Events in Russia following Vladimir Putin’s orchestrated reset are developing in several directions. On the one hand, there is an increasing crackdown on opposition space, initiated by the government almost immediately after the reset vote (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38916). Today, another criminal case was filed against Alexei Navalny, this time for defamation of a veteran used by Kremlin propagandists to promote their reset agenda. In addition, not content with purely repressive measures against journalists from the opposition project MBK-Media, the system has resorted to proven methods used by the secret services to discredit them, methods that are regularly used against «enemies of the state». This time, the «dirty laundry» from the personal lives of several journalists was unearthed and widely distributed, which led to the resignation of the head of MBK-Media projects, Sergei Prostakov. It is worth noting that in a similar situation, no pro-Kremlin politician or propagandist would do the same, but would continue to work as before, disregarding public opinion.
However, the repression of the liberal opposition in the capital does not save the regime from the realization of its fears (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38757). Because now these «nullifiers» have to deal not only with the liberal citizens of the capital, but also with the «deep people» who have become active and on whom they planned to rely (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38851). In response to the arrest of the opposition governor of Khabarovsk, Sergei Furgal, between 30,000 and 50,000 citizens took to the streets of the city, representing 3 to 5% of the population of this 600,000-strong city. We encourage our readers to judge for themselves the size and nature of the protests by watching the video report from the scene (https://youtu.be/DazI1459gxw).
In other words, despite the panicky backtracking and the shootings at the offices of the liberal opposition, the system has begun to crack at the seams — in those areas of quiet discontent and alienation created by its policies.
What does this mean for Muslims in Russia, deprived by the current government of their rights as believers and citizens of their respective republics? Let’s consider this through the example of our brother, Dagestani journalist and Islamic educator Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, who has been unjustly imprisoned for a year. The only thing that awaits him in this system is a 10-15 year deprivation of liberty under the draconian «Yarovaya Laws». Who stood up for him, except Muslims themselves, whose voice is almost unheard in Russia? It is the same opposition politicians and journalists who are currently being targeted by the authorities. Recently, the case of Gadzhiev attracted the attention of Lev Shlosberg, a Pskov deputy from the Yabloko party (https://echo.msk.ru/programs/year2020/2673783-echo/).
Therefore, in the event of a protest movement developing, Muslims have an opportunity to integrate their concerns into the broader issue of political repression and abuse by law enforcement agencies, and to raise the issue of repression and abuse against representatives of the Muslim sector of civil society.
In addition, as seen in the mass protests in Khabarovsk, one of the key issues of the new protest movement will be federalization and regionalism, i.e. the return of at least some of the rights that were taken away from the regions under Putin’s rule — the ability to elect their own leaders, to have regional and national parties, etc. This is exactly what Muslims need. And this is exactly what Muslims need in their republics — to stop being objects of Kremlin policy, to gain their autonomy based on civil society and federalism, and to become subjects in their relations with the rest of the country.
So it is clear what choice Muslims now face. Either a further escalation of repression within the tightening grip of the reset system, or a chance to break the situation by disrupting the system and uniting all the victims of this system, the signs of which are already appearing…