On Monday 22/10/2012 (The Moscow Times newspaper) investigated the headscarf ban and Putin's comments on Thursday 18th October 2012, according to Reuters and other media agencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the recent hijab bans in schools in Russia's southern Stavropol region by stating, "We must always treat the religious feelings of people with great respect. That must be shown in the state's activities, in the nuances, in everything," adding however, "We have a secular state and we must proceed from this basis." He also suggested that European states which implement school uniform policies that prohibit wearing of religious dress should be viewed as a model for Russian schools with regards to how they respond to female students adopting the Islamic headscarf. His comments have been interpreted by Russian and other media outlets as open support for a hijab ban in the country's schools. His stance emulates the position of other extremist secular states such as France, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Turkey, and Uzbekistan that have also imposed hijab or niqab bans in their society.

Central Media Representative of Hizb-ut Tahrir, Dr. Nazreen Nawaz responded to Mr. Putin's comments saying:

"The blatant hypocrisy and flagrant lie of Putin's call for the Russian state to demonstrate respect for the religious beliefs of its citizens is truly breath-taking considering that this is a state that has a long track-record of pursuing authoritarian repressive policies against its Muslim minority, as also confirmed by the Russian Human Rights Institute. Over the last few years, Muslim women related to men carrying the Islamic dawah have been harassed, imprisoned, abused and threatened with knives by Russian security agencies in order to pressure their men-folk to leave their Islamic duty. The children of some have even been placed in orphanages as part of the Russian state's "anti-extremism" alias "anti-Islam" policies. Now, not content with the persecution of innocent Muslim women, Putin has clearly set his sight on excluding pious Muslim girls from Russian schools, simply for dressing according to the tenets of their religious beliefs in an attempt to fight the rising adherence and commitment of Russia's Muslim women to Islam and to force-feed them flawed secular beliefs."

"While talking of respect for religious faiths, he simultaneously backs the relegation of Muslim girls to second-class status with regards to access to education for practicing their Islamic obligations. He proudly expresses the secular credentials of his state, while this is an ideology that has repeatedly demonstrated its intolerance towards religious minorities and its fault lines, and inadequacy in accommodating rights for all, illustrated by hijab, niqab, and minaret bans in secular states. Muslim women have understood clearly that "respect" in secular states is a privilege only for those who sign up to its beliefs, while marginalisation, stigmatisation, and discrimination are the diet which those devout to their religious faith have become accustomed to under the secular system. This is an ideology that has long-lost the intellectual debate on how to organise just, fair, and harmonious societies."

"Furthermore, how dare Mr. Putin speak of respecting the religious feelings of Muslim women when his government pursues a domestic and foreign policy that has terrorised the innocent Muslim women of Chechnya and supported mass-murder by the butcher Assad of the daughters of this Ummah in Syria whose only call is to live in dignity under the system of Islam."

"Moreover, what has the secular system that he celebrates actually brought Russian women? Today, Russian women face an epidemic of exploitation, trafficking, violence, and discrimination in pay. The secular liberal values promoted by Russia's government have created a social identity for women where they are condemned to be seen as nothing more than a sexual tool to be used and discarded like any other economic commodity. So those secularists who enjoy accusing Islam of oppressing women need to look in their own backyard, as well as recognise that it is not Islam that has stripped Muslim girls of an education and denied them their basic rights but fundamentalist secular systems and the imposition of fanatical liberal ideals upon Muslim women."

"As the women of Hizb-ut Tahrir, we call our dear, devout Muslim sisters in Russia to hold fast to their Islamic beliefs and noble Islamic dress that exemplifies the noble and virtuous value of modesty and dignity. Do not be intimidated or pressured into leaving obedience to your Creator by hijab bans or other anti-Islam policies that are nothing but desperate, weak tactics employed by a state that realises that it is unable to shake your intellectual conviction in Islam or strip from your heart your pure love for your deen. So reject the flawed secular beliefs and be steadfast in your Islamic beliefs and obligations, in the knowledge that you are the ones who have the gained the Pleasure of the Creator of the universe, Allah (swt). And work hard for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" state under which you will be able to wear your Islamic dress with honour and fulfil your Islamic obligations in an environment of security and true respect."

((إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَسَيُنفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَ‌ةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُ‌ونَ))

"Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcome." [TMQ Al-Anfal: 36]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Central Media Representative, Hizb-ut Tahrir