Russia 100526 Basic Political Developments
Moscow Times: Time to Let the North Caucasus Go
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Moscow Times: Time to Let the North Caucasus Gohttp://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/time-to-let-the-north-caucasus-go/406806.html 26 May 2010 By Yulia Latynina Is Russia losing the North Caucasus? To answer this question, we must answer another question: What are the terrorists trying to achieve by detonating bombs in the Moscow metro? Answer: They want Allah, not Russia, to rule the North Caucasus. They hate the West and despise both Putin’s rule and democracy. The Constitution states that the people rule, but Muslim fundamentalists insist that only Allah should rule, and they condone murder and kidnapping to achieve their goals. That they kill non-Muslim infidels is a given, but they also kill Muslims whom the fundamentalists consider infidels. As an ideology, the Wahhabi movement is just as widespread in the 21st century as socialism was in the early 20th century. But would it be correct to say Russia and the United States are suffering from the same infectious disease? Absolutely not. In the United States, terrorist attacks occur about once every five years, but in the North Caucasus they occur every five minutes. Under former President Boris Yeltsin, political Islam was a relatively marginal phenomenon, but after 10 years of Vladimir Putin’s power vertical, the situation has changed radically. For example, Dagestan’s Wahhabis were only a marginal force in 1999, but they have become so powerful now that Russia’s law enforcement agencies are afraid to go after them. In the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, business owners pay protection money to the Wahhabis. When Ruslan Aushev was president of Ingushetia, the republic did not join the war on the side of Chechnya. But during the years of Putin’s power vertical, Ingushetia was transformed into a safe haven for the mujahedin and instill more fear than the federal troops. Even the new Ingush president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, is powerless to improve the situation. It was Putin’s autocratic rule that prompted the militant fundamentalists to grow from a marginalized group to the main power center in the North Caucasus. If Russia were to liberalize, the situation in the North Caucasus would get even worse. Experience shows that extremists — whether they be social revolutionaries in the early 1900s, members of the Communist Internationals of the 1930s or Wahhabis in the Caucasus — view concessions as an excuse to step up their attacks. It seems that Russia will be forced to part with the North Caucasus in the same way that France was forced to leave Algeria. This will not lead to peace and tranquility in the region. Either chaos will break out in the North Caucasus or a Taliban-type government will come to power — or both. After that, a new Islamist state will attempt to spread its radical ideology to the neighboring Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, the historical homelands of the Circassians. Russia will experience the same problems with an independent North Caucasus that Israel now has with the Palestinians. If Russia does not leave the North Caucasus, one of three scenarios will occur:
A third war in the North Caucasus will break out. Russia will pour an endless stream of money into the North Caucasus, while extremists extort as much as half of the funds. Moscow will have to create regimes along the lines of that of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Although Kadyrov has been successful in crushing the Wahhabis, the Kremlin, by financing Kadyrov, has created a host of other problems at home and abroad. Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio. Forum18: RUSSIA: Dagestan's Sufi monopolyhttp://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1449 By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service The authorities in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have imposed a near monopoly on Islam by a narrow strand of Sufism, Forum 18 News Service has found. The monopoly – imposed in an effort to counter the local Islamist insurgency - is not absolute, but it dramatically reduces the public space allowed for Muslims who do not wish to subjugate themselves to the one permitted Spiritual Directorate. By reinforcing the perception that only Muslims with legal status under the Spiritual Directorate are legitimate, it has fuelled persecution of other Muslims by law-enforcement agencies, local Muslims told Forum 18. A series of local provisions combine to give the Directorate legal control over Muslim public life in Dagestan, permitting only one umbrella organisation per confession. Local religious communities require the endorsement of this umbrella organisation – in Islam's case, the Directorate - to register. Religious literature and education are particularly restricted, although to varying degrees in practice. However, there are signs that the authorities are considering loosening the Directorate's control.
