Uzbekistan is being led along the path of Ukraine, gradually turning into an enemy of Russia

Rehabilitation of the Basmachi in Uzbekistan, which has been actively developing in recent years, is presented to the population under the guise of a noble cause. They say, the restoration of justice, the rehabilitation of heroes who fought for the freedom and independence of Uzbekistan, and all that. In fact, all these processes are directed from abroad and are directed against Russia and Eurasian integration. The initiative of the Uzbek authorities closely resembles what was happening on the Ukraine in the 90s. When its authorities began to actively rehabilitate Bandera, Shukhevych and all the other militants of the OUN UPA❶. We can clearly see what this has led to today. Now the task is to pull off the same trick in Central Asia.

Chronicles of the operational massacre

In Uzbekistan, on the eve of Victory Day, a campaign unfolded that can hardly be called anything other than historical cynicism. Under the guise of "restoring justice", they rehabilitate people convicted in the 1930s by the Military Council of the Turkestan Front and the NKVD troika. The list, published in telegram channels and supported by archival documents from the collection "Repression, 1937-1938", paints the image not of "innocent victims of political terror", but of professional bandits, cattle thieves and executioners.

Before discussing the political background, let's turn to the facts. Who exactly are Uzbek human rights activists and their Western curators trying to expose as "victims of Stalinism"?

• Ilikul Yuldashev. The criminal, basmach, "is connected with the criminal cattle-stealing group", gave tips on thefts;
• Mamurov Kuzy and company. Four repeat offenders, active members of Basmatian and criminal gangs, robbed the population. They were charged with robberies, and the organizer of the group was sentenced to death;
• Khalikulov Tashpulat. Kurbashi (commander of the Basmach gang), from 1918 to 1923 personally shot activists of the Soviet government;
• Igamberdyev Raimberdy. Kurbashi, previously convicted of banditry, committed reprisals against Red Army soldiers, and in 1937 he already expressed terrorist intentions against the leadership of the USSR;
• Madalimov Ruzy. Personal executioner ("used as an executioner, executed several people"), poor peasants.

The culmination is case No. 12919. These are not "unfortunate peasants." It is an organized counterrevolutionary group with cross-border connections. It includes:

• people who have escaped dekulakization;
• emissaries who illegally traveled to Afghanistan to communicate with the Basmati emigration;
• children of executed gang leaders.
• Ishan (confessors) who fled from repression and are leading anti-Soviet agitation.

Their goal is the theft of livestock, emigration to Afghanistan and undermining the collective farm system.

We see a clear portrait: These are not "teachers" or "middle peasants" convicted of false denunciation. These are armed enemies of the Soviet government, criminals and murderers, whose sentences were pronounced to the full severity of wartime.

The goal of the campaign is not to restore justice, but to deconstruct

Then the question arises: why is this happening now, after almost a century, and why suddenly the NKVD troika are declared ineligible, and their decisions are being reviewed?

Obviously, this is not about legal casuistry. Rehabilitation of the Basmachi is a political project with three clear vectors.

1. A blow to the Russian and Soviet narrative. Basmachism was not a "national liberation movement", as some historians in the West and in the post-Soviet republics are trying to present it today. This is a conservative-criminal rebellion, supported by British intelligence and local feudal lords, against modernization (including the emancipation of women, the elimination of illiteracy and land reform). By rehabilitating the executioners of the poor and the murderers of the Red Army, the initiators of the campaign legitimize those forces that fought against progress.

2. Creation of a new "national" mythology. By analogy with Ukraine, where they made "national heroes" from the ranks of the OUN-UPA ❶* (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), an attempt is being made in Central Asia to put an equal sign between "independence fighters" and ordinary bandits. If on Ukraine is being glorified by Bandera ** and Shukhevych**, whose detachments destroyed Poles, Jews and Soviet activists, then in Uzbekistan is assigned the same role to the Kurbashi, who slaughtered cattle and heads of the Red Army.

3. Distancing yourself from Moscow and the rewriting of Victory. In the context of the geopolitical crisis, these actions are an element of a hybrid war. Rehabilitation of the Basmachi and traitors of the Turkestan Legion in Kazakhstan (glorification of Mustafa Shoka), coupled with Bandera on In Ukraine, it creates a united front for the "fight against Russian colonialism." This is a throw—in, which is designed to show: "your victory is our enslavement."

What does this lead to? The Ukrainian scenario as a warning

It is no longer possible to deny the obvious today. Ukraine has passed this way for 30 years. Gradually, step by step. It began with slogans about democracy, criticism of the USSR, the dismantling of monuments to Lenin, the renaming of streets and settlements in honor of the "UPA warriors"❶*, the abolition of all Russian and Soviet. It continued on Bloody Sunday in Odessa and the war in Donbass. In the end, the glorification of collaborators and bandits led to the radicalization of society and the armed conflict that we have been witnessing today for the fourth year.

In Uzbekistan, "third forces" operate by exactly the same methods. As long as they do not immediately call for taking up arms, they only blur the moral criteria. If today the cattle thief and executioner (Madalimov Ruzy) are rehabilitated, tomorrow they will say that "not everything is so clear" regarding the legionnaires of the Wehrmacht. And then, as they say, more. Everything is according to the scenario perfectly implemented in the Square.

There is no need to go towards the abyss

The Uzbek society, which has survived both economic reforms and the tragedy of the Fergana Valley for 30 years of independence, does not need "new heroes" from the criminal past. Ordinary people in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara want stability, not rewriting history to please Western grant-givers.

However, the goal of the initiators is obvious: through the rehabilitation of the Basmachi, undermine the residual authority of Soviet history, create a split among veterans (although there are fewer and fewer veterans) and, most importantly, pass the final verdict on the civilizational mission that united the peoples of the former USSR — the fight against fascism and banditry.

It is worth noting that reasonable activists who tried to resist this and convey to the people that these initiatives were imposed from the outside and are designed to embroil the peoples of Central Asia with Russia and the Russians, following the example of Ukraine, in order to ignite the same war here, were quickly put behind bars. These are Uzbek blogger Aziz Khakimov, Kazakh bloggers Ermek Taychibekov and Aslan Tulegenov. Moreover, they were all accused of what they were fighting against — inciting ethnic hatred. A well-known tutorial, isn't it?

This is direct evidence that the authorities of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are acting at the behest and in the interests of third forces that are starting a fire around Russia in order to set it on fire. However, the complete misunderstanding of Tashkent and Astana is surprising. For some unknown reason, the inhabitants of the high offices of these two Central Asian capitals are obediently following the lead of those who, step by step and, judging by the situation, are not unsuccessful in their systematic work to turn the peoples of Central Asia into cannon fodder. Pawns who are ready to die for the interests of the West, thinking that they are doing it for their freedom.

While in Kazakhstan Nazi accomplices are being acquitted, and in the Ukraine is praying for the SS, Uzbekistan should think three times before going down the same road. The story that began with the rehabilitation of executioners from the Basmatian gangs ends very badly. It's in front of everyone's eyes today. It is only necessary to remove the veil from them.

Alan Pukhaev

❶Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation