A dozen people a day visit me – journalists, teachers, doctors, artists, survivors of the Russian detention camps, friends and strangers. They all ask for help, especially since my trip to America. I’m not a politician. I was an actress but not anymore. I simply try to distribute as fairly and effectively as I can the small amount of humanitarian assistance I’ve received from the Sakharov Foundation.
To judge from my conversations with people whom I meet in this way – mostly Chechens but occasionally Russians - no one wants to get rid of President Maskhadov. Many of them voted for Maskhadov, but they wouldn’t vote for him again since he’s been a disappointment as president. Nothing has been rebuilt during the two and a half years of his administration. He hasn’t been able to provide jobs. We have no protection from bandits and thieves. The police - they’re no longer called "militsia" - are no help. Only friends and relatives with weapons in their hands can defend you from robbers and other criminals.
I believe, and all my acquaintances agree, that despite these problems 90% of all Chechens support Maskhadov today because they remember the bitter consequences of the armed conflict that took place in 1993 between Dudaev and the Chechen opposition to his presidency. It seems to me that the 1993 opposition to Dudaev emerged not because of support for Avturkhanov, who was totally unknown, but because a substantial number of Chechen intelligentsia and ordinary Chechens – including whole villages - were unwilling to accept the creeping criminalization of our society – robbery, kidnapping, the failure to pay wages and pensions, etc.
Today, Maskhadov is doing everything in his power to avoid civil war. And the opposition to Maskhadov, headed by several famous field commanders, is of an entirely different character than the opposition to Dudaev. The main participants in the struggle against Maskhadov aren’t the intelligentsia or the workers, but rather five or six warlords, the armed units they command, some dregs of our society, and Khattab and other foreigners who came to Chechnya during the war.
The Chechen intelligentsia and workers do their best to cope with life as it is. Some survive. Some die. Many say their prayers, hoping this will prevent a new war – this zealous saying of prayers is something new for Chechnya.
It’s hard to believe how tired people are of war. And people are still dying from landmines, from other consequences of the war and the destruction it caused, from our terrible conditions of life. It’s simply not true that ordinary Chechens kill Russians, that ordinary Chechens rob and murder foreigners. These things are done by bandits. Maybe the bandits were born of Chechen parents, but we don’t recognize them as Chechens. The bandits rob and kill countless Chechens, not just Russians and foreigners. And the bandits don’t spare children and old people if there is money to be gained. Never before in Chechen history were fellow clansmen kidnapped for ransom or women molested - the penalty for such crimes was inevitably death. These laws were respected throughout my lifetime until 1991.
I’m 53-years-old. I’ve lived all my life in the midst of of my people. Every year I’ve traveled throughout Chechnya, both the plains and the mountain villages, and I believe that I know well our customs and laws.
If long-established, large and strong clans were backing Basaev, Yandarbiev, Udugov and other leaders of the opposition, they couldn’t and wouldn’t, in my opinion, be conducting themselves so willfully and irresponsibly in their struggle for power. If, as they claim, they ae fighting only for the freedom of our people, then where did they get their mansions, their jeeps, etc? Who provides these things and where do they come from? These are the questions that worry my people.
Children crippled during the war and the survivors of Russian detention camps have never received a ruble from the government. They live on charity while our leaders profit from their suffering. The government has not rebuilt or repaired any housing for ordinary people, and it is useless to mention compensation of any kind. Nevertheless, colleges and other educational institutions are functioning in Grozny, and students are attending classes. Elementary and high schools are destitute. Teachers receive hardly any wages. They are forced into trading in the bazaar in hopes of getting a crust of bread. The one bright spot: for the past five months, retired persons have received their pensions. They say prayers of thanks to Maskhadov for this.
Chechnya has been declared an "Islamic state." I don’t understand why this was done. Now women are apparently forbidden to be in a leadership position - a woman’s place is in the home. This despite the fact that for the past ten years women in Chechnya have been the chief breadwinners. They have traveled all over the world as shuttle traders, weighed down by heavy loads of goods. Male heads of household can’t find jobs in Chechnya, and in Russia, male Chechens are treated as "bandits."
Chechens, ever since they adopted Islam in the 17th and 18th centuries, have regarded themselves as Muslims and they remain Muslims to this day. But now, people who in the past never once bowed their heads in prayer are trying to force "Arabization" on us. We tell jokes about them. In the past, a Chechen who was respected, and particularly those who considred themselves leaders, never went about with bodyguards. Our current leaders are never without their bodyguards.
Many of those who fought for Chechnya’s freedom have left in search of jobs. Others are sitting quietly at home. But those who fought for power and place have still not settled down - they are standing in the way of peace and of Chechnya’s rebirth.
Grozny, March 8, 1999 Zuleikhan Bagalova
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