Let's not make a meal of enlistment of undergraduates in the military, says education minister

“Serving the Fatherland is, in fact, our civic duty.  To leave the university for the army and continue studies after the army is not a new phenomenon.  So it was in Soviet times,” Imomzoda told reporters in Dushanbe on February 3.  

He noted that young man, whether or not he is a student or an undergraduate, he must serve in the army and “fulfill his duty to the Fatherland.”   

According to him, the Ministry of Education and Science is currently working with the Ministry of Defense on the issue of enlisting students and undergraduates in the military.

Meanwhile, half year ago, speaking at a news conference on July 16, 2021, Imomzoda stated that undergraduates should also be exempted from the military service.  

Under new regulations that were approved by Tajik lawmakers on January 20 2021, men who graduate from universities that offer military training in addition to their regular studies will be granted officer ranks only if they serve at least one year in the armed forces.  Until 2020, such officer ranks were awarded immediately after graduation.

The new regulation also bans those who did not serve in the army from working as officials in the prosecutor’s offices, courts, customs, anti-corruption agencies, and governmental executive entities.

Besides, a government resolution enforcing legislation allowing Tajik men between the ages of 18 and 27 to pay 25,200 somonis (equivalent to 2,200 U.S. dollars) in order to avoid conscription was made public on August 16, 2021.

Those who choose to pay the fee have to go through a one-month military training session but avoid the full two-year service requirement. 

Tajikistan inherited a Soviet-era conscription system, according to which every male between 18-27 years of age must serve in the army for two years.

According to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces.

The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.

Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.

Tajikistan’s armed forces consist of Ground Forces, Mobile Forces (paratroopers of the armed forces of Tajikistan), Air Force and Air Defense Force.

MoD representatives say the practice of seizing young men in streets and markets and sending them into military service known as “oblava” will also be eliminated due to the new law on military service.  “Oblava” has been a common practice in Tajikistan for years.  That policy sparked a public outcry and sharp criticism by human rights defenders.