In the eastern Uzbek town of Andijan, hundreds of men and young boys gather in the main mosque for Friday prayers. Uzbekistan’s hardline authorities consider Andijan a hotbed of Islamic extremism, after a jailbreak and mass protest in May was crushed by troops. Six months on, no one will speak openly for fear of reprisals. But in private, most Andijan residents say they object strongly to being labelled as “terrorists” by the government. “The men who organised the jailbreak weren’t terrorists,” said one young taxi driver. “They’re just ordinary believers like a lot of us.” The events in Andijan have starkly emphasised the tensions which a revival of Islam has brought to Central Asia. Full Story
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