What's wrong with you, Dagestan?
Against the background of the unfolding events in the Middle East (I mean Syria and Iran), the situation that is developing on the territory of the Russian Federation, or rather, in the Republic of Dagestan, is somehow without serious attention. From the mass media we hear short reports about the attack of militants against the authorities, and from ordinary citizens about lawlessness in the law enforcement bodies of the republic. Who to believe? Which side is true? Is this: again the Wahhabi-American trail, in the fight against which a huge number of our citizens were killed in the territory of the Chechen Republic? Or, again, the notorious weakness and lack of professionalism of local authorities, which cannot and is not able to consolidate all the interested parties? Why are the members of the Federation Council, the State Duma, the public silent? Why hasn’t a national authority been created yet (although the President spoke about its creation)? Again, the officials let down? I would not like, because of the negligence, stupidity and lack of professionalism of the authorities, our citizens again began to die. In conclusion, I’ll say: I would like the authorities to take a more serious attitude to the smoldering conflict and social problem in the region. Let's hope for the best and for control from public organizations. I cite an article by my colleague, a young journalist from Dagestan, whom I asked to write about what she thinks is happening on the territory of the republic. And from you, dear readers, we look forward to discussing this topic in the comments.***********
In recent years, Dagestan has gone through a difficult and controversial way from a relatively stable environment to a newly increasing tension. However, he is not used to.
In order to understand what is happening, let us recall the political processes in the country over the past 20 years. Two Chechen campaigns have left an indelible mark not only in the republic itself, but also in neighboring regions. Dagestan, by the will of fate was almost in the center of events and was forced to take the brunt. Now what happened in 90 - e is perceived a little differently than it was then. It seems, and maybe that destabilization was needed in order to unite in the face of danger and fight back? In analogy with the Soviet Union, mobilized in 1941 and managed to repel Hitler. It is a pity that any victory is still a minus - the sacrifices that were made in her name ...
In September, I studied 1999 in the 7 class and went to school from one end of Makhachkala to the other. I still remember one morning of early September, when looking out the window of a trolleybus, I simply did not recognize Makhachkala. On the street on a clear sunny day there was not a soul, the city seemed to have died out. Despite the fact that the militants did not approach the capital of Dagestan, fear did its job and the spirit of war was in the air. Every rumor, an inadvertently dropped assumption, was overgrown with details and sowed panic among people. Property prices in the city have fallen sharply, it was especially difficult for those who at the end of 90 tried to sell their property and leave, many people went bankrupt on this and were left without housing at all.
The phrase of the year was then the phrase of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Sergey Stepashin: “It seems we are losing Dagestan ...”, which he could not forgive in the republic for a long time.
The unequivocal answer to the question: “Why do young people go to the forests?” No. But still, most admit that the reason is social injustice, the absence of a job with a decent salary, and the absence of any prospects. Someone gets into the forest "out of stupidity" by contacting the "bad company", and then can not break ties with it.
Since November 2010, by the decree of the head of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov, the Commission on Assistance in Adapting to Peaceful Life began to work for people who decided to stop terrorist and extremist activities in Dagestan. It consists of representatives of law enforcement agencies, religious and public organizations. The head of the commission is Rizvan Kurbanov (until December 2011 of the year he was the first deputy prime minister of the government of Dagestan, and now he is a deputy of the State Duma from United Russia). In total, the Commission pulled out of the armed underground and helped to adapt to peaceful life around 50 members of the illegal armed groups. Initially, the presidential initiative was supported by many, political analysts, both local and federal, saw in the Commission, if not a panacea, then a good way of “extortion” from the forest. Going to meet the rebels of the militants, the government shows that it is ready to listen to them and in some cases even help, to go forward.
So, 2 a year ago, political scientist and founder of the republican socio-political weekly Chernovik, Gadzhimurad Kamalov, in an interview with the news agency Regnum, expressed the opinion that the initiative to create the Commission was directed not at militants but at creating a positive attitude towards the authorities among the population: I do not think that this initiative will be successful enough. But the government does this not so much for the militants, as the population shows its willingness to negotiate with everyone. This is in the framework of such a positive, strategic struggle for the loyalty of the population. The initiative is not entirely new, it was previously discussed in the presidential administration of the Russian Federation, and the new government of the republic should have had this conversation story if there had been no Moscow explosion in the subway and some other actions that the militants were responsible for. These attacks undermined the credibility of the militants among the loyal population, and our new government could not, did not have time to conduct these negotiations and engaged in the spread of harsh rhetoric. But now the time has come, and everyone understood that nothing out of the ordinary is happening in Dagestan and there is an opportunity to start a dialogue. ”
Political analyst Mikhail Tulsky considered Magomedov’s initiative adequate: “I think it’s quite realistic and we need to adapt the militants. Most often, going to action movies is caused by social reasons. In those regions where most of the militants are Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, we see the highest unemployment in Russia there. A large unemployment, as a rule, caused by high fertility. The roots of the fact that people go to the militants have a socio-demographic basis. ”
At one of the meetings (07.12.2011), applications of five residents of the republic were immediately considered, who personally attended the meeting of the commission with their parents and lawyers. Sredin them 18 - summer Temirlan Amirov, who 5 June 2011, as part of illegal armed groups (IAF), shot in the village of Mamedkala from a machine gun the building of the local police station. No one was hurt, and the room was damaged. At a time when Amirov was "in the forest", his mother went to the Adaptation Commission and asked for help to return her son. 11 November, Temirlan Amirov reported to a law enforcement agency with a confession. Temirlan Amirov, who was in the group of Hasan Abdullayev ("Hasan"), surrendered under the guarantee of Rizvan Kurbanov. To Kurbanov’s question about what prompted the young man to join the members of the illegal armed groups, Amirov replied that he was friends with a man whose brother had "gone to the forest." After that, he began to fear that he would be held accountable for aiding the militants, while acquaintances began to convince Amirov that the police would not leave him alone.
