National reconciliation: The imperfect whim

Central Asian Survey

Volumn 15, Issue 3-4, 1996, Pages 325-348

  Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou ^a  

^a Natl Cncl Soviet E Europ Res ^*

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0342884622     PISSN: 02634937     EISSN: None     Source Type: Trade Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02634939608400955     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. For an explanation of the causes of the civil war, refer to: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'Causes and consequences of the civil war', Central Asia Monitor, No 1 (January 1993); Keith Martin, 'Tajikistan: Civil War Without End?' (RFE/RL Research Report, 22 (July 1993); Olivier Roy, 'The civil war in Tajikistan: causes and implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993), Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The bloody path of change: the case of post-Soviet Tajikistan', The Harriman Institute Forum, Vol. 6, No 11 (July 1993); Barnett Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94).
2. For an explanation of the causes of the civil war, refer to: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'Causes and consequences of the civil war', Central Asia Monitor, No 1 (January 1993); Keith Martin, 'Tajikistan: Civil War Without End?' (RFE/RL Research Report, 22 (July 1993); Olivier Roy, 'The civil war in Tajikistan: causes and implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993), Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The bloody path of change: the case of post-Soviet Tajikistan', The Harriman Institute Forum, Vol. 6, No 11 (July 1993); Barnett Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94).
3. For an explanation of the causes of the civil war, refer to: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'Causes and consequences of the civil war', Central Asia Monitor, No 1 (January 1993); Keith Martin, 'Tajikistan: Civil War Without End?' (RFE/RL Research Report, 22 (July 1993); Olivier Roy, 'The civil war in Tajikistan: causes and implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993), Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The bloody path of change: the case of post-Soviet Tajikistan', The Harriman Institute Forum, Vol. 6, No 11 (July 1993); Barnett Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94).
4. For an explanation of the causes of the civil war, refer to: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'Causes and consequences of the civil war', Central Asia Monitor, No 1 (January 1993); Keith Martin, 'Tajikistan: Civil War Without End?' (RFE/RL Research Report, 22 (July 1993); Olivier Roy, 'The civil war in Tajikistan: causes and implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993), Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The bloody path of change: the case of post-Soviet Tajikistan', The Harriman Institute Forum, Vol. 6, No 11 (July 1993); Barnett Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94).
5. For an explanation of the causes of the civil war, refer to: Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'Causes and consequences of the civil war', Central Asia Monitor, No 1 (January 1993); Keith Martin, 'Tajikistan: Civil War Without End?' (RFE/RL Research Report, 22 (July 1993); Olivier Roy, 'The civil war in Tajikistan: causes and implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993), Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The bloody path of change: the case of post-Soviet Tajikistan', The Harriman Institute Forum, Vol. 6, No 11 (July 1993); Barnett Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94).
6. Ibid.
7. Barnett R. Rubin in Testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the United States House of Representatives, 22 September 1994.
8. See Barnett R. Rubin, 'The fragmentation of Tajikistan', Survival, Vol 35, No 4 (Winter 1993-94) for the discussion of some of these elements.
9. During his trip to the United States (27 February-10 February 1995), the Qazi repeated in his speeches at the National Democratic Institute and at the United States Institute of Peace that his movement was not for the establishment of an Islamic republic in Tajikistan, but of liberating the country from oppressors.
10. The Agha Khan Foundation initiated an emergency humanitarian assistance in the autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan in late 1992 and has since moved to the implementation of a medium-term development programme for the region.
11. Based on series of interviews conducted with Abdunabi Sattorzoda (Acting Director of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan in Moscow) and Otokhon Latifi (Head of the Coordination Committee of Democratic Forces of Tajikistan in the CIS) in Moscow, Russia (July-December 1994).
12. Sharifiddin Imomov, 'Put' k Natsional'nomu Soglasiiu', Novoe Vremiia, No 24 (1994).
13. Ibid.
14. Interview with Abdumajid Dustiev, 'Ba Davlati Buzurg, Shakhsiiati Buzurg Rohbari Mekunad', Jumhurriat (6 August 1994) 2. Dustiev has been quoted on several occasions as saying: 'This is the first time in the history of our country that we have created a nation in the name of our people, and we have to protect that nation which is called Tajikistan like the jewel of our eyes.'
