Veil Understanding in Post-Communist Country

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THE VEIL UNDERSTANDINGIN POST-COMMUNIST

COUNTRYKAZAKHSTAN

1/9/2013

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The “ veil” Understanding in Post-Communist Country

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Kazakhstan in 1991 got the independence after the

collapse of the Soviet Union, the new age of new born country

was not only in terms of release from the Russian dominance

but at the same time it was the age to open door for

recreation Kazakh identity, re-establish the culture that was

lost, and new way of life that was going to be different from

the original, traditional, and the one that was assimilated in

the Soviet period, the social way of life that is not similar

to traditional even though there is such attempt of the

society and not the same with the life during the Soviet

Union, but the new one that is rooted from these previous two.

The Kazakh identity during the process of reestablishment of

identity was faced with the changeability of different

periods and social events in Kazakhstan. It leads to diverse

understanding and different perspectives, the oppositional

views of different generations that comes face to face after

1991. The social change of Kazakhstan was emerged after

independence and recreation of identity that was the major

fact that leads to different interpretations of people about

the Kazakh identity and about the headscarf issue that is the

one of the discussion tool of the society. The analysis of

this paper is going to reveal the consciousness that appeared

after 1991, the time when Kazakh people and institutions

started to recreate the Kazakh identity, Kazakh language,

lost traditions and culture. The paper is focused on specific

issue to understand how Kazakh people during the process of

reestablishment of roots, were faced with different problems.

The understanding of ‘veil’ has different conceptions and how

after 1991 it changes. The veil as the one of the tool of


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identity that would explain how Kazakh people have different

conceptions about Kazakh identity, since the veil has

different perspectives, even pre-Soviet time when Kazakh

considered themselves as the ones with the original

identity. That means that veil had the identity conception

in the roots of Kazakh culture, nevertheless the ‘veil’

conception changes during two centuries when Kazakhstan was in

the hand of Soviet Union, and after independence the influence

of Communist regime and the oppositional thinking of youth

generation who thought that the veil is the root of their

identity that should come back into their social life, cause

the discourse and contradiction between the understanding of

veil. The ‘veil’ understanding before the Communist Regime had

the conceptions as the traditional clothing and at the same

time religious aspect. Kazakh people before Islam were

Shamans (pagans) and after invade of Arabs in the territory

of South of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh people were converted into

Islam, but still it was not pure Islam practices in which

Kazakh people lived. It was considered more the mixture of

Shamanism and Islam, because the Kazakh people had the nomadic

way of life that prevented them to truly integrate the

practices of Islam. They were considered as Muslim but still

they have some pagan approaches in the practices and


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way of life. That was why after the 1991 there was a question

of veil who interpreted it as the traditional clothing,

whereas some people argue that veil was the religious

practice. Actually, traditional clothing of Kazakh culture has

the head dress ’kimishek’; it is the white scarf that was the

head dress of Kazakh women. They covered their heads with the

white scarf that was considered as the traditional cloth and

at the same time religious dress, which used after marriage.

The most of citizens of Kazakhstan make the criticism about

the young girls who are not married, arguing that it is not

traditional way of life to cover the head before the

marriage. The ‘kimishek’ traditional white scarf was used by

all Kazakh women as the symbol of being married and the time

of mature that after the marriage women are responsible for

covering their heads that was also the religious approach.

Nevertheless it was abolished during the Soviet Regime, and

Kazakh women could not cover their heads for two centuries.

Since, in the Communist Regime the veil was considered as the

repression of women rights, in order to make men and women

equal there was abolishment of veil. After the independence in

1991, Kazakhstan as the post-communist country still had the

impression that the scarf was banned. The majority of people,

the exactly the generation that had been experienced the

Communist Regime after the independence still have the

interpretation and understanding of ‘veil’ as the

discrimination of women and their rights. The new age was

considered as the open door to missionaries who came to

Kazakhstan, not only Islam but also Christian missionaries

came to the new born country that was going to reconstruct


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the lost identities. Korean Christians and Arab Muslims came

