Residents of Chechnya do not agree to treat May 10 as mourning date

Today, Chechnya holds mourning ceremonies on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Grief for the nations of the republic, which is marked as a day of national mourning in Chechnya since 2011. A lot of local residents note that they still mark the Day of Memory and Grief on February 23.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier, Chechnya used to mark the Day of Memory and Grief on February 23, since the deportation of Chechen and Ingush people to Kazakhstan and Central Asia was started on February 23, 1944. In 2011, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov issued a resolution to mark the date of May 10 as the date of official mourning ceremonies to honour the memory of the victims of the deportation.

On May 10, 2004, there was a ceremony of the funeral of Akhmat Kadyrov, the first president of Chechnya, who was killed as a result of the terror act on the Grozny "Dynamo" Stadium on May 9, 2004.

On February 23, 1944, that Stalin's authorities began the operation under the code name "Chechevitsa", during which a mass deportation of Chechens and Ingushes to Kazakhstan and Central Asia from the territory of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was undertaken. It continued until March 9, 1944. Soviet authorities explained these repressions by facts of mass desertions, evasions from recruitment in wartime and preparation of an armed uprising in the rear. According to the International Society "Memorial", during the deportation, 485,000 people were deported from Chechnya and Ingushetia.

This morning, under the already established tradition, officials of the Chechen leaders, theologians, heads of municipalities, and other officials have visited the grave of Akhmat Kadyrov in the village of Tsentaroi (Khoshi-Yurt) of the Kurchaloi District and laid flowers at his obelisk on the territory of the Glory Memorial in Grozny.

A lot of residents of Chechnya have told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they do not take the date of May 10 as a mourning day and that they still mark the Day of Memory and Grief on February 23.

"The day of May 10 is a day of mourning for Kadyrov and his family members. For me, the day of mourning is the date when my father died and the date of February 23 when my ancestors were forcibly deported to Kazakhstan, where 11 members of our family perished. I believe the official transfer of the date of mourning is an attempt to treat own family tragedy as a national one," said Akhyad, a resident of Grozny.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.