Enough has already been said about the scoundrels in Chalmas who openly support Putin’s Russia’s attack on Ukraine, including the seizure of the lives, property, security and religious freedom of its Muslims. Now it is time to pay attention to those who are using more subtle methods to confuse the minds of sincere Muslims. If the chalman-wearing epaulets openly call on Muslims to show solidarity with the cotton «Russian world,» a certain category of «independent Muslim bloggers» does not. At the same time, their propaganda aims to confuse the clear situation and create the illusion of an alternative that supposedly exists for both the «cotton world» and those who oppose it today. Some of them present themselves as enlightened arbiters who do not support cotton lawlessness, while those who oppose it are portrayed as doomed romantics or extremists who have lost touch with reality and have no prospects, manipulated by secret forces. Such conspiracy theories are one of the typical viruses that have infected the minds of the inhabitants of the «Russian world,» resulting in depressed spirits, apathy, and lack of belief in the possibility of resisting evil. And the saddest thing is that, unlike the unprincipled propagandists who only make money from their propaganda, the infected sincerely embrace this decadent worldview and spread it around them.
But there are others — those who, having undergone various trainings, radiate not pessimism but optimism, presenting themselves as bearers of an alternative to the existing opposing sides. Despite differences in approach, which will be discussed later, they somehow instill in Russian and post-Soviet Muslims one attitude — to support the «reunification of the lands» of the former USSR. However, according to their words, they advocate such «unification» not under the auspices of Putin-Gundyaev’s «Russian world,» but under some other banners.
The first type of such propaganda is aimed at the most simple-minded. Namely, these people claim that the unification of the territories of the former USSR will lead to the emergence of a powerful Muslim state, because Muslims will become the majority in it. Therefore, for example, the Muslims of Ukraine are called upon not to oppose their return to their «homeland», almost from «Islamic» positions, because this «homeland» will soon become Islamic.
Let us repeat once again that people who say such things either count on the simple-minded or are themselves simple-minded, ignorant of the basics of politics and history. Let’s explain it to them in terms they can understand — nearly 200 million Muslims live in modern India, about the same as in neighboring Pakistan. But if the latter is the Islamic Republic (without going into the question of how true this is), where at least the bearers of Islamic identity dominate, then in the former their influence on politics and public life is close to zero, and they are under pressure from the Hindus. Why is this the case when there are so many of them? Yes, because quantity does not equal quality, and quality is not determined by the number of a particular population, but by those who govern it. Moreover, looking at Bangladesh, it is clear that the problem is not just that Muslims are a minority in India. For in Bangladesh, where they are the majority, the situation is not much better. Why is that? Because it was born on an anti-Islamic ideological and political basis, and the power is in the hands of those forces. And for this reason, the same awaits Muslims in USSR 2.0, no matter how many of them there are.
In this connection, let’s talk about the second category of «unifiers,» who are not so stupid as to openly call the «New Union» a Muslim superpower, but argue that it will be beneficial for its Muslim and all other peoples. Among such propagandists, Ruslan Kurbanov should be mentioned first.
To his argument that he advocates the unification of the countries and peoples of the USSR and condemns those «nationalists» who do not want this, not from the positions of Russian imperialism, but from the positions of the project that should become an alternative to Russian imperialism, we will respond with the well-known wisdom — «Who dances the girl, dines her». In other words, Ruslan, whoever «unites the countries» will decide on what basis they will then develop. Therefore, if you want people to believe that you are not working for the current imperial Russian project, but for an alternative to it, you must work for the unity of Muslims in this space without being dependent on the Russian state and without associating with it. By the way, an example of such an approach can be taken even from the Bolsheviks, who did not support the Russian Empire, because they understood that it was a state of tsars, priests and gendarmes, and they worked for its downfall, and only then rebuilt it on the basis of their ideology.
But the Bolsheviks had a party for that, which opposed the state, while today’s Muslim bloggers live and work in its shadow. «But the same can be said of those who support Ukraine!» — you will surely exclaim. Yes, it can, but that is precisely why we do not try to present ourselves as an imaginary third force and clearly articulate our position in the confrontation between the two existing forces.
The essence of this confrontation today is the clash between the insane Mordor, which tramples on the dignity, freedom and independence of all those who want to stand on their own feet and think for themselves, and the human civilization based on the principles that it wants to destroy. Moreover, Mordor, which presents itself as both «Holy Russia» and «USSR 2.0,» no longer possesses the genuine religiosity that existed in the Russian Empire, or the meaningful (albeit false) ideology that existed in the early USSR. As for the «development» with which the «Muslim bloggers» lure the peoples of the former USSR, anyone interested can see what kind of «development» awaits them in Kharkiv, Chernihiv, or Irpin after the Russian bombings. Not to mention the fact that it is simply ridiculous to talk about any «development prospects» in modern Russia — isolated from the developed world, it is now heading back not to the 1990s, but to the 1920s. The difference is that it is not the distant West that will make concessions to it, but neighboring China, with which it will have to pay in kind, namely in natural and human resources.
So, enough of deceiving gullible listeners and viewers. There are no imaginary alternatives today — there is only Mordor and those who oppose it from within and without. Everyone will have to choose their side based on that.