15. Editorial by Bobokhon Mahmadov, then Minister of Press, in the first issue of the newspaper of the Journalists' Union Posukh (18 November 1994) p 1.
16. Talk of the 'third enemy' (doshmani savvom) or 'dark forces' (ghuvahoi siohkor) was especially imminent during the 1992 civil war. The newspapers of the time attributed much of the destruction in war ravaged areas to this abstract enemy. See also the memoirs of Safarali Kenjaev, Tabadduloti Tojikiston Vols I and II (Dushanbe: Fondi Kenjaev, 1993).
17. Olivier Roy, in 'The Civil War in Tajikistan: Causes and Implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993) develops the theory of the compromise between the Ministry of the Interior and Badakhshan. His guess, however, is refuted by all the Badakhshanis whom the author interviewed.
18. The planning of the construction of the route from Pamir to Badakhshan via Shurabad in the Khatlon province was reactivated in the first week of April 1995.
19. According to a number of Badakhshani members of the Opposition that the author interviewed in Moscow (February 1995), including Ulfat Momoedshoeva, the representative of the Pamiri 'Mujaheddin' in Moscow.
20. See the newspaper of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, Golos Tadzhikistana (16-22 November 1994) p 1.
21. Junior field commanders tend to come from within the ranks of the former Ministry of Interior (MVD) forces while the more senior ones are usually drifters who may have had more important connections (trade, drug mafia, sport, etc.) before the war. Commander Salam, for example, was a wrestling champion at the USSR level, had been arrested a few times for petty crimes, and had quit the Selkhoz (Agrarian) Institute in Dushanbe before obtaining a diploma. See Arkadii Dubnov, 'Na Kryshe Mira Net', Novoe Vremiia, No 38 (1994) pp 15-17; and Timur Klychev, 'Krov', Opium, Voina, Islam, Vybory', Kommersant Daily (6 November 1994) p 3.
22. Junior field commanders tend to come from within the ranks of the former Ministry of Interior (MVD) forces while the more senior ones are usually drifters who may have had more important connections (trade, drug mafia, sport, etc.) before the war. Commander Salam, for example, was a wrestling champion at the USSR level, had been arrested a few times for petty crimes, and had quit the Selkhoz (Agrarian) Institute in Dushanbe before obtaining a diploma. See Arkadii Dubnov, 'Na Kryshe Mira Net', Novoe Vremiia, No 38 (1994) pp 15-17; and Timur Klychev, 'Krov', Opium, Voina, Islam, Vybory', Kommersant Daily (6 November 1994) p 3.
23. The head of the border guards of the Russian federation in Tajikistan, General Lieutenant A. Chechulin, appealed to the people of Badakhshan to cooperate with his troops in 'Murojeatnoma', Jumhuriiat (23 November 1994) p 1.
24. Badakhshanis the author interviewed in Moscow (February 1995) give the estimate of the loss of 2 per cent of the population of their province in the civil war.
25. Declaration of the Leninabad chapter of the Union of the Youth of Tajikistan in 'Murojiatnomai Ittifoqi Javononi Viloiati Leninobod ba Kulli Javononi Jumhurii', Jumhuriiat (2 November 1994), p 1.
26. The letter, entitled 'Letter of the Communists of the Province of Leninabad to the Leadership of the Party' appeared in Jumhuriiat (2 April 1994), p 2, and was signed by 36 workers of different small factories. The letter was rejected by Nidoi Ranjbar, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, and was published initially in Sadoi Mardum, the newspaper of the Supreme Soviet.
27. The letter, entitled 'Letter of the Communists of the Province of Leninabad to the Leadership of the Party' appeared in Jumhuriiat (2 April 1994), p 2, and was signed by 36 workers of different small factories. The letter was rejected by Nidoi Ranjbar, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, and was published initially in Sadoi Mardum, the newspaper of the Supreme Soviet.
