The introduction of Islamophobic stereotypes into the consciousness of the population through mass cultural images has a long history in Russia. Even seemingly harmless Soviet films like «White Sun of the Desert» carried a very specific message: Islam is a dangerous Other, basmachi, «oppressed women of the East» wrapped in paranjas, to whom progress and civilization are brought by the collective comrade Sukhov.
There is no need to talk about the Islamophobic propaganda poured into Russians through numerous TV series, blockbusters, and other products of the third-rate Russian film industry — the amount of corresponding content is overwhelming, and the quality is disappointing. However, when the stereotype «Islam = enemy» is implanted into the population by the authorities and law enforcement officials at official events, it is something else entirely.
And this is exactly what happened at the end of June in Khabarovsk at a mass spectacle organized for the population at the city’s military airfield. During the event it was shown how mythical militants, reading verses from the Holy Koran, took mythical Red Cross workers hostage.
From one perspective, of course, one could argue that atrocities committed in the name of Islam are not uncommon. But even if we take the Russian official position, don’t military and other law enforcement officials from Muslim regions, some of whom also pray and read the Koran, perform their duties somewhere in Chechnya, Syria, or even Donbass? Then why does the corresponding propaganda portray Muslims only as anti-heroes, but never as heroes, even when they serve the Kremlin’s goals?
Moreover, we have all become accustomed to the fact that in such situations the cry of «Allahu Akbar» is presented as the calling card of notorious terrorists, which of course does not please Muslims, but at least it is credible.
However, any knowledgeable and unbiased expert, if approached by the scriptwriters of this event, would explain to them that combining a military operation with the reading of the Koran in such a calm and focused manner is highly unrealistic. And if we are talking about «musical accompaniment» from loudspeakers, such a role could possibly be given to a nasheed (and even that is unlikely), but certainly not to the recitation of verses to which Muslims listen with special concentration.
Finally, the most important point — Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on crimes against the right to freedom of conscience and religion contains a provision on insulting the feelings of believers. Such a crime is understood as public actions committed with the aim of insulting the religious feelings of believers, and in Putin’s Russia this article is arbitrarily applied to harsh criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church.
But what about the religious sentiments of Muslims? Is it not an insult to the religious feelings of Muslims when verses from the Koran are used to identify terrorists, not by a private person — a director or a screenwriter — but by the authorities and law enforcement officials who are supposed to defend the interests of all citizens, including Muslims? And do local authorities not want to express their protest in this regard, like the «spiritual leaders of Muslims in Russia», as their former colleague, the suspended Mufti of the Far East Khazmat Kuznetsov, did, drawing the attention of his co-religionists to this outrageous situation?