Language Law of 1989 [1989]

While Tajikistan’s language policy remains in flux, the current legislation determining the official status of the country’s various languages dates from the final years of the Soviet Union [Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 2009]. The Language Law of 1989 pledged to recognize Tajik as the only official language of Tajikistan by 1996, while permitting for the use of Russian when communicating between different ethnic groups. The law was reaffirmed in early drafts of the Tajik constitution and amended in 1992 to remove the use of Russian as a secondary language. The new revisions allowed Tajik, Uzbek, and Russian to be taught in schools, but all government affairs would need to be managed solely in Tajik by 1994 [Open Society Institute, n.d.]. Ultimately, these provisions were not implemented, and Russian retained approval as a medium of interethnic communication. Had the law been implemented, non-Tajik populations would have been at a disadvantage in government, legal, and business proceedings. Sizeable Pamir, Uzbek, and Russian populations were settled in Tajikistan, and while many Uzbeks and Russians emigrated out of the country during its civil war, a substantial non-Tajik population remains, primarily Uzbeks and Pamiris. In 2009, an addendum to the 1989 rule was proposed which would again eliminate the special status of Russian, making Tajik the only language approved for official use inside Tajikistan [Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 2009]. Although the new law permitted the use of other languages in daily life, there was no mention of linguistic protections in the public sphere, rousing renewed concerns of discrimination against Pamirs, Uzbeks, and other minority groups in Tajikistan [Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 2009].