September 6 – the Independence Day of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
By Umalt Chadayev
CHECHNYA - Sixteen years ago, in what was then called the Chechen-Ingush Republic, a "velvet revolution" took place. After many days of rallies in the centre of Grozny, on September 6, 1991 the Republic’s Supreme Soviet, headed by party regional committee first secretary Dokka Zavgayev (incidentally, the first Chechen leader in this post), declared its self-dissolution.
Power in the republic passed to the Executive Committee of the General Congress of the Chechen People, which was led by former Soviet air force general Dzhokhar Dudayev. Then, after presidential elections were held in October of that year, Dudayev became first Chechen President.
During the terms in office of Presidents Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov, September 6 was marked as a national holiday – Independence Day. Each year on this day, military parades, mass folk festivals, rallies and processions were held in Grozny, as well as religious sacrifices and other large-scale major events.
Chechnya’s first Independence Day was held in 1992. Among the guests of honour at the celebrations were the first President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia and the leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
The Ichkerian national holiday was held for the last time in September 1996 – against the background of the aerial bombardments which had begun on the republic’s territory. In 2002, Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, then still head of the interim administration in Chechnya (in 2003 he became head of the republic, and in May 2004 he was assassinated in Grozny), announced that Chechen Independence Day was to be renamed Republic Day. At present, this day is called the Day of Civic Concord and Unity.
In today's Chechnya, Independence Day is a subject on which most people prefer to remain silent, though many remember that holiday with a certain degree of nostalgia.
"I remember how this day was marked under President Dzhokhar Dudayev," says 48-year-old Grozny resident Yakub Tutayev. “A military parade was held in the centre of Grozny with the participation of the armed forces, armoured vehicles and even aircraft. Then columns of demonstrators marched in front of the Presidential Palace, and there was a folk festival with dancing, and prayers and sacrifices. It really was a national celebration. But now it’s turned into a Day of Civic Concord and Unity. What kind of civic concord can there be if Chechens are now busy fighting among themselves? Some are now fighting on the side of the ‘federals’, and others against them. I think this is a great tragedy for our people." (D/T) RELATED ARTICLES:
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