to Kazakhstan in order to integrate the religion for the people

who became atheists. Surprisingly, in statistical count the

majority of citizens are named themselves as Muslims,

‘‘Muslims of 24 nationalities constitute 70% of the population

of Kazakhstan (11 million people)” (Edelbay, Saniya 2), the

Muslims without religious consciousness and knowledge. They

interpret the Islam by their own logic on the opposition to

the knowledge of Islam. As it is mentioned above Kazakh people

never have pure knowledge and practice of Islam because they

mixed the Islam with the Shamanism. That was why young

students went abroad for religious education. It was not only

groups of missionaries who came to Kazakhstan but also

students of Kazakhstan who went abroad to the Islamic

countries in order to get religious education, since as it was

mentioned Kazakhstan was considered as the land with the

nomadic way of life that caused to absence of the religious

institutions. The students who wished to educate in order to

establish the identity in terms of religion could not realize

this in the territory of Kazakhstan because there was

nothing related with the Islamic education and the Islam that

was in Kazakhstan was more traditional. During the 1991-93

students educated in Egypt and in Arab countries, that was


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why they had different Islamic approaches. The way of

religious practices was little bit diverse from each other.

The way of covering heads were little bit different. . As one

of the anthropologist (Chokan Valihanov) of Kazakhstan of 19th

century mentioned, ‘"Muslimism has not yet become our second

nature. It threatens to separate people in the

future"(Eldebay, Saniya, 2),this reference belongs to the

Soviet Period. So, the aim of this paper is to show how after

1991 the conception of ‘veil’ causes the discourse, how people

show their reactions and how the covered women have different

interpretations about headscarf. The understanding of veil

started to construct after independence, when young people

started to recreate their identity in terms of religion

practice. The veil after 1991 till present days have

different perspectives; veil as the extremism and the outside

influence that cause the conflict between the Communist

generation and young generation, becomes the discourse. The

elderly generation criticizes the young women saying that it

is the outside Arab influence,’ clothes of Kazakh cultural

style could reflect individuality of the Kazakh Muslim women

and this would express their personalities and encourage self-

realization’(Eldebay Saniya, 4) In this term the veil is

considered as the conflict issue between different generations,

for instance the conflicts in families. The second issue of

the veil understanding is the pressure of women rights, since

after the terroristic events in Kazakhstan the headscarf in

institutions was banned, young students have no access to

education and women could not find jobs. The last

understanding of veil is the recreation of the Kazakh


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identity; most of the young people argue that it is the way to

re-establish the Kazakh identity. All these understandings of

the veil are affected from the outside and inside social

consequences. The analysis is supported by interviews from the

people in the public sphere, the questions were designed to

explore the interpretations about the veil and asked from the

covered women and not covered ones.

The first problem with which the people were faced after

the independence was the conflict between the two generations,

it was the conflict of the ‘veil’ as the social problem not

only in the public sphere but mostly in families where parents

as the children of Communism were opposed to the understanding

of the veil that have their children who were the new

generation of the new born independent country in Central

Asia. Kazakhstan by the comparison with the rest of the

countries of Central Asia was considered the most influenced

by the Communism because geographically Kazakhstan is the

neighbour to Russia, it was easy to control Kazakhstan in all

terms that is why the most affected Communist Country is

Kazakhstan. After the independence Kazakhstan as the post-

Communist Country still has the communist consciousness, and

there is such conflict that the generation that comes from the


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educational communist system who all the life was the leader

or the member of communist party, still has the influence of

the communist ideology, this generation after independence do

not change, they do not change their views that seem engraved

in the hearts and minds. One of the respondent argues during

the interview, ‘my mother said me that she actually wants to

be a Muslim but she says that it is impossible to throw the

heart that is full of the atheism that they educated in the

schools, she said that they had such lectures of the atheism,

and it is not easy to recreate the programmed and engraved

knowledge of the mind’ (Latifa, 26). The most crucial problem

that there are different understandings that in fight between

the members of the family, because the discourse of the veil

becomes as the problematic and social since, the parents use

the violence and the dominance upon the own children and the

young children leave their houses as the release from this

dictatorship. The problem shapes as the social concern

because the families fall apart because of the opposite

understandings of the veil. On the one hand, the parents who

have concern that the increasing of the covered women is the

cause of the outside effect of the Arabic countries and at the

same time that it is the extremism and even the sect emergence

among the young people, whereas the young generation has the

opposite argument that is not extremism but the recreation of

traditional way of life and the religious way of life. The

parents mostly answer to this argument of their children as

their children have wrong understanding the ‘veil’ since in

tradition women covered the head after the marriage it was

her marriage responsibility that means that she is a wife


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and to the religious attitude they argues that it is the

