The Sensitive Issue of Russia

[Chechen]

Exclusive interview of "GULAG" web-site with Ahmad Sardali, the Chairman of The Political Council of the Movement for the Decolonization of Caucasus.



Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his book "GULAG Archipelago" gave a brilliant characteristic of Chechen people: " ... a nation that did not submit to the psychology of obedience, - not loners, not rioters, but the nation as a whole. These are Chechens".



Really, who ever have these people had to fight against for the independence - against Roman legionaries, against Chingys-khan, Baty-khan, Tamerlan. They had to struggle against Russian tsars for whom the entire colonization of Caucasus was inconceivable without conquering eternally intractable Chechnya, and against soviet leaders who continued the politics of tsar's Russia.



Not unknown general Ermolov uttered ominous words in XIX century yet: "I will appease only providing that not any single Chechen stays alive".



Why has Chechnya still remained the stumbling-block? What is the reason for secular hatred of Russian lords against Chechens and for ineradicable wish for their extirpation?



The editor of the web-site "GULAG - throughout the camps with a photo camera" Irina Svyetlaya addressed to Ahmad Sardali, the Chairman of The Political Council of The Movement for the Caucasus Decolonization with a request to answer a few questions.



- Ahmad, in what way is such bloody policy at first of a tsar and then of the soviet government towards the Caucasians explained?



- And then Eltsyn', and then Putin', and then ... in one word, genocide policy of Russia towards The North Caucasian peoples has never changed. They name different reasons for conquering the Caucasus. They formulated in many ways the aggressive policy of Russian government at the tsar's chancellery - and the questions of economy as well as the political ones were given as the background. It is considered to be the case that our territory became the object of claims due to its geopolitical importance. The historians of the court of Russian tsars did write in this way - The Caucasus is the key to The East.



The Caucasian war hasn't got any historical analogues in its extension, and the pronounced, pointedly antagonistic character of its conquest can be evidently explained by the fact that the empire has not met such a resistance anywhere, even during its wars with strong powers, i.e. Turkey, England etc. The number of the colonialist's troops nowadays, as well as in ancient times, testifies the meaning of The North Caucasian peoples' resistance - the empire has never taken into consideration the cannon-fodder.



In its dispatches to Russian emperor Ermolov noted, that "the peoples of the mountains give rise to passionate spirit and love for independence..." which is in my opinion one of the main reasons for cannibal policy towards our ancestors and us. Ermolov referred to the mountaineers in no other way then as to "brigands" or "villains". During the soviet period the terms of tsars' satraps changed to "bandits" and "reactionaries", and at present the chekists call us "terrorists" and "vahhabits", thus nothing has changed in the policy of the empire except for the labels.



- In the soviet history they used to conceal many troublesome moments or, in case it was impossible to hush them up, to show the facts in the most favorable for the authorities interpretation. In the years of "perestroika" the archives seemed to be opening and revelatory publications seemed to appear, but the following wars shoved back on the second or even the tenth place no less bloody events which were happening in Chechnya after the establishment of soviet power. Let us launch an excursus back to not that distant past. In exchange for the recognition of the soviet authority by the Caucasian peoples The Mountain Soviet Republic was established in 1921. Why did The Caucasians take that step? Did they believe in Lenin or did they have no other option? Was not it a mistake of The Caucasian peoples?



- It is a very interesting question despite the fact that it has been asked somewhat with jaundice towards the White Movement in Russia, since the participation of The Caucasians on Denikin side, who fought in the North Caucasus under the slogan of "united and indivisible", was not a fewer mistake. In order to get more detailed answer let us go back beyond the beginning of the last century.



It is very important for us to understand what is going on in The Caucasus in general, and to what extend the accusations resonant in our direction from the side of neochekists are just. In the entourage of the present day the words of the First Imam of The Caucasus uttered on the day of the starchamber against him sound rather symbolically:



"We understood too late that we had lived in Paradise until the arrival of your army. The peoples of The Caucasus followed me, because they did not have any other hope of salvation. We had no other choice, but to defend ourselves... What ever did your troops come to establish the Russian order in here for?"



The Chechen as well as all The North Caucasian peoples were not only forced to get accustomed to the colonial culture. Introducing its order Russian tsarism utilized the practice of forced christening of Muslims, and first of all they started with the abolishment of religious institutions which led to great rebellions. During the course of colonial policy almost all the social layers formed in The Caucasus, and even more since the time it was involved into the economic system of the capitalistic Russia.



