In the regions

Culture without one attribute

September 16, 2009 Alexey Makarkin

The demolition of the monument to Akhmat Kadyrov in the presence of his son does not mean a change in the attitude to this political figure in modern Chechnya. In the modern Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov is officially called the first president of the republic - thereby his "Ichkeria" predecessors - Dudaev, Yandarbiev and Maskhadov - as if posthumously "losing" this title.

The birthday of Akhmat Kadyrov is proclaimed in memory of the first president of the Chechen Republic. The main republican award is the Order of Kadyrov. The main mosque of Grozny is named after the senior Kadyrov. In memory of him, the central avenue of the Chechen capital is named. The name of Akhmat Kadyrov received the State Museum in Grozny - in the near future it is planned to open the exhibition pavilion, which contains an exposition telling about the life and activities of the first president. In Grozny, a sports complex named after Akhmat Kadyrov is being built, the first stage of the construction of which should be completed next year. In memory of Akhmat Kadyrov in Grozny, international boxing tournaments are regularly organized. The name of the father of Ramzan is immortalized outside the republic. A street in Moscow is named in his honor, and the flagship of the Akhmat Kadyrov dry cargo is the flagship of the Azovo-Don Shipping Company. We can say that the cult of Senior Kadyrov lost only one of the many attributes, and far from the most important.

As for the monument, he was installed in the presidency of not Ramzan Kadyrov, but his predecessor ALU Alkhanov, whom Ramzan himself later crowded out from the republic (now Alkhanov holds the post of deputy minister of justice in the federal government). Then Alkhanov tried to confirm his status by the successor of the case Akhmat Kadyrov. In addition to the installation of the monument, he sought to demonstrate his loyalty to the Cadrian tarihaat (Order) in the Sufi Islam, whose representatives are members of the Kadyrov family. Shortly before his resignation, he gave an interview in which he talked about the role in the Caucasian history of Imam Shamil and his contemporary Kunta Haji. According to Alkhanov, Shamil, despite the fact that he spilled rivers of blood, went on an honorary link, and the Peacemaker Kunta Haji graduated from his days in cold Siberia. The analogy with Shamil could be interpreted as a hint that the militants who fought with Russia recently received weapons again (as employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was already controlled by Ramzan), and Alkhanov, always on the Russian side, did not receive support from the federal center.

However, Alkhanov’s weak attempt to use the Islamic factor in its own interests ended in complete failure. Mufti Sultan Mirzaev, who received his post as a supporter of Ramzan, unexpectedly announced that Alkhanov, speaking of the death of Kunta Haji, insulted the Chechens, as the saint had not died, but was in “hiding”, that is, he would ever return to his homeland. Attempts by Alkhanov’s supporters are somehow justified-for example, a reference to the fact that the mention of the death of Kunt-Haji is in the dissertation of the late Akhmat Kadyrov-no one was interested. After a short time, Alkhanov was forced to leave the republic, losing his post to Ramzan.

Thus, having initiated the demolition of the monument to his father, Ramzan gets rid of the seemingly last visual evidence of Alkhanov’s activity in the republic. Back in 2007, he (though non -publicly) showed his dissatisfaction with the monument and considered the issue of his demolition, explaining this to his father’s negative position on this issue. Now this step is motivated by compliance with the norms of Islam, which do not allow the image of people. The demolition of the Shah monuments after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 is indicative in connection with this - various objects (for example, universities) were called in memory of the participants in this revolution, but new monuments were not erected. As well as monuments in honor of the figures of the Anti -Saddam Islamic movement in Iraq, after the monuments of Saddam were demolished in the country.

Thus, the disappearance from the center of the formidable sculpture of the work of Zurab Tsereteli cannot be considered a sign of the end of the cult Akhmat Kadyrov - no one is going to rename all other objects named after him. Moreover, instead of the monument, a new one will be built - in honor of those who died in the fight against terrorists. According to Kadyrov, thousands of names of policemen, officials, clergy and ordinary citizens will be applied to a new monument in the form of a 70-ton cliff specially carved in Karelia. Of course, an honorary place in this memorial will be given to Akhmat Kadyrov, but, at the same time, the merits of representatives of other teips (clans) of Chechnya, whose members died, fighting on the side of the father and son of the Kadyrovs, will be noted. The Chechen society is by its nature polycentric, and such a sign of attention can be evaluated (especially since it is accompanied by a demonstrative demolition of the “single” Kadyrovsky monument).

It is noteworthy that along with Kadyrov Avenue in Grozny there are already several streets, named in memory of the Kadyrovites who died at the hands of militants. This is Major Saypuddi Lorsanov, who died during the detention of the field commander Yunus Akhmatov in the summer of 2007, and senior lieutenant Adlan Inalov, killed on New Year's Eve 2008. The former names of these streets-respectively, red front-line soldiers and Slavic-belonging to the "Russian-Soviet" historical tradition, which is practically not in demand by Ramzan, draw attention to themselves. One of the few exceptions confirming the rule is Nikita Khrushchev, in which the Chechens got the opportunity to return to their homeland from the Kazakh link. In Grozny, it is planned to erect a monument to this Soviet leader (apparently, Islamic rules do not apply to him as Russian), the attitude to which modern Russian authorities is far from so positive. It is enough to recall the recently released “official” school textbook, in which attention is concentrated on the mistakes of Khrushchev.

Ramzan Kadyrov takes a spectacular step that can appreciate a society that, in principle, is characterized by bright gestures. In the eyes of Europeans (including Russians), he “humiliates” his father, while from the point of view of Chechens the situation is different. However, the opinion of the Russians excites the leader of Chechnya less and less - now he no longer depends on the center, and the federal center itself is forced to follow this politician who is no longer visible in the modern Chechnya.

Author-First Vice President of the Center for Political Technology

Photo by RIA Novosti