fanatics and ‘new form of Islam’ and nothing else. These two

oppositions could not find the compromise and this kind of

conflict is not solved but ends up with misunderstanding and

even fall apart of families. One of the respondent says, “When

I was covered my mother was against to my decision, she

said me that it is the extremist approach and that I would

socially excluded from society because of my covering, I still

have conflicts with my mother because of this issue and I

could see the solution of this problem by marriage, because

after marriage she could not say me anything more” (Tolkyn,

28). The marriage in Kazakh culture has such responsibility

to cover the head but in pre- Soviet time and some young

women even they covered by own will find the way to solve the

conflict with family by marriage even though they are

covered because of the religious understanding, the marriage

becomes the solution in conflict families. There are not only

the veil conflicts in families, but even in public sphere

there are elder people who show their reaction to the veil

when they share the same public sphere with the young covered

women. At the beginning in 1991 when there were just few women

in veil people were so ignored by the fact that is the

Muslim performance, they have different interpretations

except the


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religious one as the Islam. For instance, one of the

interviewee describes this beginning, “ I was covered in 1992,

I felt myself as if I came from the moon, the unknown object,

because when I walked on the streets and every where people

look at me as I stigmatized person, as I had the something

different from them, they stopped me and asked as if I am ill

and I do not have hair, or if I am have the special fashion

that belongs to me, and even some of the people asked me if I

am nun but no body never in this time asked me and

recognized me as the Muslim, but now people know who are these

covered women” (Malika,30). The main problem is that these

two generation are grown up in different social circumstances

they have different approaches to life view, the parents who

grew up in the pressure regime, who were colonized and

assimilated and new generation who have possibility to live

how they want to live but in this term they are repressed by

their parents, who actually do not know the different way of

living they all the life obey the System and the different

style of life of their children interpreted by them as the

reactionary to them. As the young women actually argue that it

is the way of life of their ancestors, which should integrate

in their life. They want to be free from the life their

parents had that and it is the religious duty to cover the

head. This clash of these two generation is too seen, as if

there are two poles one is south and another is north, they

are so far to understand each other and so different to try to

understand each other, they have differences in life, social,

political and ideological differences. The generation that was

tight to the principles of Communist Regime and generation that


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wants to live freedom by taking own decision, by recreating the

identity and because they want to live religiously, as in the

article the respondents says, “the religious duty of every

women”(Sayran, 32)(5), “hijab-is the purity of the religion”

(Ayim, 23)(5)’. It is interesting to compare this kind of

family conflict and veil issue with the religious and

traditional families in Turkey, since in Turkey there is the

same conflict of veil issue but the oppositions are changed.

If in Kazakhstan the parents are against the veil and their

children are resist by covering their heads, in Turkey the

veil issue works differently, in Turkey society and families

the parents want their children to be covered and sometimes it

becomes the problem because the children of the conservative

and religious families do not want to be covered by veil. The

roles are changed in these two countries but there is

similarities such in both situation the parents put their

dominance and pressure and the children becomes reactionary to

the parents in Kazakhstan by covering and in Turkey buy not

covering. Actually, the issue is not to put pressure or to be

reactionary, to stay against but the fact that they have

different understandings, which are based on the social and

periodical understandings. All social and political issues of

the definite time create the understandings of the people,

that is why they are all different. In the article there s

reference ,


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“the majority of veiled women of Astana(the capital city of

Kazakhstan)are living in the modern and atheist families”

