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August 10, 2004

Captive Audience

by Red Wolf

Turkmenistan: Book not selling well lately? Well, Turkmenistan's president for life has found a way to get his tome into the hands of the people. Aside from mandating that it's crammed down the throats of students, now future licence applicants will need to be well versed in it as well.

Knowing the highway code is no longer enough to get a driving license in Turkmenistan, whose autocratic President Saparmurat Niyazov has told future drivers to cram his sacred writings to qualify.
A 16-hour course of the sacred Rukhnama is one of the most important innovations in the (driving learning) program ... to ensure future drivers are educated in the spirit of high moral values of Turkmenistan's society, the state news agency quoted a Niyazov decree as saying Monday.
Niyazov, Turkmenistan's president for life and focus of a flourishing personality cult, wrote the Rukhnama (Spiritual World) as a moral guide to his desert nation of 6 million.
The book is already a core part of the school and university curriculum, and a copy of Rukhnama is kept next to the Koran in the Central Asian nation's state-controlled mosques.

Drivers to Be Tested on Scripture - Reuters, 2nd August 2004.

Posted in Church and State at 12:00. Last modified on July 14 2009 at 16:45.
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