In their effort to counter the local Islamist insurgency, Dagestan's authorities have imposed a near monopoly on Islam by a narrow strand of Sufism, Forum 18 News Service has found. Although this domination is not absolute, it dramatically reduces the public space allowed for Muslims who do not wish to subjugate themselves to the one permitted Spiritual Directorate. By reinforcing the perception that only Muslims with legal status under the Spiritual Directorate are legitimate, it has also fuelled persecution of other Muslims by law-enforcement agencies, Forum 18 was told. The state backed those who form the present Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Dagestan precisely as "the most resolutely aggressive towards Salafis", believes Shamil Shikhaliyev, head of the Oriental Manuscripts Department at the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. (Salafis advocate what they regard as a pure form of Islam as practised by the earliest Muslims). However, far from all Muslims in Dagestan recognise the legitimacy of the Directorate, founded in 1998. While most adhere to Sufism to varying degrees, only four or five of the republic's over 20 sheikhs (Sufi spiritual leaders) actually recognise the Directorate, Shikhaliyev told Forum 18 in the capital Makhachkala on 16 April. Opposition sheikhs – whose attitude towards one another varies from neutral to positive – have authority in some 60 per cent of Dagestan's districts, he estimates. "The Directorate doesn't even represent the majority." Dagestan - a republic in Russia's troubled North Caucasus which borders Azerbaijan and Georgia - is highly ethnically diverse. Most of the population is of Muslim background, the majority of them Sunnis but with a Shia minority. Legal monopoly A series of local provisions combine to give the Directorate legal control over Muslim public life in Dagestan. The republic's January 1998 Religion Law permits only one umbrella organisation per confession (Article 10). Under Dagestan's September 1999 anti-Wahhabi law (see F18News 5 May 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1440), local religious communities require the endorsement of this umbrella organisation – in Islam's case, the Directorate - in order to register (Article 4). These measures are fully enforced, as the state registers mosques only with the seal of approval of Mufti Akhmed-khadzhi Abdulayev, the leader of the Directorate, its Press Secretary Magomedrasul Omarov confirmed to Forum 18 on 21 April. Religious literature and education are particularly restricted, although to varying degrees in practice. Under the 1998 Law (Article 21), an umbrella organisation's approval is required for the production, acquisition and distribution of religious literature, audio and video material and other items of religious significance (see forthcoming article). Also under the 1998 Law (Article 9), both religious educational materials and study abroad are subject to approval by the umbrella organisation. Under the 1999 Law (Article 3), anyone teaching religion – even in private – must have the permission of the umbrella organisation (see forthcoming article). The 1999 Law is aimed particularly at Wahhabism, which it defines only as an "extremist trend". In Dagestan Forum 18 found that Salafis are informally referred to as Wahhabis regardless of whether they reject violence. Elsewhere in Russia, Wahhabism is usually understood as the belief in the legitimacy of violence in the pursuit of Islamic ideals. The term derives from the surname of Mohammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab, whose radical teachings form the religious basis of the present-day kingdom of Saudi Arabia (see F18News 8 August 2007 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1004). Restrictions defended Directorate press secretary Magomedrasul Omarov defended his organisation's artificial domination of Islam in Dagestan to Forum 18, explaining that otherwise spiritual directorates founded by ethnicity would lead to "splintering - Muslims form one ummah, after all", and that the authorities would be unable to co-ordinate relations with different directorates, even for Dagestan's major ethnicities. He denied that the Directorate receives financial support from the state, however. "You won't see one mosque built on state funds (..) the state is separate from religion, and they remind us of that very firmly when it comes to giving money." Omarov also denied that the Directorate was a particularly Sufi institution, insisting that it recognised as Muslims all who revere Allah and the Prophet Mohammed. He estimated there to be just four or five sheikhs in Dagestan, however, laughing that "there are plenty of impostors, of course, but we won't talk about them." Also defending the restrictions was Rasul Gadzhiyev (no relation to Magomedgadzhi), departmental head of Dagestan's Ministry for Nationality Policy, Information and External Affairs. Insisting there was nothing in the 1998 Law contradicting Russia's 1997 federal Religion Law (which in fact does not support