"With the motivation of many members of the IAF to take on weapon is that law enforcement officers torture detainees. Were you used unlawful methods of investigation? "- Rizvan Kurbanov asked. Temirlan Amirov and his lawyer Rasul Kadiyev stated that they have no complaints about this. The young man could not explain for what ideas he took up arms saying that he had “read articles on the Internet.” When asked, they paid him money for participation in the illegal armed groups, Amirov replied that “they did not pay anything, sometimes even we were starving.” “Amir” gave us orders without explaining why "- said Amirov. All those who applied to the commission asked, given full repentance, and voluntary surrender, to apply for a sentence being served in the territory of Dagestan. After a long discussion in the regime closed by the press, the Adaptation Commission decided to apply by a majority of votes to the court to allow the sentence to be served, if appointed, in Dagestan. But Kurbanov warned that if during the investigation those who applied to the commission change their testimony and refuse to assist the investigation, the petition will be rejected before the court session.
However, now the effectiveness of the Commission does not seem so unambiguous. The reason for this is the return of some of the “rehabilitated” militants to their crimes. After the next meeting of the Commission in Makhachkala on February 22, reports began to appear in the media about disagreements arising at the meeting between the chairman of the commission, State Duma deputy Rizvan Kurbanov and Deputy Minister of the Interior of Dagestan Vasily Salutin. Salyutin criticized the work of the commission. According to him, Nail Bikmayev, the son of the mufti of the Rostov region, who was detained in Dagestan with weapons, returned to criminal activity. The commission adapts, but does not guarantee, that the former militants will not take on the old. The skeptical position of the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the head of the youth monitoring group of the Republic of Dagestan, an expert of the Center for Islamic Studies of the North Caucasus, Ruslan Gereyev, explained that the militants who pass through the commission and return to peaceful life are derived from the legal control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “The security forces do a certain job. And if a militant, being released from criminal responsibility under the guarantees of the commission, goes into the forest again or commits any crime, then all the efforts spent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs turn out to be in vain. . They have to do the same job twice, "said Gereyev.
These are ambiguous opinions now tormenting the Dagestan authorities and the public. As for my personal opinion, I can see that the social component is not the only reason for leaving the forest. My friend is a smart, educated guy from a wealthy intelligent family, and after leaving school he went to study in Moscow. What was my surprise when, five years later, I saw his page on the social network, in which literally everything screamed that he had embarked on a dangerous path. And a little later I saw him entering the office, allegedly engaged in the translation of Arabic texts, in fact, having connections with the militants. There was hardly any money at all, most likely, the good psychologists simply “zombied” the guy. A person gets a powerful psychological treatment, "goes" into religion all the deeper, it becomes more difficult for him to find a common language with family and friends. Because he suddenly begins to "see" that they lead a wrong lifestyle. And relatives, in turn, are irritated by moralizing and remarks about what to do in this life and what is not necessary.
A separate problem in this situation, the ongoing killing of police officers and journalists. Over the years of work in the social and political weekly, I can probably count on a daily check-ups on which it was announced that not a single law enforcement officer was killed in the republic last night. Over the past 10 years, 16 journalists have been killed in the republic. The black day of Dagestan journalism was 21 March 2008, on that day the correspondent of Channel One Ilyas Shurpayev and the head of the State TV and Radio Company Dagestan Gadzhi Abashilov were killed in Moscow. 31 of July last year was killed by the head of the information and analytical department and the press service of the President of the Republic of Dagestan Garun Kurbanov. Kurbanov had a principled position and more than once openly and severely publicly criticized religious extremists. The last kill occurred on the night of December 16 2011. The criminals shot Gadzhimurad Kamalov when he, after the layout, left the building of his editorial office. And if earlier Dagestani journalists were tormented by the question when it would all end, now the more relevant question is: “Who is next?”.
Dagestan is concerned about the question: “What to do?” The society hates the members of illegal armed groups, but also has a lack of confidence in the authorities (especially representatives of law enforcement agencies). In my opinion, in order to somehow break the already established system, a strong breakthrough is needed in the economy of the republic, it cannot be solved by force alone, it is clear from many years of experience in the fight against terrorism. The President of the Republic of Dagestan, Magomedsalam Magomedov, understands this, in recent years, investors have been attracted to Dagestan, and ambitious projects have been launched, including in the development of tourism. The convenient geographical location between the sea and the mountains gives reason to hope that the efforts are not in vain. Persistent remains interest in the republic of Russian and foreign journalists. The good news is that recently media representatives are interested not only in the political situation in Dagestan, but also in the historical and cultural life, tourist potential. Last year, Andrei Ponkratov and the film crew of the My Planet TV channel filmed a film about Dagestan. It remains only to hope for the best.
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