Tajikistan: Schoolgirl died after many hours of rehearsals for Navruz celebration

In the south of Tajikistan, a 14-year-old schoolgirl died. With a diagnosis of pneumonia, she was involved in rehearsals of crowd scene for the upcoming celebration of Navruz.

The incident took place in the city of Bokhtar, where hundreds of schoolchildren and college students spend several hours a day rehearsing for Navruz. It’s here that the main celebrations will be held with the participation of President Emomali Rahmon.

Eighth grade student Shakhnoza Safarova, along with her classmates, also participated in the rehearsals. On March 14, the girl had a high fever, she was hospitalized, and the next day she died. The whole current week in Tajikistan was rainy, which probably aggravated the condition of the girl. It’s possible that the children rehearsed in the open air.

In secondary school No. 15, where Shakhnoza studied, they claim that they didn’t know anything about the girl’s diagnosis. Who is now responsible for the death of the schoolgirl is unknown.

Tajikistan has long been criticized for attracting students and schoolchildren to rehearsals (marches – as the people call these rehearsals of schoolchildren and students) on the occasion of holidays and ceremonial events, mass meetings, processions, meetings of high-ranking guests and the President of the country during his working trips to the regions. Despite criticism, the authorities don’t abandon this practice, inherited from Soviet times. Sometimes the number of participants in parades and processions can reach several tens of thousands of people.

Often these marches take place under the scorching sun in the summer. There were cases when children fainted. At the same time, for example, students are threatened with expulsion from the university if they refuse to rehearse.

The practice of using children in crowd scene, meeting ceremonies and opening of any objects sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. In November 2019, at the opening ceremony of a veterinary pharmacy in Temurmalik district, schoolgirls came out to meet the acting head of the district in summer national clothes, despite the cold weather. The chairman of the district himself and other officials were dressed in coats and hats.

In February 2019, in the city of Levakant, girls in dresses met foreign guests who came to the opening of a dairy plant. All adults were dressed appropriately for the weather.

In 2018, in Penjikent, schoolgirls came out to meet the chairman of the region in thin satin dresses, although the officials were wearing warm coats.