Within Russia, the government has both provoked, and suffered from, Islamic extremism.
In most cases, current claims of discrimination against Muslims by those not of the Islamic faith within the western world are without substantial merit, particularly since the conclusion of the 1990’s Bosnian conflict. Indeed, most repressive acts against them are the result of internal disputes within their own religion. Witness, for example, the ongoing fighting between Shias and Sunnis, or the depredations of ISIS and the Taliban against co-religionists that differ from their tyrannical theological views. It is ironic that Muslims living within Israel have more religious (and political) freedom in the Jewish state than in than in most Islamic nations.
But the long-standing discrimination against Muslims within Russia has gained new attention following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and its takeover of Crimea.
A Wilson Center study describes the genesis of current Russian-Muslim relations:
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“When the [Russian] state, both central and regional, began to confront the threat they perceived from Islam to state power, they used two main tools. First, they relied on the use, and abuse, of law enforcement and security agencies to kill, arrest, and intimidate local leaders and believers alike. Second, they instituted laws and propaganda to label certain branches of Islam, and their believers, as extremist. The combination of the two strategies had the desired effect of reducing or eliminating the power and influence of some leaders, but it had some unintended consequences as well. For example, since 2003 social activists who speak out against corruption and land rights abuses and advocate the right to practice Islam according to one’s beliefs have frequently found themselves on lists of ‘untrustworthy’ citizens. Some have found themselves on criminal ‘wanted’ lists and under investigation for alleged violations of the same criminal code articles as radical Islamist fighters. Being on one of these lists means detentions, interrogations involving torture, and abductions by law enforcement officers, including abductions for ransom. A typical tactic of law-enforcement agencies in Russia and Central Asia is to plant drugs and ammunition while searching the homes and cars of ‘new Muslims.’ Victims are then arrested and given the choice between a long prison sentence or buying their freedom…and with it, the chance to leave the country.”
According to another study about Russian-Muslim relations, “Anti-Muslim feelings were stoked by the war in Chechnya and terrorist attacks by Chechen fighters in the 1990s and early 2000s. Muslims that live in places where they are a minority harassed, humiliated and talked about by non-Muslims in muffled whispers. In the early 2000s, Russian newspaper ran pictures of local Muslim leaders next to pictures of Osama bin Laden. Hate crimes and attacks are directed at Muslims. Putin has called for tolerance and stated that Islam is a peaceful religion but at same time he has characterized the war in Chechnya as battle between Christians and Muslims and has said, ‘If you are a Christian you are in danger.’ Prejudice towards dark-skinned [people] from the Caucasus and southern Russia is common. Regarded as criminals and often referred to as ‘blacks’ or chernozhopy (‘black asses’), they include people from Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and other regions in the Caucasus Mountains. Both Muslims and Christians are discriminated against although Muslims get the worst of it in part because there are more of them… People from the Caucasus are shunned by landlords and milked for extra high bribes by authorities and officials… Police routinely stop people suspected as being from the Caucasus on the streets and extract a bride even when all their papers are in order. Dark-skinned men with beards are particularly suspected..”
The Report Concludes Tomorrow
Illustration: Russian forces in Crimea (Pixabay)