Sharia law treated as way to resolve disputes on Chechen-Dagestani border

Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliamentary, demonstrates his readiness for dialogue on Dagestani border, but Dagestani authorities wouldn't get involved in a conflict-prone process. For the least conflict-prone resolution of the problem, the mechanisms of Sharia law should be used, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 20, the Dagestani edition "Novoye Delo" published an article by Andrei Melamedov and Gadjimurad Sagitov entitled "Inaction of the Dagestan authorities may provoke riots". The authors stated that the republic's leadership wouldn't defend the interests of residents of the Gumbetov District in a dispute with Chechnya over borders. Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, expressed his willingness to prove the incorrectness of the data presented in the article.

The exchange of views with Magomed Daudov, who reacted to the publication of the "Novoye Delo" in the edition's Instagram account, indicates his intention to discuss the border problem; however, Dagestani officials of comparable rank should respond to the statements of their Chechen counterparts, Gadjimurad Sagitov, the edition's editor-in-chief, has emphasized.

"But for some reason, Dagestani authorities have self-withdrawn from this issue. They fail to answer not only to the Chechen side, but also to public requests; they refuse to explain the matter to its population, at what stage the negotiations are; what the plans are, and where the truth is – even if it's bitter somehow, people should know this. Serious conflicts may stem out of this uncertainty," Mr Sagitov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Mukhammad Tsezi, the head of the regional branch of the "Civil Initiative" Party, treats the solution of such problems in accordance with the Sharia law as reasonable.

"The layouts and maps were drawn up in Soviet times, when they fixed borders without accounting for residents' opinions. When coordinating the current borders, the opinions of clergy and villagers should be taken into account, since each community in the Caucasus knows the borders of its lands; and this option will be most conflict-free," Mr Tsezi told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2020 at 01:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.