(Dosanova,3)”, shows how their way of thinking are different,

and in the article there is one line that says, “the cause in

such families is the conflict with the parents”(Dosanova,3)

that leads to the fact that the parents become the dominance

and the pressure on the decision of their children, they

justify themselves saying that they know the life better than

their children because of the experiences and the concerns for

the children who could choose the wrong way of life, whereas

the children just decided in what kind of way they want to

life but become the reactionary to the parental pressure. It

is important issue because it the not people who have

discussion once then leave each other, but the members of unity

the people who are responsible for each other, as one of the

interviewee says, “ I love my family very much but my

parents absolutely were against to my veil, it was my life

decision I want to live religiously, but they forbid me to

cover my head, they knew that I would obey because I never

came against, that is why I covered my head just when I went

out, when I was far from home and when I came near to my

house I took it off”(Latifa,26). There is a social conflict

that is seen mostly in families and in public sphere. The

parents put pressure upon the children that causes the women

discrimination because they could not live by their own

decision whereas on the contrary the parents argue that it is

the veil that puts them in the condition of the oppressed, in

next paragraph there is the issue of the veil as the causer of

the discrimination of women in the family and public sphere.


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In one of the article, States and Women’s Rights in

Central Asia, written by Danielle Kane, there is the main

question and issue of women rights in Central Asia. He makes

the observational and description research and comes to the

conclusion by comparing the post- colonial countries of

Central Asia in terms of women rights. His argument is that

Communist Regime by the intervening in all social and political

issue of colonized countries in the time of Soviet Union on

the one hand oppressed the human rights and prevents them to

live their traditions and cultures, then on the other hand

brought about the freedom and rights for women. He argues

that it is the practice of Islam that makes the position of

women in the oppressed position, as he states, “The Soviet

impact on women’s rights was a double-edged sword, as

fostering gender equality aimed partly at destroying Islam,

and Central Asians were cognizant of the connection” (Danielle

Kane, 6). Before the 18th century and Russian invade in the

territory of Kazakh, the traditional way of life was nomadic

that was why Kazakh people did not have the institutions

that would remain the social needs such education or matters

for the courts. They solve the social problem by the heads

of the tribes, since the


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Kazakhs were divided into tree major tribes and each tribe

has the sub tribes, then when it came that they need the court

they came to the one place and the heads of the tribe that

mostly were the old men listened the problem of the people and

by consultations between each other solved the problem,

Kazakhstan had absence of the court or any educational system,

but by becoming the colonial country of Soviet Union as the

rest countries of Central Asia, like in all colonization

process the colonized started to integrated into the culture

of the colonized. The first purpose of Soviet Union was to

bring the Communist Regime that was the equality in all terms,

including the women rights. That was why women started get

education and work in the public sphere as well as the men.

The position of women became more evident and active. There was

Communist organization in which women were participating

actively, during this process the people forgot the

traditional and cultural practices because the assimilation

and some prevented practices such religious.thw women who were

covered even if mostly of them were covered because of the

traditional approach, because they were married women they

were forced to open their heads. Since, the ‘veil’ was the

religious practice and was analysed as the oppression of women

rights. In the reference of the article, “Before Soviet rule,

Islam held a monopoly over Central Asia” (Danielle Kane, 17),

and for the Soviets, emancipating Central Asian women would

“constitute the linchpin of…the destruction of Islam in the

region” by replacing shariat and customary law with civil law”

(Danielle Kane, 17) arguing the fact of the women rights that

comes with the abolishment of the veil. It is interesting issue


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because there is a contradiction by bringing women freedom

they should become the oppressed tool of the colonizers since

at the moment the majority of women were against to the anti-

veiling, they wanted to live and practice the traditional and

religious way of life. She argues, “The head-to-toe paranji and

chachvon ensemble that the Soviets encountered was the most

restrictive and spread widely only since the tsarist

occupation of the 1860s and 1870s” (Danielle Kane, 20) the

paranji was the cloth of the headscarf women that covered all

body of women that was restricted in Soviet time. By these

references it is clearly seen how the process of

colonization and Communist Regime brought the oppositional

view to the veil during the two centuries of colonization. For

instance, if there would be comparison between two colonial

countries such Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in terms of women

rights, there is a difference because in terms of Islam

participation Uzbekistan was considered as the conservative

and traditional country, they did not change much after

colonization because of two reason, one is that Uzbeks had the

settled life not as the Kazakh the nomadic way of life that

caused absence of religious schools such medrese (religious

school). In Uzbekistan there is a holy and ancient place

Bukhara, where people could come and take the

religious


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education that caused the spread and strong participation of

the religion. That was why the Uzbek women were covered and

the veil using was the religious participation that transforms

to traditional. The second reason why Uzbekistan was not

influenced as much as Kazakhstan, was the geographical

location, it locates far than Kazakhstan. Until the

influences came to Uzbekistan they lost their essence.

