In Bashkortostan, the All-National Congress of the titular people of the republic — the Bashkirs — could be held only at the third attempt, under semi-underground conditions. Initially, several hundred delegates elected from all the districts of Bashkortostan were supposed to gather in the Toratau Congress Hall, but in the end the administration refused to allow them to use the agreed-upon venue.
The congress delegates went to the alternative venue — the Azimut Hotel, but its administration informed the participants that the hotel’s electrical wiring was defective. So the delegates went to one of the private residences, but they were not left alone there either. They had just begun the meeting when the fire alarm went off in the building. Fire trucks and police arrived immediately. The delegates were asked to leave the premises due to «force majeure». However, after the «fire» was extinguished, which turned out to be a partially burned and trampled towel presented by one of the firefighters, they continued their event.
It should be noted that the content was not as important as the background. Until then, many in the republic had hoped that the current acting head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, who was appointed in place of the discredited head Rustem Khamitov, would turn to the national Bashkir public. This image of Khabirov was reinforced by his statements, such as his recent one, when, imitating Donald Trump, he called for «making Bashkortostan great again» and «catching up with and surpassing» neighboring Tatarstan, which has advanced significantly in many respects. There were rumors that Khabirov might even come to the 3rd Congress of the Bashkir People to address its delegates.
There was even more disappointment about the obvious resistance of the new authorities to the organization of the central event of the Bashkir community. However, some began to say that it was a provocation organized by mysterious forces to drive a wedge between the Bashkir community and the new, almost instantaneous head of the republic. For example, Ramil Rakhmatov, a journalist with the «Pro UFA» publication, expressed such an opinion. However, the organizers of the event in the form of the leadership of the «Bashkortostan» movement no longer have any illusions about this issue.
In particular, the statement published on the platforms of the movement says: «Each delegate of the 3rd Congress of Bashkirs hoped and believed in a business meeting at the forum with the acting head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Khabirov R.F., a Bashkir of national origin, born in Bashkortostan, as well as with the heads of ministries and departments, to whom the organizers of the congress sent official invitations! Among the delegates there was not and there could not be a single «marginal» person, for whom the «inexperienced internal political regulators at the level of political thinking like unicellular organisms» try to set them up. They are all lawfully elected representatives of the Bashkirs from the districts and cities of the Republic of Bashkortostan, who wanted to bring to the new regional leader the issues that concern not only the Bashkir people, but also to jointly seek solutions to the problems that the acting head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Khabirov R.F. considers to be the most important for Bashkortostan today. The meeting did not take place, but we learned an important lesson.
In this context, it is particularly noteworthy that they relied on the absence of «fringe elements» at the congress, which was supposed to ensure a «constructive dialogue» between the «constructively minded» Bashkir community and the new authorities. Obviously, this does not include the radical Bashkir oppositionist Ayrat Dilmukhametov, who was not invited to the congress. He considers the defense of national interests within the framework of the current decorative republic to be futile and advocates the creation of a new republic that will initiate the revival of true federalism in Russia. Dilmukhametov, who had such ideas, was recently released from a maximum security prison where he had been imprisoned again for «extremism. He spoke at the recent 2nd Congress of the Bashkir People, which not only displeased the puppet republican authorities, but also a part of the Bashkir community that had hoped for constructive cooperation with the new Kremlin protégé. As a result, Dilmukhametov was not invited to this congress, but, as can be seen, this did not help the organizers to achieve cooperation with the new authorities.
This story is as telling as it is predictable and typical. Not only because it would be naive to expect anything else from an «almost Bashkir nationalist» with an Orthodox wife and baptized children. This is, of course, indicative, but it is enough to know that Khabirov is a protege and creature of the Putin regime, and in 2018 only very naive people can continue to hope for any kind of «positive change,» «constructive cooperation,» etc. under the current regime.
Therefore, one can only hope that for the organizers of this event these events will be not only a lesson, as they have already stated, but a lesson learned. As well as for everyone who is still hoping for some «improvements», «constructive cooperation», etc. under the current regime.