President of Dagestan suggests Congress of Republic's Nations

On September 29, President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov moved an idea, when speaking at a sitting of the President's Council of Dagestan, of organizing of a congress of the peoples living in Dagestan for consolidation of the society in the fight against extremists. The initiative was ambiguously perceived in Dagestan.

Mr Magomedov has already repeatedly voiced the idea of an all-Dagestan Congress. He claimed that the event would show the true attitude of Dagestanians to criminal activities of the extremist underground, and will publicly condemn terrorism.

The RIA "Dagestan" confirms that on September 29 President Magomedov expressed his hope for consolidation of the whole Dagestani society against terrorism with the help of a congress.

Gadzhimet Safaraliev, Deputy of the Russian State Duma from Dagestan, believes that the event should play a positive role in the life of the republic. "I know that no congress will ever solve all the problems of Dagestan, but any rally of interested people will have a positive effect," he said.

According to Ahmed Azimov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus and Advisor to the Chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis, the outcome of the congress will depend a lot on its organizers. "Today, Dagestan is at the edge of abyss and needs a frank conversation with participation of truly influential persons. The congress should present all the layers of the population, including the Dagestanians who live abroad," he said.

Isalmagomed Nabiev, a human rights activist and chairman of the independent trade union of drivers and employers of Dagestan, is sceptical to the President's idea. "I remember that his father - Magomedali Magomedov - when being Chairman of the State Council of Dagestan first convoked such a congress. The tone of the event was preset by officials, and a lot of ideas were moved," he said.

Zaur Cherilov, a resident of Makhachkala, agrees with him: "Personally I have fortunately never faced terrorism; however, every day I see incompetence, corruption and cronyism of bureaucrats, their prosperity, arbitrariness of power agents, deaths of young people and crumbling infrastructure of the city. This is where the authorities should exert all their efforts. It would be my special fun to see some corrupt and incompetent bureaucrat on the podium of the Congress, calling us all to fight terrorism, as if we are on equal footing."