A Letter from Chechnya

 

Ibragim Arsanov

 

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Ibragim Arsanov says the challenge facing the Chechen president is, having achieved so much, to relax his grip 

 

 

When the Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov was assassinated in 2004 his younger son Ramzan succeeded him, and brought great improvements to Chechnya. Houses, roads and other infrastructure were remade; schools and universities reopened. Life in Grozny became akin to that in any other city.

 

Yet I ask myself: do I feel free and comfortable under Ramzan Kadyrov's rule? No, I don't. I give him credit for achieving economic recovery, but at the same time Chechnya has become a one-man-led region under the cloak of renewal and reform. Kadyrov has used a system of 'carrot and baton' to maintain law and order and ensure the execution of his policies, but an iron fist can't be used to create a sustainable system of good governance.

 

Functionaries around the leader monopolise the execution of power, which often leads to abuse and corruption with a subsequent growth in public discontent. One-man governance conflicts with basic Chechen values and destroys the necessary partnership with representatives of local communities.

 

The challenge now is whether Mr Kadyrov will be prepared, over time, to release his grip on power and allow it to percolate out to others. To my mind, Mr Kadyrov wishes to serve his people. He is not interested in power for its own sake. I didn't think that two years ago, but recently my opinion of him has become more favourable.

 

So I am hopeful, but I have been hopeful before and had my hopes dashed. I know from experience that change can come. Just when I thought that the Soviet Union was an evil empire, Mr Gorbachev came to power. I saw the transition to a better life. Many people were inspired, private entrepreneurs began to appear. I was a student at the time, and remember the passionate debates in our auditoriums over the future of the country. For the first time we were given the chance to discuss and to choose. Chechens were eager to take a due part in the renewal  of the country, but none of us could guess that Chechnya would serve as one of the tombstones of the dying Soviet empire.

 

I could not foresee that the separatist policy would shortly throw Chechnya into a total and bloody catastrophe, and that many years in the lives of the 'golden generation' would be stolen, and the region become war-torn. Much has been written and said about the war in Chechnya, so I have omitted the chronology of that from this letter and concentrated instead on how the war transformed Chechen society, the current situation in the region, who Ramzan Kadvrov is and what his rule is all about.

 

I was born in the autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Checheno- Ingushetya in March 1971. I have been lucky enough to grow up in the rare and short époque when Soviet people got used to peace and stability. My generation had started to think that peace and general well-being were inalienable rights.

 

Each day after school I'd listen to western music - Boney M, Abba, The Beatles and The Bee Gees. I never thought this was an alien culture, but rather a part of modern Chechen civilization. My generation took what we liked from Asian, European, Russian and Caucasian cultures, and I can see today that there are aspects of the British political system and power structure that would benefi t my country.

 

First and foremost, the British model of community development would enable people in the countryside to improve their lives and elevate their living standards. When I was in the UK last summer on a John Smith Fellowship programme, I saw how the British system worked. Chechen society consists of clearly identifi ed local communities with many distinct cultural backgrounds, which function very effectively in their own areas. This is not dissimilar to the many ethnic groups that retain their own identities yet are also integrated into wider British society. Supporting these local communities is the best way to develop local civil society.

 

There is much to be done in terms of re-establishing the broken civil trust, to reassure the minorities; to encourage and help Russians, Jews, Armenians and others to return to their homeland and reconstitute their communities in peace, tolerance and friendship. I shall apply my efforts and what I learned in the United Kingdom to the cause of renewal and community development. Ibragim Arsanov is head of the commission on civil society development in the Public Chamber of Chechnya