A seminar dedicated to the problems of religious minorities was held in Moscow

October 29, 2011 at the Public Center. A. Sakharova (Moscow) hosted the first seminar from the cycle "Society between Faith and Mutual Understanding", prepared by the Sakharov Center, the Center for the Study of Religions of the Russian State University for the Humanities as part of the joint master's program "Management in the Conditions of Sociocultural and Ethno-Confessional Diversity" of the Russian Academy of National Economy and State services. The first session was devoted to the problem of religious minorities.

Akhmed Yarlykapov, an employee of the Central Research Institute of the Russian State Humanitarian University and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, described the religious situation in Dagestan, where the Salafis, who are outnumbered, are nevertheless under pressure from the Sufis. Until the spring of 2011, there was an increase in Protestant organizations in the republic, which attracted a significant part of Muslims into their ranks. However, then the Protestants, whom Muslims accused of proselytizing, ceased to act openly.

The director of the SOVA center Alexander Verkhovsky spoke about the concept of a “religious minority”. He noted that there are two aspects: the relationship between "traditional" religious organizations and "minorities" and the position of ordinary citizens who are infringed in relation to religion. For example, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church often combine the rhetoric of the majority with the intonations of the oppressed minority. A. Verkhovsky drew attention to the fact that in the case of persecution of religious figures by the state (for example, on charges of extremist activity), religious organizations do not always come out in their defense. That is, there is no idea that you can stand up for "their own", but not included in the organization.

In this regard, Alexander Agadzhanyan, professor of the CIR RSUH, proposed to analyze possible cases of intercession of religious organizations for “strangers” in order to understand whether there is solidarity of religious people in the face of a secular world.

The moderator of the discussion, director of the CIR RSUH Nikolai Shaburov, recalled that such solidarity existed in Soviet times, when religious organizations jointly resisted state pressure.

The head of the Moscow "Society for Krishna Consciousness" Sergei Zuev introduced the audience to the history of Vaishnavas in Russia and the ongoing process in Tomsk to recognize the book "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" as extremist literature. He noted that in 2004 and 2005 the Russian Prosecutor General's Office had already checked this book for extremism, but found nothing illegal in it.

According to Anatoly Pchelintsev, lawyer and co-chairman of the Slavic Legal Center, the trial in Tomsk is evidence of the weakness of Russian religious studies. He believes that the names of people who make expert opinions at the request of the prosecutor's office should be made public. The state, A. Pchelintsev believes, is pursuing a policy of “cleansing” religious minorities, including at the legislative level: several attempts have been made to restrict preaching activity at the legislative level, amendments to the law “On Freedom of Conscience” submitted by the Ministry of Justice also infringe on the rights of believers.

Inna Zagrebina, Chairman of the Board of the Guild of Experts on Religion and Law, spoke about the conduct of an extrajudicial religious expertise. According to her, the result of the examination largely depends on the position of the head of the region in which the case is being considered, and the local prosecutor's office. The mechanism for conducting such an examination has not yet been regulated by law, in fact, it can be ordered by any person, even without a specialized education.

Other participants of the seminar spoke within the framework of discussions. Sources

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