Activists demand to punish speaker of Khakassia Parliament for his words about Kalmyks' deportation

Residents of Kalmykia have asked the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to check the statements of Vladimir Shtygashev, the Speaker of the Parliament of Khakassia, about the Stalin deportation of Kalmyks. Batu Khasikov, the head of Kalmykia, has criticized Shtygashev for justifying repressions, but the authors of appeals have found the reaction of republic's authorities too mild.

Later, Vladimir Shtygashev has stated that "there was and there is no justification for the deportation of the Kalmyk people; this was a tragedy." "I sincerely regret if what I said about the war had hurt someone's feelings," he said.

Shtygashev had apologized for the words spoken out by him on the same day from the rostrum of the Parliament of Khakassia. He stated that those nations were subject to deportation, where "the majority <...> fought on fascists' side – especially the male population." Shtygashev claimed that during the war, a massive participation of Kalmyks in armed groups that fought on the side of Germany was revealed. "When they looked, they found that there was not a single family, whose members hadn't served as chasteners for fascists," said Shtygashev in a video also posted on January 29 on the YouTube channel of the "Khakassia" News Agency.

Batu Khasikov, the head of Kalmykia, has concluded that Shtygashev had justified the Stalin repressions in Kalmykia. "From now on, I suggest Vladimir Nikolayevich [Shtygashev] to be as correct in his statements as possible, especially regarding such tragic moments as deportation of my people," Mr Khasikov wrote on January 29 in his Instagram page.

The Kalmyk authorities have too mildly reacted to Shtygashev's words, Valery Badmaev, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Modern Kalmykia", believes. He said that today he has appealed to the GPO asking to check whether the statements of the Speaker of the Parliament of Khakassia are inciting the interethnic hatred.

Other activists have prepared similar appeals.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 30, 2020 at 04:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.