Rally against unification of Chechnya and Ingushetia thwarted in Nazran

A protest rally against the unification of Ingushetia and Chechnya, which was scheduled for December 21 in Nazran, eventually did not take place.

From early in the morning all access routes to Soglasiya Square in Nazran were blocked by police units that let no cars through. In 1993, thousands of people attended rallies there because of the Ingush-North Osetian disputes over the Prigorodny district and the republic's separation from Chechnya. This year, clearly as a result of the preventive measures, no more than ten people gathered in the square on December 21.

On the same day, at 11 a.m., the central market in the city was evacuated. At first the staff of the Ingush Interior Ministry explained the action by claiming a bomb had been planted in the market. According to the ministry's information, the bomb was supposed to go off at 11:30 a.m. Later it was announced the bomb scare was just for practice.

Commenting on the events, Astamir Kartoyev - one of the citizens of Nazran who came to Soglasiya Square - explained, "This was a cheap attempt by the authorities not to let the rally take place. In the end they were successful - the rally was thwarted."

In recent years, the theme of reuniting the two North Caucasian republics has been reappearing regularly - about once every half year. Nonetheless, this issue has become particularly serious after the election of Akhmad Kadyrov as president of the Chechen Republic. At a press conference in Moscow following his election, Kadyrov stated the unification of Chechnya and Ingushetia was possible in principle in the future.

Responding to Kadyrov's announcement, national writer of Checheno-Ingushetia Said Chakhkiyev says, "Among both the Ingush and the Chechen populations there is a simmering unrest artificially kindled by those so-called politicians who are still not capable of coming to terms with the fact that the Republic of Ingushetia and Republic of Chechnya came into existence."

Chakhkiyev explains that "the idea of merging Chechnya and Ingushetia was brought forward personally by Stalin. As a dictatorial, insidious, and cruel person he artificially brought to life the "divide and rule" policy."

"The separation of the two republics was historically substantiated. It was an expression of the free will of the two nations. To start talking about their possible new reunification now, more than ten years later, is clearly another game of politicians who have absolutely no regard for the aspirations and wishes of their people," says Chakhkiyev.