Anti-alcohol campaign is element of Kadyrov's image

The campaign against drinking alcoholic beverages unleashed in Chechnya is mainly aimed not at countering drunkenness, but at supporting the authorities' image as defenders of traditional values, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since October 2019, users of social networks regularly post reports about "preventive conversations" held by Chechen law enforcers with people detained for drinking alcoholic beverages and using psychotropic substances. So, on March 1, a video was posted in which Rustam Aguev, the chief of the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Division), reproached detainees and equated them to terrorists.

Authorities' initiatives like the anti-alcohol campaign in Chechnya, cause a controversial reaction in the society, and people's attitude to them is far from being positive, said Elena Mchedlova, Doctor of Sociology, a leading researcher at the Institute for Social and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

She believes that such campaigns, along with other numerous authorities' initiatives, are needed to control the population.

The anti-alcohol campaign launched in Chechnya is hardly supported from Moscow, says Mikhail Roschin, a leading researcher at the RAS' Institute of Oriental Studies. "This is an initiative of local authorities to show that they are fighting for restoring traditions, that the republic is special, and its residents should respect Muslim values," Mr Roschin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The campaign is aimed not so much at fighting alcohol abuse in Chechnya, but at improving the image of the Chechen leadership as guardians of traditional values. "In this sense, no one will get ahead of Ramzan Kadyrov: he is fighting steadfastly for traditional values, despite possible losses," Mr Roschin has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 7, 2020 at 00:31 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.