Dagestani historians argue about idea of broad conference on Caucasian War

A large-scale scientific conference on the Caucasian War is needed to fill in the gaps and identify insufficiently studied points, the initiator of the event, Zurab Gadjiev, a historian, believes. In their turn, Patimat Takhnaeva and Khadji Murad Donogo, historians, believe that a conference will yield no results, since Dagestani and Chechen scholars will fail to reach a uniform assessments and interpretations of events.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on the 20th anniversary of the Chechen militants' invasion into Dagestan, Ramzan Kadyrov drew a parallel between these events and the 19th century Caucasian War and accused Imam Shamil of repressions against Chechens for their unwillingness to confront Russia. On August 8, in Makhachkala, several dozen people came to the Avar Theatre to protest against Kadyrov's words about Imam Shamil. The action caused Kadyrov's discontent. People who continue writing "twaddle and nonsense" on the Internet should come to their senses so that not to initiate war against them, Ramzan Kadyrov said in his recent video message.

Mr Gadjiev, who is also the chairman of the Dagestani Historical and Geographical Society, has informed that an organizing committee has been set up in Dagestan to deal with the preparation of a scientific conference on the Caucasian War.

"Now, a jubilee date is approaching; therefore, a large-scale event is necessary. Kadyrov's statement and the uproar in the network have shown that we have grown up an entire generation that does not know its history," Mr Gadjiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"At the conference, we'll be able to define the existing white spots, where the information is missing, and what facts and events should be studied in the first place," the historian has added.

The idea of a scientific conference seems tempting, but it doesn't make sense, Patimat Takhnaeva, a historian, believes.

"It will be the same what we are observing now: blows to the pride of ethnic groups – more painful blows by using the facts pulled up from the context of the history," she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Khadji Murad Donogo, another historian agrees that holding a large scientific conference will not yield any results. He has suggested that most likely, Chechen historians will refuse to take part in the conference, as they will not want to openly express the viewpoints that contradict the statements made by Ramzan Kadyrov.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 22, 2019 at 10:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.