28. The letter, entitled 'Letter of the Communists of the Province of Leninabad to the Leadership of the Party' appeared in Jumhuriiat (2 April 1994), p 2, and was signed by 36 workers of different small factories. The letter was rejected by Nidoi Ranjbar, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, and was published initially in Sadoi Mardum, the newspaper of the Supreme Soviet.
29. The leadership had replied to Dustiev's criticism in the weekly E'tigod, the publication of the Leninabadi Chapter of the Communist Party of Tajikistan.
30. Abdullojonov's daughter and Hamidov's son divorced before the elections, severing the ties between these two powerful Khujandis.
31. Interview of N. Maksimova with A. Hamidov, Head of the Executive Committee of the Leninabad province in 'Sila Zakona-Velikaia Sila', Biznes i Politika No 34 (November 1994) p 1.
32. For now, defeated local politicians of the Leninabad province have to echo Rahmonov. See Biznes i Politika, No 34 (November 1994) p 1, where Gulafzo Safritdinova, Representative of the Executive Committee of Isfara, denies charges of clan-based politics and reiterates the slogan of the union and reconciliation of the country, a position also taken by the Head of the Executive Committee of Konibodom.
33. Interview with Abdujalil Hamidov, Jumhuriiat (16 November 1994) p 1.
34. The author visited Qorghan Teppa, Qabodion and Shaartuz 5-7 April 1995.
35. Author's interview with a number of Uzbeks in Qabodion, 6-7 April 1995.
36. For a history of migrations, refer to Sh. I. Kurbanova, Pereseleniie: Kak Eto Bylo (Dushanbe: Irfon, 1993).
37. In Moscow and St Petersburg for examples, Gharmi traders and merchants appear in large numbers in local bazaars. A post-war Gharmi anecdote illustrates the point: A Kuliabi raided the house of rich people in the region, then boasted to his Gharmi neighbour that he acquired a television set, two cars and a refrigerator. The Gharmi then asked for one thing: that he bring the rich person's shovel so that he'd work the land and make as much money.
38. 'Nomus' (honour) is an important word in the post-war Kulobi discourse. A book that gives the biographies of hundreds of young men killed in Vakhsh and in the oblast of Kuliab during the civil war is appropriately called Nomus (Dushanbe: Paik, 1994).
39. Jumhuriiat (30-31 March 1993) p 1.
40. The Language Law, which was adopted on 22 July 1989, is presented in Oonuni Zaboni Jumhurii Tojikiston (Dushanbe: Irfon, 1993).
41. In 1991, the Uzbeks represented 23 per cent of the population, but it is difficult to estimate their numbers after the war. See Nassim Jawad and Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, Tajikistan: A Forgotten Civil War (London: Minority Rights Group, 1995) p 6.
42. See The State Department Annual Country Report on Human Rights: Tajikistan 1994 as well as the reports of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki.
43. Hakimov was an ethnic Uzbek living in the Bokhtar region in the province of Khatlon, who had worked in the local newspapers Haqiqati Qorghan Teppa, Soviet Tojikistioni and in Haq Suzi since 1992.
44. Interview of Iso Rahim with Shoimnazar Omonov, editor of the newspaper Dustlik of the Khatlon province, 'Hukumati Chorum Mahz Hamin Ruz a Dastgiri Nioz Dorad', Jumhuriiat (2 November 1994) p 2. Also see Qiroishoh Sharifzoda, 'In Hamon "Ovozi Tojik" Chun Haqiqat Shud Baland', Sadoi Mardum (4 November 1994) p 3.
45. Interview of Iso Rahim with Shoimnazar Omonov, editor of the newspaper Dustlik of the Khatlon province, 'Hukumati Chorum Mahz Hamin Ruz a Dastgiri Nioz Dorad', Jumhuriiat (2 November 1994) p 2. Also see Qiroishoh Sharifzoda, 'In Hamon "Ovozi Tojik" Chun Haqiqat Shud Baland', Sadoi Mardum (4 November 1994) p 3.
46. 'Ba Sharafi Jashni Shoir', Sadoi Mardum (17 August 1994) p 1.
