Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic along a waterway. After Stalin's death in March 1953, Stalinabad, was renamed to "Dushanbe" on 10 November 1961 as part of the De-Stalinization program. In February 1990, tensions between the Tajiks and Armenians squared off in the republic's capital Dushanbe. 26 people died and 565 more were injured and the Soviet troops put down the riots. Both Yaqub Salimov, the Interior Minister and the youth activists were convicted for the participation in the riots. Later on 24 August 1990, Tajik SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. By 1991, Tajikistan participated in a referendum in March as part of the
Politics of Tajikistan Republic Bar Association (also called the Bar Association of the Republic of Tajikistan) gained its independence in 1995. Yet, according to a source, it was not until 1998 that "the concept of a lawyer-attorney was introduced [in Tajikistan], being defined as a business person providing legal services on the basis of a license issued by the Ministry of Justice." While there is evidence of female lawyers on account of the League of Women Lawyers of Tajikistan's existence, there is no indication as to how women have fared in the legal field once the country declared its independence from the Soviet