the provisions outlined above), he stopped short of confirming that non-Directorate Muslims could organise separately, and supported the practice of having a single umbrella organisation per confession. "In not one Islamic country is there a mosque for these or those, for separate groups," he maintained to Forum 18 on 22 April. "It's very dangerous, for one thing. A mosque is a mosque, for all believers without distinction." Gadzhiyev also dismissed the plight of Muslims who did not recognise the Directorate: "It's their problem if they can't speak to their fellow believers in a common language." Narrow strand If the current Directorate were more inclusive, the restrictions would prove less significant – but it represents a relatively narrow theological strand within Sufism which a significant portion of Dagestani Muslims criticise or even reject. According to Shikhaliyev, opposition sheikhs have serious doubts about the practices of Directorate sheikhs, such as giving their murids (disciples) photographs of deceased sheikhs and even the Muslim Prophet Mohammed as visual aids in rabita – a Sufi practice in which a murid receives divine light by meditative contact with a particular sheikh and through him a line of sheikhs reaching back to the Prophet. Most Muslims observe a ban on depictions of living beings. A 2008 publication endorsed by the Directorate and sold in its Makhachkala bookshops, Ali-Khadzhi Saigidguseinov's "Sufism: Foundation and Essence", supports this practice. "It is good to pass photographs and portaits of great scholar-theologians to people who did not see them," it declares. "In truth, grace is contained in their remembrance, just as it is in a meeting with them." By contrast, Shikhaliyev told Forum 18, many Salafis trust certain opposition sheikhs and attend mosques associated with them. Both groups claim the Directorate wrongly places its particular tariqah (Sufi religious order) above broader Muslim scholarship by citing unprovenanced oral tradition over the Koran and established hadiths (sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed). Shikhaliyev gave the example of a hadith claimed by followers of the Directorate's main Sheikh Said-afandi of Chirkei which states that, on ascending to heaven, the Prophet Mohammed looked down and saw a beautiful green patch of land by the sea. Asking the angel Gabriel what it was, he was purportedly told: "That's Dagestan - there will be many ulema (Muslim scholars) there in the Last Days." At least publicly, those associated with alternative sheikhs proved reluctant to criticise the Directorate's apparently sole regard for Sheikh Said-afandi, however. "Whether it's him or someone else doesn't bother us," Magomedgadzhi Gadzhiyev, pro-rector of Makhachkala's Imam Shafi'i Islamic University and follower of a line of sheikhs whose present leader is based in northern Cyprus, remarked to Forum 18 on 19 April. "Whether someone goes to Sheikh Said-Afandi or to us is in the hands of Allah." But if opposition Sufis' concerns are over theological emphasis and the authenticity of Sheikh Said-afandi's succession, for Salafis all involvement with the Directorate is impossible. As well as distrusting its proximity to the state, Salafis Abumuslim and Mogamed Shafiyev made clear to Forum 18 in the southern city of Derbent on 17 April that they completely reject its theology: "Their religion is fairy tales." By granting only the Directorate legal status and criminalising so-called Wahhabism, the Shafiyevs argue, the authorities encouraged the law enforcement agencies to target even peaceful Salafis. This has, they claim, included pressure to leave Dagestan, detention, torture or even - as the Shafiyevs believe happened to their brother Sirazhudin - abduction and killing (see F18News 4 May 2010 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1439) Partial influence Amid signs that the authorities are now considering loosening the Directorate's grip (see forthcoming article), Forum 18 found its control to be increasingly partial in practice. Abdulmumin Gadzhiyev (no relation to Magomedgadzhi or Rasul), Islamic affairs correspondent with Dagestan's popular independent Russian-language newspaper Chernovik, noted on 15 April that while mosques are officially allotted to the Directorate, over half of some communities are dissenters, "although there is no mosque in Makhachkala where the imam is overtly Salafi and in opposition to the Directorate." Islamic scholar Shikhaliyev also remarked to Forum 18 that while all mosques are formally on the books of the Directorate, the situation has recently become freer for Salafis. Power has been gradually shifting in mosques - and imams even replaced - in the settlements of Buinaksk, Gubden and Shamkhal. According to official local government figures, Dagestan has 2,365 mosques as of January 2010, all but 19 of them Sunni. Just 27 operated legally in the latter Soviet period. (END) Gazeta.ru/Russia Today: The lying employershttp://rt.com/Top_News/Press/eng.html Eighty-four percent of Russia’s workers have been deceived