Are citizens worse than guest workers?

On July 24, citizens of Tajikistan living in St. Petersburg held a rally at Gostiny Dvor. They were forced to go out to the square by events in their distant homeland - another outbreak of civil war, subsided but unfinished. According to media reports, Tajiks expressed their concerns with posters “We are for peace on Tajik soil!” and “Stop hostilities against your people!” A few minutes later, police officers approached the protesting migrant workers and demanded to stop the “simultaneous mass presence of citizens.” However, they allegedly persuaded the police to let them finish the action and then disperse peacefully. However, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg explains the unexpected humanity of their subordinates by the fact that the Tajiks did not violate the requirements of the updated law on rallies one iota and dispersed immediately after the announcement that their actions were inadmissible.

I know from my own experience that usually after such a warning there is a mass detention of the most active participants in the rally, and often also of everyone who comes to hand. The police do not introduce themselves to any “ferrets”, do not read out their rights, and do not give an explanation for the reason for the arrest. But, apparently, there is a special case here: the law says “citizens”, and guest workers are not citizens, but foreigners, therefore, it is possible for them; Federal Law No. 54 does not apply to them.

In general, the behavior of the police and the subsequent explanation of Glaucus seems to me suspiciously unnatural, forced. Humanity and compassion are not the hallmarks of Russian cops. On the contrary, they are alien to them. Just as it is alien to understand the difference between the letter and spirit of the law. Moreover, when there is an excellent opportunity to fulfill almost a month’s work plan at once: to detain 20-30 violators of the law on rallies, to check the legality of their presence in the Russian Federation, and at the same time the contents of their wallets and pockets. It is clear that the fate of the protesting migrant workers would have been sadder had they come out to the square with slogans directed against the current government of the Russian Federation or at least somehow related to events in Russia. Russian holdouts are trained to suppress any manifestation of civil independence and dissent.

The poster “For Peace in Tajikistan” can cause a failure in the program, confusion and misunderstanding - they were not taught how to deal with this. And if there is misunderstanding, fear also appears, an almost instinctive desire not to touch, to pass by. Authorities prefer not to get involved with migrants, diasporas and communities; they react sluggishly and reluctantly to illegal behavior on their part. In St. Petersburg, migrants are becoming a mass force, including in the criminal sphere. Their share in crime statistics is constantly growing, and when this quantity turns into quality, i.e. from the level of showdowns and mass fights between minibus drivers and market traders to the level of serious gangs and organized crime groups, it’s only a matter of time. Therefore, I would rather believe that on July 24 the police did not regret and understood the pain of the Tajiks for their native Gorno-Badakhshan, but were confused and afraid of the violent inadequate reaction of the participants in the action: united Tajiks are not students and hipsters.

For us, something else is important in this curious event, namely the location: Gostiny Dvor. Not any other square or street, but precisely the place where the battle for Freedom and freedom has been taking place for 2.5 years. I'm wondering what the Tajiks were guided by when choosing a place for the rally? What prompted them to go to Gostinka? Maybe a line on the Internet? Sticker on the subway? Our leaflets that migrant worker janitors are required to rip off lampposts and drainpipes every day? The graffiti they are forced to paint over? Popular rumor? A constant vision of our confrontation with the police for the implementation of at least one article of the Constitution in this Freedom Square?

To be fair, I note that perhaps the authorities themselves are to blame for the unexpected surge in civic activity of those from whom we do not expect it at all. It’s no secret that migrants are not only cheap labor, but also cheap extras for “puttings”. Photos of people from Central Asia and the Caucasus with United Russia symbols and posters in support of Vladimir Putin were widely circulated in the media in February-March of this year. The movement of “Tajik labor migrants” also appeared on this wave. It is quite possible that it was at such events that the St. Petersburg Tajiks learned to hold rallies.

But it is obvious that the systematic work of the organizers and participants of Strategy-31 in St. Petersburg is bearing fruit: the idea that Gostinka is exactly the place where you need to go to protest is gradually finding understanding among the population and even the most seemingly dark and not literate layers. This is exactly what we wanted all citizens (and, as it turned out, non-citizens) to know and act: if there is something in the state that you do not agree with, about which you cannot remain silent, you have the right to come, express your opinion and be heard.

The protesting Tajiks are only a symptom, a vivid and curious example. A more serious confirmation is that spontaneous, unorganized unrest caused by fraud in the elections on December 4, began in St. Petersburg in the same place - the Gostinka was seething with angry citizens from December 5 to 8. The rest: Pionerskaya, Isaakievskaya, Konyushennaya - in descending order - everything happened after. And now, after it is necessary to recognize and state the defeat of the failed bourgeois-democratic (in its nature) political (in its goals and objectives) revolution (chronologically we will designate it as follows: 12/04/2011 -05/06/2012), Strategy-31 again becomes relevant and timely. Again Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow, again Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg. For those who do not want to accept defeat, for those who are ready to continue to defend their beliefs while still in the mainstream of political nonviolent resistance.

For those in whom, in the end, the very thought rebels: “Why are citizens worse than guest workers?”

The meeting location cannot be changed. July 31st. 18.00. Freedom Square.