Moscow hosts a picket in memory of deportation victims of Chechen and Ingush nations

Today in the evening, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., opponents of war in Chechnya held a picket in the Pushkin Square in Moscow dated to the 62nd anniversary of deportation under Stalin's order in 1944 of Chechen and Ingush nationals to Middle Asia. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Dmitry Brodsky, one of the organizers of the action, that about 40 persons took part in the action.

In memory of victims of Stalin deportation and today's war in Chechnya, the picketers lit up candles and laid flowers to the poster "War in Chechnya is a crime against humanity". Some of their slogans called for reforming the Russian Army and the recruiting system thereto.

The action was organized by the Anti-War Club and Committee of Anti-War Actions, who were joined by the activists of the Democratic Union, Union of Right-Wing Forces, United Civil Front, Society "Memorial", Youth Movement "Defence", Tatar People's Party "Vatan", Anarchist Movement "Autonomous Action", Movement "Russian Radicals" and other human rights and political organizations. A group of Ingushes stood under the banner of their republic.

In the course of manifestation, almost every organization brought and disseminated its leaflets. In total, about four hundred leaflets were given to passers-by. The abundance of participating public groups resulted in the variety of flags, soaring above the chain of protesters - from the flag of the non-recognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria to Russian tricolour.

"Today, you won't find Khaibakh village in the map of Chechnya. However, this name is known to almost every Chechen, but unknown to the overwhelming majority of Russians. It was in that village, in a stable, on February 27, 1944, 700 persons were burnt alive. Nobody had ever faced justice for this crime," runs the leaflet of the Anti-War Club disseminated under the motto "February 23 is the day of deportation of Vainakh nations, day of grieve and memory".

The Anti-War Club reports: "387,000 Chechens and 91,000 Ingushes were put into cattle railway cars and transported, in the end of February 1944, to the steppes of Kazakhstan and other republics of Middle Asia. Nobody could escape deportation, even children and Red Army soldier, who bravely struggled in due time against fascist Germany, as well as bureaucrats - members of Communist party. By the end of their travel, from diseases, famine and typhus, by different estimates, from 30 to 60 percent of forced emigrants perished. Fifty years later, in February 2004, the European Parliament recognized deportation of Vainakhs to be genocide."

"Today, we urge our compatriots to know and remember this crime. In the time, when it is again usual to amend and ignore the history, we call people to recollect: for Chechen and Ingush people, the holiday of February 23 remains the day of grief and memory. In the name of peace between our people, such things should never repeat," anti-war activists are calling.

Earlier, Vladimir Yakovlev, Minister for Regional Development of the Russian Federation, published his statement on tragic events of 1944 in the history of Chechnya and Ingushetia. "In modern conditions, as never, we need to unite our efforts towards attaining peace and civil consent in Northern Caucasus, and building civilized civil society there. With account of the transformations underway today, we can state that only through friendship and mutual understanding we can move to solution of the problems of modern society. Lessons should be taken from the tragic events of 1944 not only by Chechens and Ingushes, but also by all the citizens of the Russian state," says the Minister's statement.