Religious groups in Kazakhstan have always been monitored more strictly than in Western countries and for years they have been asked to provide government agencies with detailed information about themselves, but recently both the number of questionnaires and the pressure on groups to complete them has increased.

This comes after Nazarbayev made a statement at a Nurotan party meeting that religious groups must be watched and after a new State Program “On the provision of freedom of belief and enhancement of state-confessional relations in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2007-2009″ which calls for intense monitoring of religious groups.

Forum 18 has reported that neither the Islamic faith in Kazakhstan, whose Mufti is a member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan under the Administration of the President, nor the Patriarch of Kazakhstan have ever received any kind of government monitoring. All other religious groups from Baptists to Catholics to Hare Krishnas appear to be targets of what some call intrusive questioning.

In addition, the way these surveys are presented is vague. Some of the questionnaires have no identification on them as to which government agency authorized them. And no one is clear on what the data is for.

Some leaders are told the information is for a “sociological survey.” One official told Forum 18 the information is needed for a database of religious organizations, but refused to say what the database is for. The official insisted that religious leaders can decline to fill in the questionnaires in if they do not want to, but some religious leaders told Forum 18 they face pressure to do so and fear consequences if they do not.

Among the questions asked on the form are:

the ethnicity of congregation members, their profession, political preferences, “the most influential and authoritative people in the community,” foreign missionaries, media contacts, “facts demanding attention on the part of state bodies,” military service of congregation leaders, their foreign language knowledge, media articles written, and the full names of leaders’ “close friends and comrades.”

Some religious groups report that they filled out the forms, others claim that they refused to do so either on religious grounds or because they felt it was unnecessary. As of yet, no groups have experienced problems for failing to do so.

Opposition party Nagyz Ak Zhol has changed its name to Azat, which means freedom in Kazakh. The party has also changed its leadership structure. Before the 29th of February, the party was led by a three co-chairs, Bolat Abilov, Tolegen Zhukeyev and Oraz Zhandosov. Now Abilov is the sole chair, unanimously in. Zhukeyev was elected secretary-general and Zhandosov it is widely believed will become deputy leader and focus on the economic platform of the party.

Nagyz Ak Zhol was founded in 2005 by Abilov, Zhukeyev Zhandosov, and Altynbek Sarsenbayev (who was murdered 2 years ago) when it split from the Ak Zhol party, led by Alikhan Baymenov who ran for President in the last election. Ak Zhol means “White Path” and “Nagyz Ak Zhol” means “True White Path” because the founders felt that the Ak Zhol party was too soft on the current administration and too willing to compromise and enter into dialogue.

However the similarity of the two names was confusing for voters and the antagonistic subtext of the name made it hard to work together with Ak Zhol and other opposition parties.

With Nurotan holding 100% of seats in Parliament and with the President as leader, many in the opposition are struggling to find a strategy that will make their voices heard in Kazakhstan.

Azat was also the name of an independence movement during the Soviet period, founded in 1990.

In an attempt to improve the image of Kazakhstan, the akim is finishing up building a model of Astana on Google Earth! Surely they have better things to do with their time.

However a group of developers who claim to be independent, are working on Second-Life Astana, a model of Astana on the popular website Second Life. I find it hard to believe that they are proceeding or will proceed without any comment or input from the powers that be. After all, if I were to make a virtual Astana from my point of view, it would not necessarily be the most pleasant place to live. So I can’t see these guys being left unsupervised.

Anyway, check out the developers website here