47. Muhammadsharif Boboshoh, 'Dustii Tojikistonu Uzbekiston Nogusastanist', Sadoi Mardum (12 October 1994) p 1.
48. Refer to the table 'Izmenenie Chislennosti Naseleniia Otdei'nykh Natsional'nostei po Gorody Dushanbe', in Kratkie Statisticheskie Svedeniia o Natsional'nom Sostave i Migratsii Naseleniia Goroda Dushanbe (Dushanbe: Ideologicheskie Otdel Dushanbinskogo Gorkoma Kompartii Tadzhikistana, 1989) p 7.
49. Table 'Migratsionnyi Ottok Iz Respubliki Tadzhikistana v Drugie Strany po Otdel'nym Natsional'nostiam v 1993 Godu (Gorodskoe i Sel'skor Naseleniie)', Chislennost', Estestvennoe Dvizheniie i Migratsiia Naseleniia v 1994 Godu (Dushanbe: Ministerstvo Ekonomiki i Progrnozirovaniia Respubliki Tadzhikistan, 1994) p 70.
50. For a complete survey of the parties and people's movements existing before the war, see Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, 'The "Tajik Spring of 1992"', Central Asian Monitor, No 2 (March 1993).
51. See: 'Dempartiia Tadzhikistana: Ne Povtoriat' Oshibok', in Vechernii Kur'er, No 35 (24 November 1995) p 2.
52. According to select members of the Opposition whom the author interviewed in Moscow, Russia (July-December 1994).
53. The biography of Seyed Abdullo Nuri (b. 1947) appears in Sadoi Mujohed (November 1994) p 2, a newspaper which circulates among the fighters in Badakhshan.
54. See the State Department Report on Human Rights in Tajikistan for 1994.
55. People often repeat a saying that has been ingrained in the mass consciousness that Tajiks cannot live anywhere else but in Tajikistan.
56. Abdumajid Dustiev, 'Murojiiat ba Hamvatanoni Burunmarzi', Jumhuriiat (2 April 1994) p 1.
57. The idea that the refugees are living in exile against their wish and were peons in the hands of leaders appears in most articles printed in government newspapers. One Badakhshani refugee in Iran, for example, talks of having been told by the leadership of the Democratic Party, 'It is not a Jihad (holy war) in Tajikistan, but a war for positions that earn much money' he is quoted as saying in 'Gurezagoni Tojik az Bozihoi Sarvaroni Khud Khasta Shudaand', Jumhuriiat (23 November 1994) p 4.
58. For example, a front-page headline in Sadoi Mardum (4 November 1994) reads: 'November 6 is the Day of the Referendum on the Adoption of the Constitution and the Elections for the President of the Republic. The Participation of Each Person is in the Benefit of the Growth of Democracy, Establishment of Peace, Unity and a Demonstration of Good Intentions Towards the Development of the Country.'
59. G. Kholigova, 'Vahdat - Rahobakhshi Millat', Sadoi Mardum (21 September 1994) p 1.
60. Ibid.
61. 'Murojiatnoma ba Hamvatanoni Burunmarzi', Jumhuriiat (2 November 1994) p 1. Also, see an account of the refugee camps in Bandar Shirkhon in Sadoi Mardum (4 November 1994) p 2.
62. 'Murojiatnoma ba Hamvatanoni Burunmarzi', Jumhuriiat (2 November 1994) p 1. Also, see an account of the refugee camps in Bandar Shirkhon in Sadoi Mardum (4 November 1994) p 2.
63. Ibid.
64. Muhammadsharif Boboshoh, 'Intikhobot Boisi Vahdat Khohad Gasht', Sadoi Mardum (20 August 1994) p 1.
65. Testimony of Davlat Khudonazarov before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the United States House of Representatives, 22 September 1994.
66. Based on discussions of the author with various members of the international community in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (November 1994, April 1995).
67. Olivier Roy writes 'Pauperization might be more destabilizing in the end than the specter of Islamic fundamentalism' in 'The Civil War in Tajikistan: Causes and Implications', Report of the United States Institute of Peace (December 1993) p 26.