by their employers during recruitment. For drivers and vendors, this indicator reaches 95%, learned HeadHunter.ru (a recruitment agency). In fact, during job interviews, job seekers often hear something different than what they were told by a recruiter, and perceive possibilities as promises. Igor Bakharev Deceit during the hiring process is a norm in Russia, HeadHunter analysts have learned, after surveying more than 4,000 Russians from all of the country’s regions. Two thirds of respondents said that they were misinformed about their pay rate. Most frequently, employers indicated that bonuses will be a part of the pay structure. In reality, however, they are virtually impossible to obtain. Others, after being presented a certain pay range, were compensated on the lowest level or even less than what was indicated. Often, employers conceal the fact that the promised salary is the sum before taxes are reduced. Read more More than 60% of respondents were misinformed regarding their working conditions or the job-related tasks. Often, the amount of responsibility is much greater than what was initially suggested. Head of the “Rabota@Mail.Ru” project Alla Seregina says that many other “hidden agendas” exist. For example, paycheck deductions are given out for disciplinary violations, such as tardiness and fines for customer complaints. Some companies deduct wages for corporate events (to which attendance is mandatory) and insurance. People are often offered to work without filing any paperwork; while those who do manage to sign a contract find that it specifies a salary that is inconsistent with the actual pay rate. A total of 84% of respondents complained to researchers about deceit on the part of their employer. At the request of Gazeta.Ru, HeadHunter determined in which field this problem arises most frequently. Most complaints come from people working in the retail sector. Almost 95% of them say they have been lied to by their employer. Almost as many drivers and shipping agents (94%) complain about deceit on the part of their employer. Nine out of ten wholesale experts, waiters and waitresses, and business trainers have also come across dishonesty in the recruiting process at least once in their lifetime. Medical professionals (82%) and IT specialists (73%) were somewhat luckier. “Bonuses are often underpaid to sales people, drivers are not compensated for gas and car maintenance, and the salaries offered to waiters and waitresses include tips,” said Seregina. Moreover, low-skilled workers are not the only ones who are exposed to misleading information on behalf of their employer: translators, copywriters, and commercial specialists often find themselves in a similar situation. They are offered to complete large-scale test projects; and, in the hope of obtaining the job, people translate dozens of pages, write texts, and design ad campaigns, after which they are told that they did not pass. Meanwhile, the fruit of their labor remains with the “employer”. Moreover, a person could accept a lower pay rate for the duration of the probationary period, after which the employer terminates his employment, which he explains by saying that the trainee did not pass, added Seregina. For employees, such work experience results in serious psychological trauma. “People who are in a transitional phase in their life are especially vulnerable to deceit. And change of job is one such transitional step,” says president of HeadHunter Yury Virovets. But such an attitude toward employees also negatively affects the employer. When asked what they did after they learned the actual terms of employment, one of the most popular responses was “left for another job”, although there were other answers such as: “blacklisted the employer”; “began sabotaging ‘additional’ tasks”’ and even “got pregnant and went on maternity leave.” However, there are those who said that they “accepted the situation.” According to the statistics of SuperJob, misleading information regarding pay scale or working conditions, has led to 20% of newly hired staff to quit their job. Often, HR managers deliberately exaggerate the conditions which the company guarantees to its employees in the hope of finding the best man for the job, say analysts. However, job seekers, who felt that they had been deceived, often perceive the possibilities outlined during their interviews as fact, says head of the research center SuperJob.ru Natalya Golovanova: “Therefore, we are always telling job seekers that these things need to be very carefully clarified during the interview.” Such a high percentage rate of deceived employees is mostly explained by the subjective perceptions of each party during the hiring process, agreed Timur Sokolov, managing partner of Club Consult Development. “One should also consider that each person has his own unique perception of the world. For example, for a job seeker, an irregular working schedule consists of nine hours, while for an HR manager – it is up to 14 working hours,” adds Sokolov.
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