Students of KBR University achieve authorities' reaction to ban on namazes

The issue of banning namazes (Friday prayers) at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU) has been taken under the control of the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) and is being resolved.

In a video posted online, a university official has stated that the university is a secular institution, and by the order of the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation, all the prayer rooms located therein will be removed. The Chechen Ombudsperson has treated the ban on namazes as a violation of constitutional rights.

The messages about the ban on performing namazes in the territory of the KBSU are deliberately presented in a negative way, the KBSU has stated.

"At the KBSU, where over 20,000 students from 45 countries are studying, they treat representatives of all religious faiths with deep respect," said Sultan Gekkiev, an acting vice-rector of the KBSU.

Boris Zumakulov, the KBR's Ombudsperson, said that the problem can be considered resolved.

The ban on namazes is a violation of constitutional rights, Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the KBR's Public Human Rights Centre, has noted. According to his version, the problem can be easily solved. "Prayer rooms for practicing Muslims should be organized at universities," he has added.

Liana Kanukoeva, a KBSU student, has heard about the problems of practicing Muslims. "The guys complained that they were not recommended to perform namazes," she said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that videos appeared in social networks that in several KBR's villages, girls wearing hijabs (headscarves) were not allowed into schools. After the intervention of the KBR's Mufti, the conflict was smoothed out.