Shoigu reports about radicals’ attempts to introduce Sharia norms in Northern Caucasus

In the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) , radicals are attempting to displace secular laws, replacing them with Sharia norms, and also to replace traditional Islam with its radical movements, reports Sergey Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Security Council.

Under the influence of foreign radical preachers, contradictions have arisen between religious communities in the region, which are also associated with the personal ambitions of “individual leaders of official religious organizations,” the Secretary of the Russian Security Council has added.

Sergey Shoigu has accused Western countries of trying to “provoke disintegration processes in Northern Caucasus using migrant and nationalist movements.” According to the version voiced by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, extremism manifests itself largely in the form of public calls for illegal activity on websites, forums, social networks, and messengers.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in July, Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vladislav Davankov proposed giving educational institutions the right to ban the wearing of religious clothing, as well as empowering legislative and municipal assemblies to ban the wearing of religious clothing in public places. Russian State Duma members Mikhail Matveyev and Sergey Obukhov have also prepared a draft law proposing the introduction of fines for wearing clothing that conceals a person’s face in public places. The Coordination Centre of Muslims of Northern Caucasus has asked the President of Russia not to accept the draft law proposed by Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma. The muftis of Northern Caucasus claimed that the decision to ban wearing religious clothing violates the rights of believers. In their comments, social media users supported the muftis’ appeal, noting that the initiative voiced by Vladislav Davankov has already caused a split in society.