Nevertheless Kazakhstan in all terms was assimilated by Soviet

Union, the life was completely resembled to the colonizers

life, the consciousness culture and traditions lost their

essence and were assimilated. People of Kazakhstan did not

speak in mother tongue, did not participate in the religious

activities, and forgot the traditional and cultural

participations. It is not surprise that after the

independence Kazakh people still have the communist point of

view an at the same time they want to reconstruct the Kazakh

identity, post-colonized people have the double consciousness,

the one that is integrated and the one that is the original

and no more known. As it is written above the countries of

Central Asia are influenced differently, but the most affected

was Kazakhstan to the comparison with Uzbekistan that after

the collapse of the Soviet Union they easily reconstructed the

past, the women covered the heads but in Kazakhstan the veil

issue becomes the discourse, not as the Uzbekistan that has

the same point of view about the veil, Kazakhstan has the

different perspectives about the veil understanding that shows

how the assimilation was really done in Kazakhstan. In the

reverence there is description of the process of the

liberation women from the pressure of the veil “the Soviet


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attempt to “liberate” women from their families’ control, as

exemplified by a brutal anti-veiling campaign in Uzbekistan,

would ultimately result in traditional roles for women

becoming a marker of cultural and national

identity.”(Danielle Kane, 20), the Soviet realized the

liberation by, “women participation in public life (Soviet

time), education and activities” (Danielle Kane, 7). The

position of women in Soviet time became not as the marker of

the gender but the participant in the public sphere, mostly in

the time of the Second World War, when the women of Kazakhstan

replaced the labour activities in factories because the men

of Kazakhstan were in the war. Danielle Kane in the article

argues that Islam makes the women have less equality than men;

he compares the countries of Central Asia in terms of women

rights. He believes that women of Kazakhstan are more equal

than women in Uzbekistan,” Kazakhstan experienced no anti-

veiling campaign, but the Soviets disrupted local networks;

today Kazakhstan has the lowest inequality in Central

Asia.”(2). These all references show how the generation at the

time of Communism integrated all Communist characteristic that

is why after the Independence this generation still have the

same interpretation about the veil that it makes women

oppressed and have less rights than the women in the Soviet

times, this leads to the conflict in families the parents of

the Communist

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time and the children of the Independence time, the different

periods of time the political and social situations of both

period time have the different impacts upon the generations.

The young generation of Kazakhstan who are covered by veil are

criticized by the elderly generation saying that they have no

rights but by oppression and forbid of the veil in families by

their parents are also the different oppression and absence of

women rights. In the public sphere the veiled women could not

find the job that is also the repressive of women rights. The

majority of covered women in Kazakhstan were marginalized in

public sphere after the terroristic act in the USA in 2001.

The employers were afraid to get the covered women to the job

because all covered women were considered as the terrorists,

for instance the men do not have the definite marker that

shows that he is a Muslim but the women have, the meaning of

the veil becomes the meaning of the repressor of women rights.

One of the respondent during the interview says, “ one day

after school on the street there were a few men who were

working on the street, one of them looked at me and asked, “

where is your bomb?”, I id not even look at him but he

assaulted me very much ”(Latifa, 26). The women rights

are oppressed doubly one by the parents and public sphere and

by the argument that the veil and Islam make them have less

rights. The veiled women are covered because of the two

reasons one is the religious the second one is the identity

reason. The elderly generation criticized the young women

believing that it is the outside impact of the Arabic

countries whereas the veiled women argue that it is the

process of the reconstruction of identity and the participation

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The “ veil” Understanding in Post-Communist Countryin religion that also construct the identity of the Kazakh

people.

