Wife of Dagestani Mufti of criticizes work of republic's head during pandemic

Aina Gamzatova, the wife and adviser of the Mufti of Dagestan, has accused Vladimir Vasiliev, the head of the republic, of reloading responsibility for the difficult situation with coronavirus in the region onto the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian Ministry of Public Health (MPH) had acknowledged that the spread of coronavirus in Dagestan was causing more concern than in other Russian regions. Djamaludin Gadjiibragimov, the head of the Dagestani MPH, stated on May 17 that 657 patients with an unconfirmed diagnosis and 29 those infected with coronavirus have died in the republic. Ziyautdin Uvaisov, the head of the Caucasian human rights organization "Patient's Monitor", believes that most of those registered as dead from pneumonia actually died from coronavirus.

Aina Gamzatova has noted that during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin on May 18, Vasiliev last mentioned the Muftiate (SAM) in connection with the coronavirus situation.

"You are trying to shift all the responsibility to the Muftiate, and say that people fell ill in the republic because they attended the Friday namaz (prayer) at the beginning of the self-isolation period ... On that Friday, there weren't even a thousand people in the mosque," she wrote on her Facebook.

Ms Gamzatova has also reproached Vasiliev for the deficit of medicines in the republic.

Many commentators have supported her, but not everyone is ready to blame only the authorities for all the problems.

"We are ourselves guilty in the first place. At least because we failed to fully follow our Imams," said Mukhammad Abumuslimov.