A local education official told Forum 18 that the reason for the ban was that "children can be misled in mosques", but would not answer when asked if this was an official opinion or why she thought state-controlled imams would mislead people.
Source/Credit: Forum 18, News
By Mushfig Bayram | July 12, 2016
Uzbekistan banned shared Muslim iftar (breaking of fast) meals in public in the capital Tashkent during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Forum 18 has learned. The authorities also continued to ban people under 18 from attending mosques.
In Tashkent schoolteachers and police were placed at the entrances of mosques to stop people under 18 entering, and in Andijan [Andijon] Region the local Education Department instructed parents to sign letters that they would not (among other things) allow their children to attend mosque prayers throughout the summer. One Andijan mosque placed a sign outside it banning children and mentally-ill children from entering. A local education official told Forum 18 that the reason for the ban was that "children can be misled in mosques", but would not answer when asked if this was an official opinion or why she thought state-controlled imams would mislead people.
Muslim Board officials in Andijan, Samarkand [Samarqand], Bukhara [Bukhoro], Navoi [Navoiy], Namangan and several other regions either refused to answer questions on the issues, or did not answer their phones on 4 and 5 July. The Religious Affairs Committee also refused to discuss the issues with Forum 18 on 5 July.
The bans also appear to have covered the three-day Ramazon hayit (Eid al-fitr) festival, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. The festival started this year in Uzbekistan from the evening of 5 July, and is marked with prayers and meals. Muslims are forbidden to fast during the festival, making meals particularly important for religious reasons.
Uzbekistan normally imposes even stricter than usual controls on Islamic communities during Ramadan, for example bans on prayers by groups in private homes and people eating the daily Iftar meals at the end of each fast in restaurants. (Restaurant iftar meals normally only take place in Tashkent.) Surveillance of people attending mosques is also stricter than usual (see Forum 18's Uzbekistan religious freedom survey http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1862).
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