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Uzbekistan replaces Soviet-era monuments
 Two women visit a monument erected in 2005 to war dead that replaced a Soviet era WWII monument in Tashkent. Scholars, veterans, and the Russian government have decried the removal of Soviet WWII monuments in Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics. [Talib Kurbanov] |
TASHKENT – On January 12, a new monument appeared in front of the Armed Forces Museum. It represents a soldier kneeling and taking an oath while kissing the flag of Uzbekistan. In the background, a symbolic mother hovers over the soldier.
The monument replaces one depicting Soviet soldiers erected during the Soviet era, and dismantled by authorities in the middle of one night last year.
“I was awakened by the sounds of a pneumatic drill. I looked out the window and saw in the (Military Glory Park) a crowd of soldiers and construction workers”, remembered a resident of a nearby building. “In almost one night, they managed to remove the entire military arsenal”.
Throughout former Soviet republics, monuments have been toppled or dismantled. Not just those of Lenin and other communist leaders, but those commemorating the Soviet Union’s WWII fight against fascism. And now, street names and other traces of Russian influence are being targeted.
The move against the WWII monument in Tashkent has upset an array of people.
“Here stood a monument of a soldier with a gun in his hands … striving forward. … And, what did we get in return? A soldier with a bowed head. … You see all this, and your heart immediately goes cold”, said independent human rights activist Abdurakhman Tashanov. “There is a multitude of such monuments in the country. … (And) no matter where monuments of this kind are, there are always marble slabs nearby that do not forget to mention under whose initiative this or that structure was erected”.
A veteran called the change a move by the Uzbek government to frustrate veterans.
“The Great Patriotic War (World War II) affected the fates of millions of people, and the Uzbek people are no exception”, said war veteran Jalol Sultanov. “Today, the demolition of the Soldier-Liberator Monument is an axe blow to history, to the memory of the veterans who fought for the liberation of the great Motherland. We are now presented as mercenaries who fought for another country”.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed discontent. The Uzbek Foreign Ministry responded: “The demolished monument bears no intellectual weight but merely reflects the ideology of the old regime”.
An Uzbek Ministry of Defence representative said the new monument was important “because on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the independent country’s national army, … (it) will raise soldiers’ and officers’ morale”.
Another change is the status of the Uzbek Armed Forces Museum. Curator Abdmalik Kudratokhunov said the museum is now under the the Academy of Arts, which will display art that symbolises the power of the new Uzbekistan.
Shaabdurakmanov said during the past three years an extensive campaign to rewrite the history of Uzbekistan has occurred.
“All the streets that were named after scholars ... who lived in Soviet times are receiving neutral names. For example, the street upon which the new monument now stands was named after the academician Habib Abdullayev. He was a famous geologist who contributed greatly to the establishment of the country’s metallurgical industry. Now this street carries the name of Mirzo Ulugbek”, Shaabdurakmanov said.
Western Kazakhstan State University history professor Jorat Audabayev said Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine have also been destroying Soviet-era monuments.
Audabayev recalled the demolition of the People’s Friendship Monument, a monument to the Shamakhmudov family, which adopted 15 orphaned children during the Great Patriotic War and became a symbol of Uzbeks’ mercy and humanism.
“In the city centre of Nukus in the north of the Karakalpak Autonomous Republic, there once was a sculpture of Karakalpak and Russian girls symbolising the friendship of the two peoples. The monument had a few adjustments made to it: the Russian girl was removed and the Karakalpak girl remained”, said Audabayev.
He said a monument to Yermak, the conqueror of Siberia, once stood in Aksu, Kazakhstan. In 1993, nationalists broke off the upper portion of the sculpture. Consequently, authorities dismantled the entire monument.
“Destroying history—everything that belonged to the past regime—and imposing a new ideology is a phenomenon particularly in the entire post-Soviet space and Central Asia. Turkmenbashi did it, Karimov does it and now Berdymukhamedov is doing it”.
Reader Comments
What rubbish have you written? It is absurdity to compare Uzbekistan to Ukraine or Georgia. The chaos that reigns in these countries cannot be compared to Uzbekistan's policies. Uzbekistan is a country with more minorities than in any other country of the former Soviet Union. All live in concord and peace. That history was rewritten is not a secret... Every state sought to create an ideology that was necessary at the moment. What history rewriting are we talking about? The fact that they removed the monument to a soldier, who knows, maybe at the "top" they consider this monument as "posing a threat." My opinion is far-fetched, I agree. But let me give you an example. Small kids visiting the park on excursion or walking there with their parents see "the man with a gun" ... who knows may be our ideologists were thinking this way... While you criticize - "rewrite history." As long as humanity is alive, no one will ever forget that war... The soldier on his knees. My God, what kind of drooping head are you talking about? The solder is on his knees in front of his mother and the state kissing the flag as a sign of allegiance and readiness to always defend his Motherland and his family… We are always on our knees grateful to our parents…. People open your eyes, not everything that is not the way you want is wrong!!! Things make sense sometimes. The only thing I agree with you is about the Peoples’ Friendship Memorial, but … it has not been demolished, it has been moved to the city entrance so that all visitors from other regions can see that Uzbekistanis (not Uzbeks, I’d like to note) are friendly and kind people.
Great. Well done. It is amazing to see the website and how eager Central Asian is to expand their relations and contacts with Pakistan. The above article gives an opportunity to understand the thoughts, ideas and beliefs in your area.