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TASHKENT MUSEUM ALLOWS FOR PUBLIC DISCUSSION
OF RECENT PAST
Laura Adams: 11/01/02
Uzbekistan,
a country that keeps tight control over information on current
events, is taking tentative steps towards an exploration of
its recent past. A new museum in Tashkent is devoted to raising
awareness about repression during the Tsarist and Soviet eras.
During the early years of Uzbek independence, official policy
emphasized the renewal of ancient national traditions over
the exploration of the recent past. The emphasis began to
change in mid-1999 with the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution
on "immortalizing the memory of those who sacrificed
themselves for the freedom of their nation and people."
In a country where public discourse is still dictated from
the top down, this resolution laid the framework for public
discussion of "victims of the colonial era" and
"victims of repression."
The 1999 resolution led directly to the opening of the Museum
of the Victims of Repression. The facility, located in Tashkent's
new Matyrs' Memorial Complex, contains exhibits on the recent
history of the territory that now comprises Uzbekistan, ranging
from the first Russia incursions against the Khanate of Khiva
to the "cotton affair" of the 1980s.
Many
exhibits draw on information culled from the former KGB archives
- offering the general public unprecedented exposure to the
records of the former Soviet secret police. Still,
museum curators have been careful to limit the scope of exhibits.
For example, only the names of victims are listed in various
displays. The identities of perpetrators generally are not
mentioned.
Displays are arranged in chronological order. The first set
of exhibits provides general historical information about
the era of the "great game" played between the Russian
and British Empires for the control of Central Asia. In the
next set of display cases, the purpose of the museum comes
into better focus as individuals who participated in 19th
century anti-Tsarist uprisings in Tashkent and Andijon are
listed by name, and their fate spelled out: some were hanged,
others exiled or sent to prison.
The museum, which opened in August, devotes the bulk of its
space to the Soviet period, especially the Stalinist era.
Documents are used to convey a sense of the cold rationality
of the Great Terror. In a display on the "dekulakization
campaign" of 1932, a chart clearly outlines the number
of livestock and personal items "expropriated" from
kulaks, or rich peasants. Other display cases show arrest
warrants, execution orders, signed confessions, and pleas
for family members.
Two other displays merit mention: one concerning World War
II-era deportees, including Crimean Tatars, Koreans and other
ethnic groups that allegedly collaborated with the Soviet
Union's enemies; the other concerning Moscow's anti-corruption
campaign against Uzbek officials in the 1980s, dubbed the
"cotton affair." The cotton affair exhibit also
discusses the damage done by Soviet central planning to Uzbekistan's
environment and public health.

The museum's layout appears to suggest that Moscow's past
decisions are party responsible for some of Uzbekistan's current
difficulties, including an inefficient agricultural sector.
At the same time, local media coverage of the museum has emphasized
that while there was a darker side to Communist rule, the
Soviet system also had some positive influence, such as improving
educational opportunities. Professor Naim Karimov, head of
the Martyrs' Memorial Charitable Fund, said the displays are
not intended to stir up negative feelings concerning Russia's
influence on Uzbek development.
"The Russian Embassy got in touch with me when we first
began this project and naturally they were concerned. But
I explained that we aren't saying that Russia did this or
that Russians did this - it was the whole Soviet system,"
Karimov said.
Editor's Note: Laura Adams is a Research Associate
at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard
University.

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Posted November 1, 2002 © Eurasianet
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