In Azerbaijan, protests against the ban on wearing hijabs in schools have shifted to non-public resistance.

In Azerbaijan, mass protests against the ban on attending schools in hijabs have ceased, but the restrictions remain in place, and discontent continues in the form of individual actions near school buildings. According to activists and human rights defenders, participants in the protests and their relatives face detentions, police summons, and other forms of pressure.

As previously reported by "Caucasian Knot", in Azerbaijan, despite the protests of believers, restrictions continue on the admission of female students and teachers in hijabs to schools. After mass detentions of protest participants in the village of Nardaran, parents are afraid to publicly oppose the ban, and some prefer to keep their daughters at home.

In Azerbaijan, the ban on female teachers and students attending schools in hijabs continues, but active protests have ceased, one activist told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" on condition of anonymity.

"The ban continues to be strictly enforced, with no leniency. However, protests are expressed in the form of coming to schools in hijabs. Children often come to schools with their parents, stand at the gates, are not allowed in, and some parents film this and then go home. This is also a form of protest," the activist said.

"Unfortunately, I do not have exact statistics, but judging by information from acquaintances, believers from the regions, and social networks, the overwhelming majority of people are afraid to speak out due to the threat of losing their jobs. Those under house arrest fear being transferred to pre-trial detention. Relatives of the arrested hope that their loved ones will be released after some time," the activist said.

According to him, a large number of those persecuted are noted in the village of Nardaran. "In Nardaran, about 100 people have been brought to criminal responsibility, about 25-30 people have been arrested, and the rest are under house arrest," the source said.

He noted that there is no official information about the charges against the detainees. "According to unofficial data, people are sent to administrative detention for petty hooliganism or disobedience to the police, while criminal cases are initiated under the article on violation of public order," the source continued.

He said that many teachers who wear hijabs are resigning. "I know a teacher; she is a good physics teacher, but now due to the ban on teaching in a hijab, she is forced to work in a confectionery workshop. Another teacher resigned and is now tutoring. In the early days of the protests, teachers spoke out in the media and social networks, protested, and reported coercion to resign. But now many are quietly resigning because threats have been made against the men in their families – fathers, brothers," the activist noted.

"In wealthy families, girls are enrolled in tutoring courses because there is also an unofficial ban on hijabs in private schools. The others stay at home, studying as best they can. Educated parents teach their own and neighboring children. But no matter how the child studies, they will need to obtain a certificate of secondary education. Probably, some will teach their children craft specialties; there will be big problems for those who want to get higher education," the activist said.

He also pointed to cases of hunger strikes by believers in various prisons. "I cannot name the names of the prisoners because their relatives are afraid to speak about it, fearing pressure on other family members. Only the wife of journalist Polad Aslanov, Gülmira, actively advocates for her husband, informing the public about his hunger strike, despite the fact that she has also been interrogated for participating in protests against the hijab ban," the activist said.

The head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners, Elshan Gasanov, also pointed to the persecution of those who protested against the hijab ban.

"A lot of people have been detained and summoned to the police. For law enforcement, it was enough for a person to appear in videos of the protests that took place in the early days of the hijab ban. The most active were subjected to administrative and criminal arrests. Neighbors and relatives of these people tell us about this. But the family members themselves are afraid to contact outsiders, to disclose the arrests. They believe that this may harm their arrested relatives. The most information about the arrested has come from Nardaran," Gasanov told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot."