Lawyer Dagir Khasavov, who is involved in the legal protection of the interests of Muslims in Kaliningrad, in an interview with AlifTV television, commented in detail on the recent story of the demolition of a mosque. Khasavov specifically mentioned that the demolition of the mosque in the private house of the Rusyaev family was preceded by many years of resistance by the authorities to the completion of the construction and commissioning of the mosque already built by the local community.
In addition, he presented an official document in the form of a letter from Sergei Bulychev, the head of the Chernyakhovsk municipal district, which clearly demonstrates the value of all discussions about the equality of «traditional religions» in Russia. In this letter, the head of the city directly states that «before building a non-Christian temple in the city or choosing a place for its construction, it is necessary to find out and take into account the opinion of the majority of people, so as not to destroy the traditional appearance and structure of the cities».
It is worth noting that although Bulychev is open about the position of non-Orthodox traditional religions, which, as we can see, are considered by this official to be of secondary importance in Russia, he is wrong to hide behind the abstract concept of «Christianity». It is well known, for example, that today not only Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose affiliation with Christianity is not obvious, but also Protestants, such as Baptists, are subject to mass persecution in Russia. In other words, it would have been more accurate for Bulychev to write that the construction of non-Orthodox temples requires taking into account the «opinion of the majority of people. But even such a statement would require two clarifications. First, as the history of Ekaterinburg shows, when it comes to the «right» temple, it is not necessary to consider the opinion of the people, and it may even be contrary to it. Secondly, it should be clarified that by «Orthodox» temples, which can be built in the country at the rate of 3 per day (as stated by Patriarch Kirill), the temples of a specific organization — the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate — are meant, since Orthodox temples belonging to other Orthodox Churches are also periodically under pressure in Putin-Gundyaev’s Russia.
Furthermore, Khasavov states what is well known among conscious Russian Muslims, but shamefully silenced: «There is no such law, but there are many facts that a Russian person who has embraced Islam in Russia is subjected to unnecessary persecution.»
He also expresses bewilderment at the position of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), naively, in our opinion, citing the fact that it is currently facing protests from people against the construction of its own temple. In our opinion, Muslims should categorically not compare their powerless situation in Putin-Gundyaev’s Russia with the situation of the ROC as a de facto state church and, moreover, a parallel state that in some places subordinates the main state. Moreover, in situations like the one in Ekaterinburg, there is no need to sympathize with them in any way, to draw analogies between us and them.
This is illustrated by the situation in Kaliningrad, according to Khasavov, who quotes the statement of the head of the local ROC diocese, Bishop Seraphim, who publicly said that «mosques should be built in other places. In such a situation — which is typical of the attitude of the ROC towards the construction of mosques, except in still Muslim republics — any solidarity of Muslims with this ruling ideological-political corporation can only be seen as «Stockholm syndrome» or the solidarity of a victim with its tormentor.