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This is a photo of "Artur (Ibrahim) Zaripov", an activist in Bashkortostan. Zaripov was interviewed by charter97.org, and the photo and preceding quotation were both posted at the article linked to below. He talks about the Russification of Bashkortostan, and excerpts from the interview appear below.
Full interview at Charter 97 Press Center...
The (Bashkir) language is on the verge of extinction. Another 30 years of this kind of policy, and our language will no longer remain. In the 1930s, it was translated from Arabic script to Cyrillic. As a result, we lost great works of our scientific literature and poetry. Because of Soviet policy, our entire base disappeared.
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As for history, here too we are subject to complete Russification. After all, as I already said, we lost the books. It turns out that people from the USSR already told us who the Bashkirs were.
When I was at school, we were taught the history of Russia, in which it was written that, for example, our national hero Salavat Yulaev (protesters recently came to his monument in Ufa) is a 'bandit', an 'extremist', who went against the tsar and so on. At the same time, I took lessons in the history of Bashkortostan, where they told me that he was our national hero. Our central street is named after him and he fought for the freedom of Bashkortostan.
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In the Urals, Bashkortostan ranks first in terms of deaths in Ukraine. A lot of families receive the 'cargo 200'.
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With this war, Putin is pursuing not only his own interests outside the Russian Federation. In this way, he destroys the potential of nationalities so that they do not rebel in the future.
[Question from the interviewer:] Is the idea of secession from Russia popular in Bashkortostan?
Now it has become more relevant. I won't lie, our people have always wanted this. We came under great repression during the USSR, then harsh Russification and propaganda. The Russians have come to our land and occupied it. They even say, 'It was you who came here,' and dictate to us how we should live.
Now people are beginning to see the light. ...
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