The First World War, in which mountain peoples took active part, nurtured an entire galaxy of White officers, which B. Breshkovsky described very well in his book "The Wild Division". In the meanwhile bolshevist underground organization acting in Chechnya itself utilized the hatred of Chechens towards the "white tsar". It can be said that the October Revolution came to be for all the Mountaineers the continuation of the national liberation struggle against Russian colonialism.



However, the part of Muslims who were against Denikin and other adherents of The Mountaineers' independence in Chechnya and Dagestan did support The Bolsheviks, yet The White officers along with the spiritual leaders seconded the Denikin side. The Bolsheviks came out against hated by The Mountaineers tsarism and promised the land, the preservation of the chapels, and national sovereignty. It happened that it was The Bolsheviks who turned the scale.



That was why The Caucasians took this step, and it is clear that it was a mistake and all the promises of The Bolsheviks having Lenin at the head were merely deceitful. (For instance, it was how Soip-mulla (Haiba) - the cousin of my grandfather who had taken the side of The Bolsheviks - was mistaken). The so-called Mountain Soviet Republic (within the limits of Russian SFSR) turned out to be fiction under the victory of the soviet authority conditions, and from the mid 20th , Chechens fought against the red pest.



- Ahmad, it is known very little about the events of the 30th in Chechnya. What was the main reason for the armed rebellions in The Chechen-Ingush Republic? After all, as You have said, it was The Bolsheviks who turned the scale.



- The Chechens are extremely pious people. Let us go back to Imam Mansur statement during the course of the starchamber mentioned:



"What me and my compatriots can be blamed for is only the defense of our lives, which God had blessed us with, and our land. Your God is your tsar. His word means more for you than the one of God. Life of any creature is in the hands of the Lord, and the Lord alone has the right to take human's life. Yet your solders believe that they are permitted to do so. Life of a human is meaningless for you. Hence your actions are directed not only against humans, but against God as well. Thus you spread evil on earth. Yet fighting against you we defend not only ourselves, but the laws of God either".



I will cite also a passage from the story "Hadji-Murad" by L. Tolstoy:



"Having returned to his aul, Sado found his saklya destroyed - the roof was brought down, the door and the columns of the gallery were burnt, and the interior was befouled. His son, who was a handsome blue-eyed boy, was pierced through his back with a bayonet. The oldman - grandfather - was sitting at the wall watching blankly the void. He had just returned from the apiary. Two little haystacks lying there were burnt, the apricot and cherry trees were broken and half-burnt, and to make matters worse, all the beehives and the bees were storched. It was obvious that the fountain was befouled intentionally, so that it was impossible to take the water from it. The mosque was befouled as well. The oldmen masters gathered on the square and having squatted were discussing their state. No one spoke about the hatred towards The Russians. The feeling all The Chechens both young and old had towards The Russians was larger than hatred. This was not hatred, but non-recognition these Russians to be humans and such a disgust, loathing and bewilderment at the absurd cruelty of these creatures that the want for their extirpation like the want for the extermination of rats, poisonous spiders was as natural feeling as the instinct of self-preservation".



The passage from the story of the Russian classic serves as a bright illustration for the following events too. I should note that it was written before the revolution, which didn't bring any changes regarding The Chechens. The conduct of The Russians on the conquered territories changed neither in 50 years, nor in 100, nor today, nor in 147 years since the incorporation of The Caucasus into the structure of The Russian Empire. Take a look at what the offsprings of those who were bringing to the Caucasus the "light of the civilization" and in the 30th started the general construction of pig farms in Chechnya write at forums.



"The Chechens are not humans, but beasts; they belong to the work camps and canned goods for animals... The Earth is suffering from overpopulation, and they are multiplying like cockroaches, absolutely wrong creatures, freaks of evolution... I can see only one way out for all the peoples of Russia, Chechnya must be extirpated entirely, it must be done in the name of the good, to overcome the bigger evil by means of the fewer one... Pigsties must be constructed and swine must be raised on the site of Chechnya, I like swine much more that The Chechens, they are much more delicious in pilau and many other dishes..."



