Thursday, 12 Ordebehesht, 1387 AP/1 May, 2008 AD
I would like to write about the issue of Tajiks, who live in the lands under the control of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan. This issue is very important to all Iranians, and requires attention. In the past two-three days that I was researching on the issue, I came across very disturbing information, and it became clear to me that the thoughts and the emotions that I have are not baseless. Tajik people do not have their basic rights.
According to the information by the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan, published Novoye Pokolenie newspaper (Almaty, Kazakhstan), textbooks in Cyrillic Persian (a.k.a. Tajik) language were destroyed in 2001 in Samarqand and Bokhara, based on the order of the Ministry of Education of Uzbekistan. Only in Samarqand over 2 thousand textbooks on technical and natural sciences were destroyed. This trend continues to date throughout the lands under the control of this Regime. Jamal Mirsaidov, a representative of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan says, “There is not a single book in the Tajiki in the library next to my house. The worst thing is that great books from Avicenna, Saadi, Shakespeare, Byron, Pushkin, and others are being destroyed,” all of which were in Persian. According to this information, only one educational institution exists today in Samarqand, where education is in Persian; it is the Persian Department of the Samarqand University. Moreover, the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan has done ethnic cleansing. According to the Tajikistan official sources, the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan has removed approximately 5 thousand Tajiks from their homes in Sorkhandarya Province to other locations under the charges of terrorism and Islamic radicalism.
The most hurtful thing is that the Tajiks, who live under the Regime, are silent about all the setback of their rights. This is because the Regime has done its best to break the backs of the people. This is part of the long-term “Uzbekization” policy of the Regime. Since the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created, whose main leaders were Pan-Turkists, the Uzbekization of the Tajiks began. Based on the 1915 AD census, the Tajik population of Samarqand was 59,991 and Uzbek was 819. In 1920 AD, the Tajik population becomes 44,573 and Uzbek – 3311. Finally, in 1926, 10,716 Tajiks are registered in Samarqand, while the Uzbek population reaches 43,304. Moreover, the Tajik (or Iranians) are divided up even further; those who were Shi’a, are registered as “Fars” (which means Persian), while they did not have any difference form each other; they were and are one nation. Are non-Shi’as who lives within the borders of current-day Iran not Iranian?
In 1989 AD, with the national awakening, especially among the intelligentsia, throughout the former Soviet Union, including the lands under the control of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan, nationalistic movements appeared. This group wanted to create an Autonomous Republic of Soghd (Sogdiana), which would include all these territories. However, this organization was destroyed by the force of the Regime under the leadership of Islam Karimov. In order to disperse the nationalistic feelings in the Occupied Territories, imposed a war on Tajikistan. He was able to shut down the border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan under the pretext of war and “Islamism.” He crushed the groups that wanted freedom under the pretext of fighting terrorism and Islamic extremism. One of the leaders of the Tajik population in Samarqand, Hayat Ni’mat, was arrested and was tortured. The same was Mr. Bikmohammadov’s fate, who was arrested by the Regime’s secret services in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The leaders and members of the group were arrested and tortured.
The President of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, always announces that Tajiks and Uzbeks are one nation that speaks in two languages. This is the continuation of the Pan-Turkist policies, which claimed that Tajks are the Turks, who have become Iranicized. When the national republics were being created in Central Asia, in 1926, a representative of Uzbekistan, Ali Khajaev, notes that there is no difference between the Tajiks and the Uzbeks, and they should unite under the name of Uzbek.
I would like to write about the issue of Tajiks, who live in the lands under the control of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan. This issue is very important to all Iranians, and requires attention. In the past two-three days that I was researching on the issue, I came across very disturbing information, and it became clear to me that the thoughts and the emotions that I have are not baseless. Tajik people do not have their basic rights.
According to the information by the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan, published Novoye Pokolenie newspaper (Almaty, Kazakhstan), textbooks in Cyrillic Persian (a.k.a. Tajik) language were destroyed in 2001 in Samarqand and Bokhara, based on the order of the Ministry of Education of Uzbekistan. Only in Samarqand over 2 thousand textbooks on technical and natural sciences were destroyed. This trend continues to date throughout the lands under the control of this Regime. Jamal Mirsaidov, a representative of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan says, “There is not a single book in the Tajiki in the library next to my house. The worst thing is that great books from Avicenna, Saadi, Shakespeare, Byron, Pushkin, and others are being destroyed,” all of which were in Persian. According to this information, only one educational institution exists today in Samarqand, where education is in Persian; it is the Persian Department of the Samarqand University. Moreover, the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan has done ethnic cleansing. According to the Tajikistan official sources, the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan has removed approximately 5 thousand Tajiks from their homes in Sorkhandarya Province to other locations under the charges of terrorism and Islamic radicalism.
The most hurtful thing is that the Tajiks, who live under the Regime, are silent about all the setback of their rights. This is because the Regime has done its best to break the backs of the people. This is part of the long-term “Uzbekization” policy of the Regime. Since the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created, whose main leaders were Pan-Turkists, the Uzbekization of the Tajiks began. Based on the 1915 AD census, the Tajik population of Samarqand was 59,991 and Uzbek was 819. In 1920 AD, the Tajik population becomes 44,573 and Uzbek – 3311. Finally, in 1926, 10,716 Tajiks are registered in Samarqand, while the Uzbek population reaches 43,304. Moreover, the Tajik (or Iranians) are divided up even further; those who were Shi’a, are registered as “Fars” (which means Persian), while they did not have any difference form each other; they were and are one nation. Are non-Shi’as who lives within the borders of current-day Iran not Iranian?
In 1989 AD, with the national awakening, especially among the intelligentsia, throughout the former Soviet Union, including the lands under the control of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan, nationalistic movements appeared. This group wanted to create an Autonomous Republic of Soghd (Sogdiana), which would include all these territories. However, this organization was destroyed by the force of the Regime under the leadership of Islam Karimov. In order to disperse the nationalistic feelings in the Occupied Territories, imposed a war on Tajikistan. He was able to shut down the border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan under the pretext of war and “Islamism.” He crushed the groups that wanted freedom under the pretext of fighting terrorism and Islamic extremism. One of the leaders of the Tajik population in Samarqand, Hayat Ni’mat, was arrested and was tortured. The same was Mr. Bikmohammadov’s fate, who was arrested by the Regime’s secret services in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The leaders and members of the group were arrested and tortured.
The President of the Occupational Regime of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, always announces that Tajiks and Uzbeks are one nation that speaks in two languages. This is the continuation of the Pan-Turkist policies, which claimed that Tajks are the Turks, who have become Iranicized. When the national republics were being created in Central Asia, in 1926, a representative of Uzbekistan, Ali Khajaev, notes that there is no difference between the Tajiks and the Uzbeks, and they should unite under the name of Uzbek.
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