The debate between «those who left and those who stayed» among prominent Russian Muslim media figures went on for many years, and it seemed that the beginning of the war and then the mobilization put an end to it.
Many of our readers, who were not even public figures, had to leave the prison of nations urgently and wisely after the announcement of the mobilization, although they did not want to leave until the last moment. This is understandable, because for a person who is not involved in public activities, it was an unjustified leap into the unknown. But when everyone was being sent to the slaughterhouse, regardless of their beliefs and activities, emigration became a question of survival, and these people made the right, albeit difficult, choice.
What can we say about public figures? If, before the war and all that it brought, arguments that «staying» could bring more benefits at home might have had minimal persuasive power, if, before the start of mobilization, it could be said that the costs of emigration outweighed the risks of staying at home if one behaved «wisely,» then recent events became a clear turning point.
Today, public figures among Muslims are either telling the truth by leaving the country or knowingly working for the monsters, including helping them send Muslims to slaughter. The exceptions are those who are already in jail or those who have gone silent, i.e. disappeared from the media radar, in order to save their conscience on the one hand and not to expose themselves to risks on the other.
What is surprising, however, is that there are those who do not seem to belong to the categories described above, but who nevertheless try either to «weave through the currents» or to demonstrate some special position that causes nothing but confusion. Exactly these feelings were aroused by the recent appeal of the Ingush human rights activist Magomed Mutsolgov, whom we have always respected and always covered the repression of the authorities against him (source). Namely, this fragment of it:
«I would like to address especially those Ingush people who are outside our homeland, who are not in Ingushetia or in the country. It is extremely important to be responsible for every word and action, we are all responsible before the Almighty. You must be honest and sincere, do not forget that Allah rewards intentions and people judge by actions. To be honest, the majority of the people who have left the country no longer associate their lives with it, their families have settled in different countries where they have received asylum, residency or citizenship. Most likely, if these migrants come back to their homeland, it will be for a short time, on vacation, to visit their relatives and loved ones, to visit the graves of their deceased ancestors and ancestral towers. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. We don’t need to talk about what the inhabitants of Ingushetia should do; we need to say honestly: «What have I done for Ingushetia to develop, for people’s rights and interests to be respected there, for nobody to be killed, tortured or kidnapped there, for people to be able to live and express themselves freely? That’s what people outside Ingushetia should be thinking about. Besides, no matter in which country you live, your main task is to create cultural and educational centers, Ingush diaspora, to maintain relations with each other, to teach children the mother tongue, our faith, customs and traditions, so that they do not lose their ties and become an integral part of Ingush society. Give your children a good education, help them achieve great success in science, business and politics in the countries where you have settled; this will be a great contribution to the history and development of the Ingush people.
Dear Magomed! We all know how much you personally have done to protect the rights of believers and to improve life in Ingushetia. And this without irony. But ask yourself the question: have you been able to solve the problem? Yes, perhaps now the security services do not carry out so many abductions and extrajudicial killings. Probably, among other reasons, because some of the «problematic» ones have already been «closed» and «lost,» while others have left, that is, they have turned into those to whom your appeal is addressed. But if before they were killed by abduction and execution, now they do it by mobilizing for an unnecessary war against the Ingush and other Caucasians and Muslims, and no one else but the ruling gang. And the number of victims, including young Ingush, is not less than before, when they were actively kidnapped and shot. So, have you decided to solve the Ingush problem by staying in Russia and occupying Ingushetia? Are you able to solve it? And if not, why these attacks on those Ingush who were forced to leave and are now trying to solve the Ingush problem from abroad? You write that these people have tied their fate to other countries and can only come to their homeland to visit the graves of their relatives. But first of all, you should know better than anyone else that those who are actively engaged in activities abroad cannot come to their homeland even to visit funerals or the graves of their relatives. And they make these sacrifices precisely to solve the problem of their people, because otherwise they could simply live in safety for their own pleasure. Secondly, if these people were forced to tie their fate to foreign lands, can’t we say the same about those who stayed and say that they tied their fate to a state that treats them like a poultry factory treats birds? You call on the Ingush who left to create their own cultural centers and promote their culture abroad. One can only agree with this call, but what one cannot agree with is the narrative you are creating — that they need to do this in order to be «an integral part of Ingush society,» implying that this is the society that remains in the homeland. The society whose leaders, Ingush prisoners of conscience, have been behind bars for years, including respected elders and young women? The society whose sons, when the occupiers want them, if they do not kill them themselves, send them to the slaughter to fight for them? Dear Magomed, with all your merits and heroism, can you change all this and stop it? If so, how do you plan to do it? Participate in the next «elections» on the party list of «Yabloko»? Or make another appeal to the already banned «Memorial» in Russia? Do you really think that this can be the solution of the problem in Putin’s Russia in 2022? If not, why provoke the few who are capable of finding and proposing a solution to this problem — the Ingush who escaped to freedom? To protect those who remain from danger? Will you be able to protect them from the main danger today, even if all the Ingush emigrants will be silent tomorrow? If not, why are you preventing them from finding a solution? With all due respect, we ask you to take what has been said as brotherly advice. This applies not only to Magomed and not only to the Ingush, but to all sincere Muslims in Russia — those who stayed and those who left.