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Birthdays for almost everyone come once a year. It is something most people look forward to as it is the mark of a new age in their lives.
It is a time lots of people throw parties and do all sorts of birthday traditions.
Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia that is mainly surrounded by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan is popular for rugged mountains which is perfect for hiking and climbing.
One thing also popular about Tajikistan is that birthday celebrations are not permitted and this is boldly written in the law. Specifically, Article 8 of the Central Asian republic's law on traditions and customs prohibits the celebration of birthdays anywhere except if you are doing so in the privacy of your family circle.
This means if you have to mark your birthday at all, the law puts a limit on the number of guests you will be inviting for your birthday, the amount of money you intend to spend and even the duration of each type of gathering.
A report by TheWeek says this was adopted in 2007 after President Emomali Rahmon, who had been in power for 21 years. The president at the time insisted that the practice of big celebrations was putting a heavy strain on Tajik families who would often go into debt in order to "keep up appearances."
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This law is actually fully in place as in 2019 a man named Amirbek Isoev was arrested for "celebrating his birthday." Isayev at the time had been seen in a Facebook photo sitting in a pub with a birthday cake.
In his defense, the man had claimed that it was a friends' night out, and even a waiter from the pub told the court that it didn’t look like a planned celebration. Well, he still got fined for his actions.
Some reports also say Isoyev is not the only one who has been accused of breaking this law of not celebrating birthdays in Tajikistan. According to the News.tj website this same law was violated 394 times in 2014 and possibly more over the years.