Navruz Celebration an “Officials Only” Event in Uzbekistan

Navruz, the festival of spring, is a traditional time of merriment for Central Asia's Muslims. This year, however, Navruz is a time of worry for President Islam Karimov's administration in Uzbekistan.

During the run up to the holiday, Uzbek authorities tightened security in the capital Tashkent. Police closely monitored the movement of people heading in and out of the capital, closing public areas, and limiting attendance at official celebrations.

Several factors were contributing to the heightened sense of precaution maintained by Karimov's administration. Officials, for one, were well aware that the first anniversary of a four-day uprising by Islamic radical forces is approaching. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. More importantly, however, Uzbek leaders worried about the fallout from the political upheaval in Georgia and Ukraine, where mass protests pushed incumbent authorities from power. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Concerns among officials in Tashkent were doubtless heightened by the continuing confrontation in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where anti-government protesters appear to have wrested control of southern provinces away from President Askar Akayev. [See accompanying EurasiaNet story]. The Kyrgyz tumult has potentially profound ramifications for Uzbekistan, given that the twin centers of revolutionary ferment in Kyrgyzstan – Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces – border restive Uzbek regions in the Ferghana Valley. Southern Kyrgyzstan is also the home to a substantial ethnic Uzbek minority.

In response to the revolutionary impulses coming out of Georgia and Ukraine, Uzbek authorities introduced measures designed to discourage the ability of people to congregate in public places, and to increase the ability of officials to monitor the movements of citizens. In late 2004, reacting to burdensome government regulations, merchants rallied in several large and heated protests in provincial bazaars. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

To help prevent such unrest in Tashkent, law-enforcement officers have kept the open-air section of the Chorsu Bazaar closed since November. Authorities attribute the closure to the construction of a bridge located several hundred meters away from the bazaar. The bazaar was the scene of suicide bombings during the late March 2004 Islamic radical uprising. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The security measures have created new opportunities for corrupt practices. In the case of the Chorsu Bazaar, what was once a bustling social center for peddlers and shoppers has since been reduced to a fenced lot containing a handful of merchants who can afford to pay bribes to the police.

"I used to pay 50 som a day [about 5 cents] for my place in the market," said Shoira, who displays women's clothing on a plastic sheet on the pavement. "Now I have to pay the police 1,500 Som a day [about $1.50] in order to stay. ... Before, there were so many people and business was good. Now there are only policemen, everywhere."

Throughout Tashkent, police have intensified enforcement of the propiska (residency permit) regime. The system, implemented by Joseph Stalin during the Soviet era, limits freedom of movement by imposing a residency requirement on those seeking to work legally and gain access to social services in a particular town or city. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In July 2004, following a series of suicide bombings outside the Prosecutor General's office and the US and Israeli embassies, police and mahalla committees swept the city and expelled those not officially registered as residents of Tashkent. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. A similar security sweep was carried out in Tashkent as Navruz approached.

An English teacher at a Tashkent grade school, speaking on condition of anonymity, watched the Tashkent police confiscate the passports of a group of laborers who were building a new house in her neighborhood. "The police came with a bus, rounded up the workers, and took away their passports," the teacher said. "The police said the laborers could return to work only if they paid 25 dollars apiece. Otherwise, they will be forced to return to Namangan [in the Ferghana Valley]. ... This happens before all major holidays."

Possibly in response to the major role played by student activists in the recent revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, the Karimov administration seems keen to keep students from gathering in public in the capital. Usually packed with busses of students from around the country, the parking lots and streets surrounding the Alisher Navoi Garden were nearly empty during this year's preparations for Navruz. The Navruz Pavilion, in the center of the Garden, was active with preparations for the official concert and dancing celebration, but groundskeepers and event staff said that in comparison with previous years, this year's event would be much smaller.

"In the past, every institute in the country sent students to Tashkent to sing and dance in the celebrations," said Bakhrom Levashov, a stage director for the official celebration. "This year only one group of students has been invited from each of the regions."

The general public was not permitted to attend the event. A groundskeeper who said he was paid a bonus of six US dollars for his two months of work in preparation for the celebration, remarked: "This holiday is for officials, not for us." Even for foreign diplomats and dignitaries, invitations from the Tashkent city government were few and far between. Only a few Americans diplomats received invitations.

Navruz traditionally takes place on the vernal equinox. In 2004, the official celebration took place on March 19. Less than a week before the 2005 vernal equinox, event staff at the Navruz Pavilion had not received word on the exact date of official celebration this year. "I will know the actual date perhaps one day in advance," one staff member told a EurasiaNet contributor. Security concerns were presumably the reason why event staff members were being kept in the dark until the last moment.