Mansi Mehrotra

The dress rehearsal of the civil war started with the rumour about the arrival of Armenians who were to be housed in new homes in the capital of Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (TSSR), Dushanbe, in May 1989, thus intruding the rights of the native inhabitants who had been waiting for their turn.*

On 11 February 1990, a few days before the elections, an unofficial rally was organized outside the Tajik Communist Party's Central Committee building. The participants of the rally were mainly young people and unorganised political groups. Slogans like "Down with Armenians!" were echoed. These protesters insisted that Armenians should return back to their homes and demanded microphones. Subsequently, state of emergency was declared and some 5,000 Soviet troops were sent to Dushanbe to suppress protests. According to official reports the civil unrest resulted in the death of 25 young men and about 70 people were injured by police and army bullets.

In a report by Summary of World Broadcast (SWB), Dadajan Ismailov, head of the Tajik State University said that, "The Tajik people have always been known for their friendliness and hospitality. It is impossible to believe that the arrival of a few refugees from the Caucasus could cause such a stormy reaction." 

Ismailov further mentioned that "there were organizers behind crowd and its actions are being directed by someone. There is no doubt that these people want to force their way into power this way. As there was no coincidence that such events developed precisely on the eve of the republic’s Supreme Soviet elections. That would hinder the electoral process. Such justifications were supported by D.Karimov, the then First Secretary of the City Party Committee, who admitted that a year ago the city’s inhabitant welcomed cordially and with traditional hospitality the refugees from the earthquake regions in Armenia and gave them temporary shelters."

The Soviet policy of glasnost brought euphoria amongst the cultural elites of some Soviet republics. In Tajikistan, the ethno-cultural elites wanted to create 'Tajik cultural renaissance' that was fading under the Russian and Turkic cultural dominance. There is no doubt that the people who pushed the movement of February 1990, were led by the people who were behind the cultural change in the late 1980’s. Their initial success in officially establishing a Tajik ethno-nationalist state where Tajik language was made official, gave the cultural elites courage to adopt democratic means for political change. These cultural elites became political in Tajik SSR when they demanded political accommodation in an exclusively Khojandi power structure.

The political revolution got support of economic breakdown in Soviet Union. Being at the periphery the economic crisis had the worst effect on Tajik SSR. The security situation got fragile after the deployment of Soviet military in February 1990 that created a garrison state. It led to a sense of curtailment of freedom leading to subsequent reactions. Dushanbe witnessed conflict, pogroms, excesses and robberies from 11-14 February 1990. The people involved in robberies were not necessarily the one who were participants of the demonstrations but the ones who were already involved in the nefarious activities and tried to benefit from the social, political and economic crisis.

In another report of SWB of February 1990, the Armenians who returned from Dushanbe told at the Zvartnots airport that the events of Tajikistan followed the same notorious scenario as Sumgaiti and Baku. The refugees explained that the Tajik people have always been friendly towards Armenians, and in these grave days many of them defended and protected them and expressed their indignation at the extremists’ actions. The report noted that earlier representatives of the Azerbaijan Popular Front arrived in Tajikistan to provoke anti-Armenian sentiments. They distributed large amounts of money and drugs, specifically to young people, and instigated them to expel all foreigners (first the Armenians) topple the local authorities and create an Islamic state.

It could be possible that ethno-nationalist sentiments were motivated due to internal political, economic and civic crisis not just in Tajik SSR but in the entire Soviet Union. At the same time it is unlikely that the demonstrators wanted to establish an Islamic state as the Tajik society was not ready for a religious revolution. The official clergy headed by Haji Akbar Turanjonzoda, regarded as the chief of the Islamic democrats and a powerful figure in Tajik society and polity, while answering to the question "Will Tajikistan become an Islamic republic?" mentioned that "Even if all the mullahs want this, at the moment it is not possible. The republic has gone a long way down the secular path and people will not renounce their habits and way of life so easily. I support a secular parliamentary state with a free economy. Religion should be separated from the state so that the sins of society cannot be attributed to Islam, which is what happened to the Communist Party." Turajonzoda also stated that only 3 percent of the country’s inhabitants knew the prayers correctly.

Said Abdullah Nuri, a charismatic Islamist leader, was another prominent opposition political figure of Tajikistan during the internal war (1992-1997). In late 1980’s, Nuri aligned with the young activists who formed the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP). He became the leader of religious political organisation called Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) of Tajikistan. Earlier in 1986, he was imprisoned for 18 months along with forty others for protesting in Kurgan Teppa in support of Afghanistani mujahideens’ attack from area around Imam Sahib and for producing and disseminating ‘religious propaganda’ into Soviet Tajikistan. After his release in 1988, he changed his name from Abdullah Saidov to Said Abdullah Nuri and was invited to work with the official Tajik religious administration, the Qaziyat. It was only in 1990s that Nuri became a prominant figure in Tajik society and polity. He fought against the government forces and headed the United Tajik Opposition for peace negotiation with Tajik government.

Muhiddin Kabiri, Nuri’s successor, is regarded to be representing a minority moderate faction of IRPT. He is still trying to establish his authority within the party that is dominated by traditionalist. At the same time it is unlikely that he will be dethroned as in Tajik tradition there is a famous couplet "If a boss asks to bring the hat, he or she brings it with a head".

Editor's Note: Mansi Mehrotra is a PhD aspirant/student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.