Hinduism in Kazakhstan

Hinduism in Kazakhstan is represented mainly by the ISKCON followers and by expatriate Hindus from India. The Census in Kazhakhstan doesn't recognize Hinduism. According to an estimate, there are about 500 Hare Krishna devotees in Kazakhstan. In 2010, there were 801 (0.005%) Hindus in Kazakhstan according to the ARDA. As of 2020, there were about 1878 (0.01%) Hindus in Kazakhstan.

Recently, the decision of the Kazakh government to raze a Hindu temple created a big controversy.

ISKCON in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan recognised Hare Krishna, a form of Hinduism, as an official religious movement in 2002 Worldwide Religious News.

Hare Krishna community now has only two of their 10 currently registered communities – in Astana and in the commercial capital Almaty - more than 50 members.

Thirty Hare Krishna families, most of them Kazakh citizens, lived in about 60 summer huts in Almaty.

Although the Hare Krishna movement was registered at the national and local levels, leaders reported continuing harassment by the local government in the form of repeated lawsuits seeking confiscation of land in Almaty Oblast used as a communal farm.

In April 2006, an appeals court upheld a lower court decision that the land should revert to the Karasai regional akimat (equivalent to a county government), because the farmer from whom Hare Krishna followers had purchased the land in 1999 did not hold title, and thus the land had not been properly privatized.

On April 25, 2006, local officials went to the commune to evict the followers. Hare Krishna followers peacefully resisted and local authorities did not escalate the situation through force. The Hare Krishnas claimed that the local government targeted the commune because they were a nontraditional religious community. They cited statements by local officials, such as an April 25, 2006, interview with Channel 31 in which a Karasai akimat official stated that the Hare Krishnas were "not accepted as a religion," and that they were dangerous for the country.

Independent religious observers, however, believed that the cases are motivated primarily by a financial interest in the land, the value of which has appreciated significantly since 1999. Human rights advocates and international observers brought the issue to the attention of national officials. At the end of the reporting period, the Government had not evicted the residents from the commune and the Hare Krishnas' appeal was pending before the Supreme Court.

Prior to the land confiscation lawsuits, the Hare Krishnas reported tense relations with Karasai akimat authorities, which they believe resulted in the community being subject to frequent inspections.

In 2004, the Hare Krishna commune was the subject of eleven inspections by different government agencies including the police, fire protection service, sanitary agency, environment protection agency, and land committee, and subsequently fined for various violations. According to the US State Department, the Hare Krishnas admitted several violations, which they attempted to rectify, but maintained that they had been subjected to closer scrutiny than their neighbors.

See also

• Persecution of Hindus

External links

• Hindu’s Problem in Kazakhstan
• Video of demolition
• International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Kazakhstan