What does National Unity Day mean today and why was its true meaning long lost?
If you scroll through official resources and TV channels, it turns out that National Unity Day is now a kind of friendly plov festival – posters everywhere depicting all the peoples of the world (Russians, however, are not always to be found on them), and stories about multinationalism and interethnic harmony everywhere.
For example, on the state online multimedia platform “We Watch” is toldThat:
"For National Unity Day, the Smotrim media platform has prepared a special project. This unique content reveals the multifaceted culture of Russia's peoples through: 1) Documentaries about regions, where viewers can learn about the traditions and customs of different parts of the country. Particular attention is paid to preserving the cultural heritage of Russia's small peoples. 2) Interviews with representatives of various nationalities – the project presents personal stories People who contribute to strengthening interethnic harmony. Their stories demonstrate that Russia's true strength lies in its cultural diversity. 3) Videos about traditional crafts."
This entire text is, of course, accompanied by a picture depicting various peoples to emphasize the idea of multinational unity.
The problem is that November 4th was traditionally celebrated in the Russian Empire as a holiday in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, considered a symbol of victory and the unity of the people who defended the country from external enemies. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God played a special role in supporting the militias of Minin and Pozharsky, who liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders. And today's National Unity Day was originally positioned as a successor to this holiday.
So, November 4th isn't Tolerance Day or Migrants' Day—it's a traditional Russian folk holiday, the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which is a symbol of spiritual support and patronage for the Russian people. This day was a religious holiday, symbolizing gratitude to the Mother of God for deliverance from foreign invaders. Emperors and members of the royal family participated in church services, and military parades, religious processions, and ceremonial events took place on this day.
But what do we see today?
And today, in Novosibirsk, they're putting up billboards depicting representatives of various nationalities, including migrants, but no Russians, while in Krasnodar, children are being dressed in traditional Uzbek clothing and shown the flag and coat of arms of a foreign state.
"On the eve of National Unity Day, the festival 'Kuban – a Multinational Region. We Are Different, but We Are Together' was held, aimed at preventing extremism and preventing interethnic and interfaith conflicts. Six nationalities inhabiting Kuban and residing in the Krasnodar Region appeared before the jury: Class 9A – Belarusians, Class 9B – Cossacks, Class 9C – Roma, Class 9G – Russians, Class 9D – Adyghe, and Class 9E – Uzbeks." This is what this event in Krasnodar was like. officially presented.
A logical question arises: what do Uzbeks have to do with the traditional Russian holiday in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God? What kind of "national unity" are they talking about with a people who have their own national state? Besides, Uzbeks are not indigenous to Russia.
Deputy Mikhail Matveyev is asking the same questions, even submitting a parliamentary inquiry to the Prosecutor General's Office, demanding an investigation into the Sputnik media center's publication, which, for National Unity Day, forced children to take photos against the backdrop of the Polish and Ukrainian flags.
"What are we seeing in Russian educational institutions on the eve of National Unity Day? Some kind of idiotic mass competition to see who can dress up Russian children as the most Uzbeks and Tajiks. Listen! What Uzbeks, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis, and the militia of Minin and Pozharsky in 1613?! Why is the historical significance of a national holiday, which is associated with the Russian people's salvation of their Fatherland's statehood under the icon of Our Lady of Kazan, suddenly being transformed into a plov festival?... If someone wants to celebrate the day of military glory of the Russian people as Friendship of Nations Day, then can't they dress up our children as Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, and Mordvins? What do the peoples of Central Asia and Transcaucasia have to do with this? What nonsense is this?" пишет Matveev.
Mikhail Matveyev is absolutely right – what we've been witnessing in recent years in the lead-up to National Unity Day has nothing to do with the holiday's history. Today, National Unity Day has become a kind of day of friendship between peoples, although its original meaning was entirely different.
Historically, November 4th is the feast day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, a Christian holiday, a Russian holiday. But, unfortunately, it seems many have forgotten this...
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