The last major description of the veil is the

reconstruction of the Kazakh identity. After the independence

there was the movement of the self-representation and

recognition, Kazakh people especially the young generation

wanted to reconstruct the original identity by going back to

the roots, as it is described in the first paragraph the

Kazakh veiled women mostly emphasize their being covered as

the reestablishment of the self as the Kazakh nation, as one

of the resonant says, “ it is not something far to our

identity, Kazakh women wore the veil as the traditional head

dress”(Malika). As in the article, Traditional Kazakh Culture

and Islam, there is argument that the veil is the tool of

the identity, “The hijab is a matter of identity as

well.”(Edelbay Saniya, 4) The hijab is the part of the veil

cloth which is used by the covered women. Before the

colonization of the Kazakhstan by the Soviet Union, the

cultural and traditional practices were practiced by Kazakh

people, the traditional cloth of the women closed all parts of

the body, the head was also covered by the “ kimishek” that

was the traditional headdress of the women. Nevertheless, only

the married women were covered that was why after the

independence the covered and not married women were

criticized by the


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people. When the covered women say that they covered because

they want to reconstruct the identity the elderly people have

the different opinion about the veil that is not the

traditional cloth of the not married women. On this response

the covered women argue that it is not only the traditional

practice but also the religious responsibility as the Muslim

women. After the independence, the young generation went to

the abroad for religious education and realized that some

religious practices of Islam in Kazakhstan are coming from the

previous belief of Kazakh people, shamanism with the Islam

were mixed and people took the shaman practices on the account

as the Islam, the veil also is considered not rightly, most

people of Kazakhstan think that the women should not cover

her head and there is no such practices in Islam.

Nevertheless, the students who take the education abroad and

learn the pure and legitimized Islam have the oppositional

interpretation from the interpretation of the people who think

that the veil is not the part of the Islam, and even the

traditional Kazakh cloth. In the article we can see the veil

issue becomes the discourse, “the discourse of the question of

the hijab whether it is religious cloth or traditional”

(Edelbay Saniya, 4), while there is the discourse of the veil

most of the people understand the veil as the influence from

the outside, from the Arab countries, “The hijab belongs to

Arab culture. It was brought to Kazakhstan from the Arab

countries.”(Edelbay Saniya, 4). Nevertheless during the

interviews of the covered women, there is major argument that

the veil is the, “ from the 16 interviews 14 of them have the

same argument that traditionally Kazakh women always cover


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their heads by (saukele, borik,takiya,jaulik) that in nowadays

hijab is the same traditional marker of the identity of

Kazakh women” (Edelbay Saniya, 5). It is really interesting

that the majority of Kazakh women who are veiled put the

argument that being covered is the process of self-realization

as the Kazakh women, whereas the another group of people have

the opposite argument that the veil is not the marker identity

of Kazakh women, “the criticism upon the women in hijab as in

the tradition of Kazakhstan the women could not cover her

head until marriage” (Edelbay Saniya, 4). This issue of veil

becomes the conflict of the understanding what is it to re-

establish the Kazakh identity after independence. The veiled

Kazakh women in Kazakhstan are very active in terms of self-

realization, they are not only covered their heads to show

that they are Kazakh women who want to recreate the Kazakh

identity, but at the same time they create the “cemaat”

(group) of covered women not only covered because they are

open to every women who wants to re-establish self identity.

They have the social activities among themselves, they come

together for “dauat” that means for religious lectures, the

time of lecture is scheduled; it has the same system like the

school or institution. The cemaat has the teacher who gives

the lectures, and the person who helps the teacher, it is the

person who


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organizes the lectures. They have special language courses

such Kazakh language, Arabic language, the course of learning

Koran. They organize the ceremonies for the special days

such; Kurban bayram, Ramazan bayram, Newruz (religious

celebrations). They organize some special festivals in order

to collect money for the one who needs; they give the money

for students as the scholarship. There is even such

organization which arrange the marriage, the covered women can

married by the help of this organization, in one word the

covered women actually self-realizes and has the active life.

