Perhaps
some of you who follow the news closely have noticed Kazan and Tatarstan’s
increasing presence in the international news scene over the past few months.
In mid-July, a senior Muslim cleric in charge of education was shot and killed
outside of his Kazan apartment. Later that day, the chief mufti of Kazan
survived a car bomb attack. Further attention from the media has been placed on
the early August discovery of a fundamentalist Islamist sect (known as the
Fayzarahmanist sect, named after the leader of the operation), which has taken
up residence in an eight-storey compound underneath a mosque for the past 20
years. Just a few weeks ago, a vehicle containing an automatic weapon and
fundamentalist Islamic literature exploded on the highway outside of Kazan due
to the accidental detonation of a homemade bomb. In addition to this
concentration of religiopolitical violence, a recent murder in Kazan has caused
even more restlessness in the area. In the wake of the recent outburst of
extremist Islamic activities, some are calling for a crackdown from the
government, but few recognize the far-reaching effects that such a response will have.
Tatarstan has long served as the prime example
of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence in Russia, and has served to
contrast with the more tumultuous regions of Chechnya and Dagestan. The recent
tragedies in the region have tarnished this reputation, leading some to compare
it to more troubled regions and even suggest that religious extremism itself is
on the rise. I would like to suggest that extremism is not necessarily on the
rise, but that since the organizations that exist in Kazan are so small and
disorganized, they must act in an opportunistic manner, thus the concentration
of terrorist acts. This means that the recent attacks may not necessarily point
to an increase in strength or membership of radical religious groups in
Tatarstan. To jump to the assumption that Tatarstan is falling to rebel forces
would be no more correct than to assume that periods of relative peace in more
troubled regions (i.e. Chechnya or Dagestan) necessarily means that ultimate
peace in those areas is near.
In
addition to arresting suspects in the shooting and car bomb cases, the regional
government of Tatarstan took a wider-reaching approach to prevent religious
radicalism in the region, and protect “traditional Tatar Islam”—after an
emergency meeting and briefing on religious extremism, an amendment to the Law
of Religious Freedom in the region’s constitution was passed. The Amendment included
the establishment of uniform educational requirements for clergy members, and
changed the regulations for the creation of religious institutions. While some
blame the influence of more radically conservative strains of Islam on
immigrants from the Caucasus and the fact that today many imams receive their
education abroad at more conservative seminaries, Deputy Prime Minister Asgat
Safarov the appearance of stricter strains of Islam in Tatarstan on historical
consequence. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he says, imams were not
prepared for the challenge of once again leading congregations, and were more easily
influenced by foreign, more conservative forms of Islam. He, along with the
President of Tatarstan, Mihail Minnehanov, are publicly urging faithful Tatars
to remember the traditional strain of Islam that their ancestors subscribed to,
and to return to those more liberal religious beliefs. In addition to the
amendment, the government is investigating a number of local clergymen who are
suspected of holding and preaching more radical beliefs. Many across Russia are
calling for an even more severe crackdown from the central government. It is
important to understand the profound effect
that this would have. Tatarstan would lose the relative autonomy that the
region has traditionally enjoyed and has allowed it to develop as it has. Since
the collapse of the Soviet Union, the republic of Tatarstan has been allowed to
govern itself more than other Russian republics and oblasts. Much of the
economic stability in the region can be attributed to this. Not only could
Tatarstan interpret intervention by the Russian Federal Government as
overstepping a boundary, but it could also result in the actual reduction of
autonomy for the region. Perhaps more critical to the Russian government is the
consideration of how any intervention in Tatarstan could influence relations
with other predominantly Muslim regions such as Chechnya and Dagestan.
While I certainly do not encourage religious
extremism, I do question how the role the government is playing could end up
affecting true religious freedom in Tatarstan, and in Russia. Right now, the
intention is to cut out or push out a specific radical strain of a specific
religion, but where is the line to be drawn? So slowly that it might not even
be noticeable yet, freedom of religion is being whittled away, and as long as the
belief exists that religious extremism is on the rise, this basic right will
continue to dwindle. This underlines the importance of keeping the events of this
summer, tragic as they are, in perspective.
