Tajik police forcibly shaved the beards off nearly 13,000 random men as part of a government campaign to tackle radicalization. The bearded men were stopped in the street, taken to police stations for questioning and then urged  to shave. The unusual beard-shaving tactics are part of a broader campaign against the adoption of Islamic practices that could lead to extremism.

Women are affected too. They have been banned from wearing hijabs in schools and universities and are encouraged to wear colorful clothing as opposed to black. Over the past year, the police forced the closure of 160 shops where hijabs were sold and convinced 1,773 women to stop wearing them.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon disapproves of black clothes even in mourning.

Furthermore, authorities are clamping down on name-giving and are calling on parents to give their children traditional Tajik names rather than Muslim-influenced names. The Tajik Justice Ministry wants to amend the law to force parents to give their children traditionally Tajik names.

Tajikistan hopes that these measures will combat extremism and ensure that the country does not follow the path of other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The humiliation of bearded men accused of being Salafists however may push the population into an opposite direction.