Even though, there is an argument that the covered women is

marginalized and does not have social life. It is true,

because she marginalized in public sphere, she could not

cover her head if she wants to attend the university as one

of the newspaper writes,” The students complained they had

been unable to attend classes at Saqtaghan Baishev University

because they were prevented at the school's entrance was

preventing them from entering the university because of their

head scarves, or hijabs” or if she would look at the job

nobody would give her a job only because she is covered her

head. The young women of Kazakhstan who are covered the heads

really have the struggles with the post-communist

consciousness that still belongs to the families where parents

are extremely against to veil and the children want to cover

their heads as the self realization of Kazakh identity and

because of religiosity. There are lots of argument that the

veil is the identity process, “to the opposition to the

criticism most of the women in hijab say that covering is the

practice of tradition and recreation of identity” (Edelbay


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Saniya, 5) as one of the respondent emphasizes, “why there are

oppositions to the patriotically participation for our

motherland” (Gulmira, 24). So, there is a social discourse

about veil, the youth women in veil are covered for self

realization and recreation of Kazakh identity by going back

to the roots of Kazakh identity in terms of religious and

traditional values and practice them in daily life, whereas

there is a group of people who have the opposite argument to

the veil as the outside influence and that traditionally women

covered when she got married, the argument is that the women

are marginalized herself from the society and the veil makes

her have less women rights.

As the conclusion of the work that is analysed by the

references of some articles and interviews are made for the

young women in veil, there are explanations of the different

perspectives that emerged after independence, 1991 of

Kazakhstan as the post-communist Country in the Central Asia.

The “veil” is understood in three major views, the views that

are based on the situational period of time and the social

influences. After the independence, the veil becomes the

discourse that was discussed between the generation, which

educated during the Communist Regime and the new generation

that got the consciousness after independence


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of Kazakhstan. As it is written above Kazakhstan before the

Communism had the nomadic way of life and considered

religiously pagan until the Arab invade, that let Kazakh to

the conversion to Islam but because of the traditional nomadic

way of life Kazakh did not have the religious institutions as

example Uzbekistan had. The religious practices of Kazakh

people were not fully the Islamic but mixed with the

Shamanism. That was why the traditional women were covered

the heads after the marriage that was the symbol of being

married. Kazakhstan never experienced the religious practices

until the independence, when the young students went to abroad

to get religious education from Arabs because the traditional

religion of Kazakh was mixed with pagan. In the colonization

period Kazakhstan was influenced from Soviet Union in all

terms, consciously, socially, and psychologically. The Soviet

Union had the strong impact upon Kazakhstan, for Kazakhstan it

was the time when Kazakh people lost their essence as Kazakh,

they forgot their language, traditions, cultural and religious

practices. Finally, after independence when there was “a real

Islamisation boom in the society of the country “(Edelbay

Saniya, 3) when the young people start the movement of the

self identification and self questioning the discourse of the

veil was appeared and split the two generation and became not

only public discourse but also the discourse in families.

The women in veil are the members of the modern and atheist

families, they want the freedom to self-realize and

reconstruct the old roots of Kazakh identity, whereas their

parents who have the communistic view that the veil as the

gender marker that repressed the women rights. Here is a


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contradiction because when the parents arguing that veil is the

oppression of women rights and by banning it they actually

also the ones who might be called as the oppressor of the

veil. The young women have the family conflict and at the

same time in public spheres, they cold not find job, hey could

not educate in universities, they are socially marginalized.

When it comes that there is a discussion in public sphere the

elder generation criticize them that it is no t the

traditional way of being covered and that only married women

were covered, the argument of being veiled is that there is

outside influences of Arab countries, whereas the young women

in veil say that they are covered because it is the

reconstruction of self- representation and Kazakh identity by

going to the roots of Kazakh and re-establish the social and

religious values. The woman in veil does not have

governmental support, in one of the newspaper the president

of Kazakhstan claims his opinion about the veiled women and

he thinks that women in public sphere should not be covered

as he says, “the way the veiled women cover her head is the

way Arab women do, and we will prevent to send our women to

take back to the past-it is not our way” he is extremely

opposite to the cover of the head of women as for him it is

the Arab impact and he thinks that veil is the way that

takes these


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women to the past and barbarism, after he argues, “ of course

