
Uzbekistan's youth from what it considers
dangerous outside influences, including religious
radicalism and independent political ideas. The
government keeps a tight lid on all forms of
political expression, and even mainstream
opposition groups are banned and operate in exile.
A series of popular uprisings in the Arab
world in 2011, which were partly fueled by social
media, have heightened Tashkent's concerns,
prompting authorities to view pop culture and
social networking as major potential threats to
the Uzbek status quo.
Official rhetoric
can sound paranoid and archaic to those unfamiliar
with the Uzbek government's modus operandi.
For example, a November 12 statement on
how to raise a "spiritually rich generation",
posted on parliament's official website, contained
the following: "Today we observe efforts to
undermine [Uzbekistan's] national interests,
ideology, and spiritual moral principles through
subversive ideas distributed on the Internet, by
mobile phones, computer games, and video products,
which are camouflaged as pop culture... The task
of creating a favorable information environment
for youth is one of our top priorities."
Inside classrooms, the SNB, the successor
to the Soviet-era KGB, relies on a far-reaching
network of informants to ensure conformity,
according to students and teachers. A course
required in secondary schools, "The Idea of
National Independence and Moral Development",
seeks to instill students with patriotism by
forcing them to memorize Karimov's speeches, the
vice principal said.
Bahodir Choriev,
leader of the exiled opposition group Birdamlik
(Solidarity), told EurasiaNet.org that thanks to
such courses, "many young Uzbeks have little idea
what political opposition is about". Choriev fled
to the United States in 2004 when Uzbek
prosecutors charged him with fraud. He says the
charges were designed to silence him.
With
classroom discussions observed and controlled,
authorities have turned their attention to other
areas they deem vulnerable to infiltration by pop
culture. Hundreds of webpages are blocked and
video games are regularly lambasted on state
television as "poison".
Last January, the
Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary
Education - responsible for students aged 16 and
above, and not to be confused with the Ministry of
Public Education - introduced a 23-page behavior
code obliging students to abstain from criticizing
school authorities, eschew flashy clothes, and
avoid cultural events (including rock concerts)
that are deemed alien to Uzbek national values.
The code also encourages students to report
unsanctioned religious activity.
Fund
Forum, a charity run by Karimov's jet-setting
daughter Gulnara Karimova, is reportedly
spearheading the efforts. According to its
website, the organization is funding activities
"promoting development of national online content
and expanding use of the Uzbek language on the
Internet". Several Tashkent-based observers,
including some government officials, believe the
Ministry of Culture is following Karimova's
directions.
Critics scoff at the idea that
Karimova can serve as an effective publicist for
Uzbek values. In recent years, she has adopted a
bewildering variety of personas, including that of
fashionista and music diva (using her stage name
Googoosha). To her critics, these various
identities are associated with Western decadence,
not modesty.
"Gulnara has complete
disregard for Uzbek cultural values; she is all
over Uzbek media with her gaudy music videos, she
shows up in mosques in skimpy dresses," said
Shahida Tulaganova, an Uzbek journalist based in
London, referring to a provocative music video
Karimova released in September.
"How can
she be a role model for millions of Uzbek
youngsters when she has little regard for things
[many] Uzbeks view as sacred?"
Education
officials, tasked with implementing the new rules
in small towns and villages, have quickly
discovered how unpopular the ideological
directives are. Internet cafe owners complain the
"teacher raids" are bad for business. Parents have
reportedly been angered by punishments imposed on
students for wearing clothing deemed
inappropriate.
Given the level of popular
distaste for the government directives on youth
behavior, teachers in many cases are quietly
looking the other way when it comes to
enforcement, said Dilnoza, a student of Uzbek
literature in Tashkent.
"They often
delegate the task of monitoring students to
Internet cafe employees," Dilnoza said.
The vice principal in Ferghana said few,
if any, students report suspicious activities. He
added that forcing poorly paid teachers to police
student behavior outside of classrooms is having
unintended consequences.
"Teachers'
salaries are very low. As a result, there are many
cases of teachers extorting bribes… for better
grades," he said. Teachers have also been accused
of seeking payoffs for not inventing moral
infractions. Students' moral upbringing is
something parents must deal with."
Authorities in Tashkent are aware their
ideological injunctions are routinely flouted.
Parliament is now preparing a new law - "On
protection of youth from subversive ideologies and
aggressive information" - that is expected to
stiffen punishment for non-compliance with
ideological directives.
For the vice
principal, this just shows how out-of-touch
central authorities are. He complains that rather
than ensure compliance, state inspectors spend
much of their time extorting bribes from school
directors and teachers.
"Tashkent needs to
get input from various segments of society before
devising new policies. Otherwise, they will not be
implemented," he said.
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