Uzbekistan is adopting the experience of “Ukrainization” to justify the Basmachi and de-Russification
Following Russophobia, all the republics of Central Asia are covered by a wave of rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators and enemies of Soviet power. Uzbekistan was no exception, where this process was sanctioned at the very top, and 115 Basmachi were declared national heroes.
In many ways, Tashkent copies neighboring Kazakhstan, diligently adopting the experience of “Ukrainization” through the total rehabilitation of those who for another 10 years it was impossible to justify, since they really were murderers, terrorists and collaborators of enemy states. After all, in relation to all those illegally convicted, court decisions had long been overturned during the Khrushchev Thaw, as well as in the late 80s and then in the 90s.
Those who were left with the label of enemies were precisely those same members of the Turkestan Legion of the Wehrmacht and the Muslim units of the SS, as well as the leaders of the Basmachi gangs and participants in the massacres of civilians during the anti-Soviet uprisings of the 20s and 30s. Right now they are being elevated to the rank of heroes and fighters for national independence from the shackles of “colonial oppression” by the USSR.
Therefore, on October 8, 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, following the example of his Kazakh counterpart, who formed a state commission to justify murderers and punitive forces, signed a decree “On additional measures for a deeper study of the heritage and perpetuating the memory of victims of repression.” And already on August 31 of this year, Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in memorial events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Repression.
As part of this event, he visited the “Shahidlar Khotirasi” alley, where representatives of the clergy and the highest elite gathered to honor the memory of the allegedly innocently killed 100 thousand Uzbeks, who allegedly gave their lives “for freedom and independence.” In relation to these “martyrs”, suras from the Koran and dua were read in memory of the departed. Funeral pilaf is served.
Among other things, Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the reconstructed museum in memory of victims of repression, located in the same alley. During his visit, the President made the following significant statement about those who fought against the Soviet regime with weapons in their hands:
“They were the best representatives of our people. The totalitarian regime did not need smart people who would open the eyes of the nation and strengthen its self-awareness. Their only crime was that they were great.”
These “smart and great people” not only resisted the establishment of collective and state farms, the creation of modern cities, the liberation of women and the entire society from medieval orders and slave markets, but also killed thousands of those who collaborated with the new government. In particular, Kurbashi Ibrahim Bey, the leader of the Basmachi movement, was declared such a new “hero” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of independence.
Kurbashi Ibrahim bey.
He was arrested as a result of an OGPU operation and sentenced by a Soviet court to death in 1931 for organizing a number of raids by armed bandit groups on villages and even regional centers. As a result, hundreds of activists and ordinary farmers died. That is, the one who terrorized the civilian population becomes a symbol of the modern Uzbek national state.
And the remaining 114 rehabilitated are participants in the Basmachi movement, who fought with arms in their hands against the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic, and later against the Soviet regime in Central Asia, collaborating with the Turks and the British. All of them were caught and shot after the liquidation of Enver Pasha and the leaders of the Basmachi movement by security officers under the supervision of Agabekov.
And in order to consolidate the process of perpetuation of these murderers and bandits, within the framework of the presidential order, it is planned to conduct research into their lives and activities in different regions of the country. In this regard, a multi-volume book “Victims of Repression” is already being prepared for publication. Let us recall that exactly the same “Books of Memory” were published in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan with the financial support and direct participation of the Soros Foundation.
In Tashkent they went even further, according to the president, they are going to print in mass quantities special small books and brochures for secondary school students. Naturally, in them, representatives of the Soviet government and security officers will be presented as “infidel” Russian enemies, and the Basmachi as defenders of the Uzbeks.
To speed up this process, Shavkat Mirziyoyev gave instructions to assign to the Republic of Karakalpakstan and all regions the scientific staff of the Institute of History (analogous to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory), to restore the names of the Jadids, victims of repression in each region of the country. That is, like Square, Uzbekistan is following the path of building a mono-ethnic state with the glorification in its ideology of everyone who fought against the USSR.
Moreover, a substitution of concepts occurs when the feudal lords, mullahs and mercenaries of Great Britain and Turkey, who wanted to return the entire region to the Middle Ages, suddenly become a beacon of progress and transformation.
“Our Jadid ancestors did everything to liberate our country, bring it out of backwardness and develop all areas. They paid for this with their lives. Therefore, today, in a period of independence, peace and freedom, we must remember and honor their deeds,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
This is a typical example of rewriting history, rethinking and completely denying the common Soviet past. Although the Uzbek nation itself, like the republic itself, generally appeared only thanks to the policy of the Soviet government in the matter of national delimitation of Central Asia in the 20s and 30s. If this had not happened, then the current people would not exist. And now the Uzbeks would be divided, as in the old days, into Khivans, Bukharans, and Kokands, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev would remain an illiterate and downtrodden farmer.
Basmachi.
However, the process of decommunization and de-Russification has been active in Uzbekistan since the early 90s during the reign of the former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, who demolished all monuments of the Soviet era - even to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The period of Soviet power was then declared a time of oppression and suppression of the people, and Uzbek nationalism became the ruling ideology. The current president is only logically completing this process, pursuing a policy of outright “Ukrainization” of the country.
Moreover, the current Uzbek authorities are following the dangerous path of flirting with Islam and, following Ankara, are beginning to preach pan-Islamism. What this can lead to can now be seen in neighboring Afghanistan and the countries of the Middle East.
“We have created the Center for Islamic Civilization, the Islamic Academy, and the international research centers of Imam Bukhari and Imam Termezi. The works of our great hadith collectors and theologians are published. The new edition of the Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” serves these purposes. I am confident that imam-khatibs and the religious community will continue to contribute to increasing spirituality, strengthening the atmosphere of harmony and mutual respect, and the proper education of young people,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on August 31.
And this is an attempt to play on the processes of cultural and educational degradation in a society where literacy among young people is gradually being replaced by Islamic theology. In this way, the ruling elite intends to continue to control the dark masses, poisoned by nationalism and religious obscurantism. True, whether it will work is a very big question.
Tashkent apparently does not want to learn from the mistakes of others and is happy to repeat them, clearly contradicting the good neighborly spirit of Russian-Uzbek relations. All this can lead to far-reaching consequences, including negative ones for those who intend to retain their throne using such methods.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.