Still, the pro-Kremlin «Muslim bloggers» are a remarkably shameful sight, especially considering that some of them were once considered «Islamists» and even enemies of the state by the security services. Even the completely pro-Putin Russian Telegram channels cannot hide their bewilderment at Putin’s inappropriate behavior.
When it was announced that he was going to address the nation after the Priozhinsky riot with such phrases that it would determine the fate of Russia, his supporters expected that at least Shoigu and Gerasimov, who failed to prevent the riot, would be removed from their positions. So when instead there was a completely empty speech saying that everything and everyone would remain in their places, even the Russian pro-Putin crowd began to say and write that with such a president and such an approach, Russia will surely perish.
Another disappointment for the adeK-vata’s was Putin’s visit to Dagestan today — for a meeting on tourism development. They are at war, which they themselves say determines the fate of their state, and there has recently been an uprising that has brought the state to the brink of collapse. But instead of visiting the front lines (as Zelensky occasionally does), or at least the military units or military enterprises in the rear, he goes to discuss tourism.
But where everything is already clear even to the Russian pro-Putin crowd, the reliable «Muslims» come to their aid. For example, comrade Kurbanov hastened to inform us that Putin visited Dagestan on the 1380th anniversary of the introduction of Islam in Dagestan, which was then presented by his colleagues as if Putin had decided to visit the «gateway to Islam in Russia» on the Kurban Bayram holiday to emphasize its importance. But of course this is a pathetic lie. If Putin’s main goal was to emphasize the importance of Islam for Russia on one of its holidays, his visit to Dagestan would have begun with a visit to the festive prayer or religious figures (let’s leave aside who these figures are). However, the protocol service and journalists from the Kremlin pool who covered his visit clearly articulated that the purpose of the trip was the development of tourism.
And beyond the pathetic sight of pro-Kremlin «Muslim bloggers» licking Putin’s boots, on the one hand there is a question that even the Russian adeK-vata raises — the sanity of someone who, in the conditions of a war for the survival of the state, discusses tourism. On the other hand, the question of tourism development, especially in Dagestan, is indeed crucial for them. Thanks to the «genius of the great strategist», not only the vaunted Crimea, but also the entire Black Sea coast of «old Russia» (within its borders until 2014) has become an unsafe place to relax. That is why there is an increasing flow of tourists to the (still) safe shores of the Caspian Sea.
And here it is time to talk about the relationship between «tourism development» in Dagestan and the Kremlin’s attitude towards Islam. For it is no secret that the flow of tourists from Russia to Dagestan leads to increased tensions precisely because of their behavior, which does not conform to Islamic norms, and the attempts of Dagestani Muslims to make tourists conform to these norms, which in turn leads to outrage in Russia itself.
And this is where Russia’s priorities in Dagestan are really evident and clear from all its policies in recent years — the promotion of secularism and the cultural-ideological Russification of Dagestan. These priorities specifically require countering «Islamization» and certainly not emphasizing the strategic importance of Islam and Islamic Dagestan for Russia.