we are Muslims, Kazakh people are Muslims and we will support

the religion but because in Islam there are different ways,

and because Kazakh people had the nomadic way of life, we

have own way of religion”. Nursultan Nazarbayev is the first

president of Kazakhstan after independence and he is still the

president of Kazakhstan, in Communist period Nursultan

Nazarbayev was the head of the Communist Party that might be

also normal that he has the same views with the rest of the

population of Kazakhstan, all these people that come from the

Communist Regime, they all have the same consciousness and

point of view. The Kazakhstan after independence is split into

two groups the one that is coming from the Communist

educational system and the second one is the young

population of Kazakhstan, the youths who want to make own

decision, who want the freedom in all social meanings, since

they are marginalized, when it comes to the men they are not

marginalized as women because the veil is the visible marker

for her, but when the identity of men is also becomes known

he also stigmatized as the women. Nevertheless, the position

of veiled women is much more complicated because the veil is

the part of her identity and this identity in public sphere

is spoiled and discredited. Most of the women in Kazakhstan

will be uneducated because before the emergence of veil the

education of the women as well as the men was high in

Kazakhstan. The importance of education comes from the

Communist educational System. The young women are forced to

choose between veil or university, some of them open their

heads but most of them give up with the education. It is


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not only in universities and schools where women in veil

are marginalized but in public sphere she is also hurt by the

way people talk with her, most of the respondents say that

they were hurt by the words such terrorists, because it is

very harsh description to the one who has nothing to do with

terrorism, as most of them argue that they want just freedom

to live whatever they want, they do not bring harm to anyone

and on the contrary they want to help to people if they

could. As it is written above about the group organization

they women in veil organize, they open to everyone who needs

their goal is to find self identity as the Kazakh people, who

is considered as Muslim and live the pure Islam, not the one

that was mixed with Shamanism. The women in veil have this

“cemaat” (group) because they are not any more the part of the

society, they feel harsh pressure from family and outside, and

when she comes to the group where all women have the same

social problem and family conflict she knows that only with the

same position women would understand her, that is why she

needs the support of the group. As it was mention above the

comparison the veil conflict in Turkey and Kazakhstan, in

terms that both countries have the veil issue or veil

discourse, nevertheless, the young women in Kazakhstan

covered their heads by their own


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will as the self-representation and recognition whereas not

all covered women of Turkey are in veil by own decision. The

example of comparison is made in order to just show how veil

understanding can change inside of the country as well it

changes outside between the countries; the impact of social

and political characteristics can manipulate the situation and

position of veil in definite country. In Kazakhstan the veil

understanding has the conception such conflict in families

between parents and children as well in public sphere, the

veil is understood as the oppressor of women rights because

she is marginalized by the society and the rights to attend

university, have the job, be active in public activities,

and the veil understanding is understood as the conventional

and non-conventional practice of Islam as the Arab influences

to the opposite as the Kazakh identity representation.


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Work Cited.

Alniyazov, Nurlan. FAKTORY, VLIYAYUWIE NA RAZVITIE MUSULMANSKOY OBWYNY V

KAZAKHSTANE.Kazanskıy Federalist: Kazan, 2005

Dosanova, G.M, ГОРОДСКИЕ ЖЕНЩИНЫ В ХИДЖАБЕ. НОВЫЙ ФЕНОМЕН В

КАЗАХСТАНЕ? Казахстан: Современные гуманитарные

исследования, № 2, 2010

Edelbay, Saniya. International Journal of Business and Social Science. Traditional Kazakh Culture and Islam. Almaty, Kazakhstan, Vol. 3 No. 11; June 2012

Kane, Danielle. States and Women’s Rights in Central Asia. Duke

University: University of Pennsylvania

h tt p : / / ru s .ru v r.r u / 2 0 1 2 _ 1 1 _ 1 7 / Nazarba e v -zh e n s hhini - v - K azah st an e - n e -d o lzhni-n o s i t -hidzhab - A U D I O /

http:// e n.isl a mtod a y . n e t/ a r tsho w- 232 - 4282.htm

Veil Understanding in Post-Communist Country

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