The authorities of Bashkortostan are erasing pages of the history of the Bashkir Muslim people that do not fit into the Russian-centered worldview. It is worth noting that the head of this authority is a «Muslim» who not only has a Christian wife, but also Christian children (source).
Laysan Karimova, an honorary artist of Bashkortostan, reported that the play «The Story of Kisya,» in which she played the leading role, was suddenly canceled. The play, based on a story with a similar plot to the book «Zuleikha» by Tatar enlightener Gayaz Iskhaki, is not surprising, since the Muslim people of Idel-Ural faced the same challenges.
The play tells the true story of a Bashkir Muslim woman named Kisya Bikayrasova, who was forcibly baptized and sold into serfdom in Ekaterinburg. She ran away three times to Bashkortostan and returned to Islam, but she was always tracked down and brought back. Finally, General Saimonov ordered the 60-year-old woman to be burned to death on the grounds that she had «left the Christian law and returned to Islam. The execution took place in the central square of Ekaterinburg.
On September 25, the premiere of the play took place at the Mustai Karim Youth Theater in Ufa to a full house. Premieres in other cities of Bashkortostan were scheduled for October 8 and 15, but the leading actress suddenly announced that they were canceled for reasons beyond her control and apologized to the audience. The reasons can be speculated, considering the struggle that has been launched in the republic against the main symbol of the Bashkirs, Salavat Yulaev, who is now portrayed as a «bandit» by the imperial propaganda. This and the reasons behind it are described in an article published today in «Idel Realii» (source).
In short, the colonial authorities are trying to extract from the history of the Bashkir Muslim people, who have resisted colonization and Christianization for centuries and defended their rights in numerous uprisings, anything that casts doubt on the idyllic image that supposedly prevails in the Russian Empire.