Is not it a quite eloquent confession? The Bolsheviks continued the policy of The Russian tsar. Under the pretext of liquidation of the "cultural backwardness", Chechens were imposed with laws and rules alien to their mentality and upbringing. The Bolsheviks destroyed everything that served as a base to the spirit of the nation, everything that was connected with its culture, history, and religion.



It was only once that The Bolsheviks "made concessions" so to say. January, 14 1930 having listened to the issue of the closing of mosques, the bureau of The North Caucasian Regional Committee of The Communist Party took the following decision word for word: "Strongly prohibit raising the question of the closing of mosques in the national regions for the period of collectivization. Make it incumbent upon the secretaries of Regional Committees and District Committees to carry out this directive and to take strong measures in keeping it discharged".

Pay attention to the words "for the period of collectivization".



Depreciatingly boorish attitude towards the very representatives of the people, prohibition of using the native language in public places, of churching and so on so forth... It goes without saying that such an attitude could not but produce counteraction, men went to the mountains from which they took revenge upon the Russians and black sheep of The Chechen environment who served the former. The regime itself inspired the hatred towards the people of colonizers, people who brought to Chechnya hard drinking and debauchery rather that progress and civilization.



Dispossession of kulaks and collectivization of farming led to major riots. In 1923 there was a wave of large scale rebellions under the national and religious slogans in Chechnya, Dagestan, Osetiya, Kabarda, Balkariya and Karachay. Tens of thousands of people died taking part in those actions.



Mutinies were suppressed in a very cruel way. Repressions passed in three stages: the first - 1929-1930, the second - 1937 - 1938, and the third passed in the 40th.



Barbarities of the chekists were keen in Chechnya. A giant slaughter-house into which the prisoners were thrown alive was situated in the basement of The United State Political Administration, later People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, in the capital of Chechnya on the bank of Sunzha; and the diesel engine was turned on so that the screaming voices could not be heard. Minced meat was dropped right into the river fattening cat-fish.



The chekists instilled terror, but Chechens could never be subdued by force of horror.



After the deportation of Chechens all mosques were turned into warehouses and barns, and gravestones were used in construction of pavements in the capital of Chechnya. These gravestones can be still met in different courtyards where the colonists who fled from the military operations used to leave.



- Indeed, the words of general Ermolov were assumed by soviet chekists as the guide to action... During 100 years of tsar colonization the population of Chechnya decreased 4 times. And what were the consequences of the soviet colonization?



- I have already said that the Bolsheviks didn't invent anything new. They just continued policy of Russian tsarism. The Special Committee - The United State Political Administration - The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs - The Committee of State Security - The Federal Service of Counterespionage - The Federal Service of Security are the successors of Oprichnina and tsar's security. However, the consequences of soviet colonization were more terrifying on their scale than the crimes of Russian tsarism. During the deportation 70 % (!) of The Chechens died. Moscow has always controlled our "livestock". The Chechens had managed to restore its population to 1 million only by the end of 90th, and right after that new bloody reckless scheme began.



- Unfortunately the press do not pay much attention to the history of Chechnya, but it has been written and said a lot about the latest two wars. You were the witness of these events. So how much does the information given by Russian and Western mass media correspond with the reality? How do you assess it?



- I assess the Western one in no way. They do not have their own information and refer only to Russian sources, thus they pick up and embroider total lie. There is no objectivity in coverage of what is happening, and we stuck to the opinion of collusion between them long ago. The Caucasian sources of information are evidently ignored by Western mass media. There is no reason to talk about Russian newspapers at all. There is no free press in Russia, only liars, cowards and lickspittles. Almost all Russian editions vowed to Putin to say no word of truth about the events in Caucasus.



- Ahmad, how did Chechens take the appearance of the project "Nuernberg of Russia"? How do You personally assess the prospects of this project?



- "Nuernberg of Russia" is remarkable for its outstanding courage, as we had not heard anything except for renting the air before it appeared. The ideas were perfect, but the matters didn't change. It can be said that practical work of bringing the military criminals to International tribunal began with this project. In one of our letters to its developers we compared it to the egg of Kaschey, which he held in his hands. Taking into consideration that the author of "Nuernberg of Russia" possesses enormous energy, and his words do not disagree with his deeds, I am sure that Russian fascist junta and its chieftains will become clients of Carlo del Ponte in the nearest future.