DUSHANBE, June 12, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- In his official reply to the letter by resident of Khujand Rustam Gulov, Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev has reportedly admitted the fact of the existence of raids on conscripts in Tajikistan.

Rustam Gulov has posted minister’s letter on his blog.  In his reply sent to Gulov on May 29, Sherali Khairulloyev, in particular, notes that the main reason for raids on conscripts is draft dodging.  “If young men of conscript age try to evade conscription, police officers should catch them,” Khairulloyev notes in his letter.

We will recall that recruitment officers on May 12 shanghaied students from the madrassah in the northern city of Konibodom.  Recruitment officers reportedly entered the dormitory of the Konibodom madrassah during the evening prayer and detained more than 20 students.  The students’ relatives say the majority of the detained students are graduating students and they have to pass final examinations.

According to the Ministry of Defense, every year, some 15,000-16,000 young Tajik men are drafted into the country’s armed forces.  The two-month-long effort seeking to enlist young men aged 18-27 for the two-year compulsory military service takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.

Some sources say more than 600,000 young men in Tajikistan are eligible for military service, but some 150,000 of them have received draft deferments or are exempted from the military service and some 100,000 other conscript-age young Tajiks are outside the country in search of a living.

Young Tajiks can avoid or postpone military service if they are ill, studying at university, an only son, or if they have two children.