It is proposed to grant the national headdress ak-kalpak the status of a cultural symbol in Kyrgyzstan. Deputy of the Parliament Ekmat Baybakpayev announced at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on social issues, education, science, culture and health.
According to him, during the year he worked on a bill that would protect the national headdress and grant it the status of a cultural symbol.
«Deputies received many letters from the public. There was a big discussion on social networking sites, a hype when kalpak was put on a dog. There can be controversial questions: do we need such a law or not, but since we are the Kyrgyz, we must respect the kalpak and be proud of it,» he said and added that the people supported the bill.
The initiators propose to punish those who use ak-kalpak for other purposes or commit abusive actions against the headwear. The size of the fine will be determined by the government.
Tazabek Ikramov proposed adding a point obliging the men to wear ak-kalpaks at the opening of a session of the Parliament.
Sadyk Sher-Niyaz noted that he was ready to vote for this law. «But on the other hand, tomorrow we will consider the law on the yurt, kara zhorgo. What might it lead to?» he said.
A government representative noted that ak-kalpak was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Kyrgyzstan and was protected by the law on intangible heritage.
Ekmat Baybakpayev said he was ready to finalize the bill taking into account the comments.
