Uzbekistan is reputed to be another beacon of Muslim moderation, but evidently that moderation doesn’t extend to dhimmis who dare to proselytize. Question: if Islam is so certain of its superiority as the last and perfect revelation from the true God, correcting and abrogating all previous revelations, why is it so unsure of itself as not to allow competition in the marketplace of ideas? Why doesn’t it have confidence that its superiority will shine forth by comparison with its competitors? Why is it so insecure that it must instead silence those competitors by force? From the Barnabas Fund:
Baptists in Urgench in the north-western Uzbek region of Khorezm face interrogations and abuse from authorities who are cracking down on Protestant Christians in what appears to be an attempt to halt the spread of Christianity in this Muslim majority ex-Soviet republic.
At least two Baptist Christians have recently been interrogated by the Uzbek secret police, known as the NSS. Both had been intimidated and threatened with long prison sentences, reportedly in an attempt to ascertain the extent and nature of their links with western missions organisations.
According to Forum 18, on 25 June NSS Officer Alisher Khasanov is alleged to have said to one, a Christian woman named Sharovat Allamova, “You Protestants rely on western money. The humanitarian western missions who support you are basically espionage organisations. So you yourselves are agents for foreign intelligence services.” On June 26 another Christian, Dilshod Dilbaev, was called in by Khasanov for interrogation about his links with missions organisations. Forum 18 reports that Dilbaev was hit by the NSS who also threatened to plant drugs on him.