Rally in Grozny (1973)

Deportation

On February 23, 1944, the deportation of Chechens and Ingushs began . March 22, 1944, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , after the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished on March 7, the Grozny Region was established on its former territory. The territory of the region was a large part of the former Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . When the CIASSR was disbanded, the Vedensky , Nozhai-Yurtovsky , Sayasanovsky , Cheberloevsky , Kurchaloyevsky , Sharoyevsky , and eastern parts of the Gudermes district were transferred by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to the Dagestan ASSR . As part of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, they were renamed: Nozhay-Yurtovsky - into Andalalsky , Sayasanovsky - into Rytlyabsky , Kurchaloyevsky - into Shuragatsky . At the same time, the Cheberloevsky and Sharoyevsky districts were liquidated, with the transfer of their territories to the Botlikhsky and Tsumadinsky districts of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ^[1] .

The city of Malgobek , Achaluksky , Nazranovsky , Psedakhsky and Prigorodny districts of the former Chechen-Ingush ASSR were transferred to the North Ossetian ASSR . The Itum-Kale district , which became part of the Georgian SSR , was liquidated by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , and its territory was included in the Akhalkhevo district ^[1] .

The region also included the Naursky region that was previously included in the Stavropol Territory, with a predominantly Cossack population, the city of Kizlyar , Kizlyarsky , Achikulaksky , Karanogaysky , Kayasulinsky and Shelkovsky districts of the former Kizlyarsky District ^[1] .

Regain autonomy

On January 9, 1957, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued the Decree “On the Restoration of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the RSFSR”. However, the territory of the restored republic has undergone major changes. Originally it was planned to resettle only several tens of thousands of Dagestanis , Ossetians and Georgians out of 70-80 thousand people from Chechen and Ingush villages. Russian migrants should have remained in place. For this reason, taking into account the return of Chechens and Ingushes, the population of the republic should have increased to 1 million people. Under the pretext that, while remaining within the former borders of the republic, it will not be able to provide its livestock with feed, it was decided to retain the Kargaly , Shelkovskoy and Naursky districts as part of the republic. The real reason for this decision was the desire to preserve the numerical predominance of the Russian population over the highlands. In addition, Terek regions were economically connected with Grozny ^[2] .

The area of ​​the Terek districts was 27% of the total territory of the restored republic (5,000 km² out of 19,300). However, the increase was due to the semi-deserts of the Burunnaya Steppe, where only a narrow strip of land along the Terek (approximately 1000 km²) was suitable for farming. From the former lands of the republic in favor of the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , 1600 km2 of the black-earth areas of the Prigorodny District were withdrawn ^[3] .

The territory of North Ossetia has grown at the expense of the lands of the deported peoples twice. However, the leadership of North Ossetia managed to achieve the transfer not only of the Prigorodny district (which was justified by its economic “attachment” to Ordzhonikidze ), but also part of the territory of the Nazran and Malgobek districts of the Chechen-Ingush Republic (which was justified by the need for direct communication between the main territory of North Ossetia and the Stavropol Territory Mozdok District ) ^[4] .

As part of the reconstituted republic, 17 districts were organized, despite the fact that there were 24 of them before deportation. The reduction in the number of districts occurred due to the enlargement of rural areas. For example, the former Shatoi, Cheberloevsky, Sharoysky, Itum-Kalinsky districts became part of the new Soviet district ^[5] .

On the eve of the rally

In April 1972, a group of 27 Ingush Communists wrote a 75-page letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU :

The letter listed numerous instances of discrimination against the Ingush in North Ossetia. In particular, the Ingush, who do not live in Ordzhonikidze , were not hired by the enterprises of the city. At the same time, representatives of the non-Ingush population were taken to work from remote villages. The schools did not teach the Ingush language. Ingush villages were assigned Ossetian names. The director of one of the schools, the Ossetians, gathered 80 Ingush children, ostensibly to be sent to a pioneer camp. In fact, these children were placed in a boarding school for mentally retarded children. Only a year later, the parents managed to return the children to their families. The Ingush were subject to restrictions in choosing their place of residence, they were denied the right to build or buy houses, etc. ^[6] .

The authors of the letter emphasized that they did not require changes in the status of the Prigorodny District, but only equal rights with the rest of the residents of North Ossetia. These requirements were supported by the Ingushs living in the territory of Chechen-Ingushetia. In November 1972, a letter of similar content was signed by 5 thousand Ingush ^[6] .

The Ingush movement for their rights began almost immediately after the restoration of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. But the government all this time suppressed any manifestation of discontent, using for this purpose both administrative and criminal prosecution of troublemakers. In 1963, the Ingush poets, writers and public figures Ali Khashagulgov and Issa Kodzoev were convicted in a closed court session for four years in prison for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda as “especially dangerous state criminals” ^[6] .

In 1972, Aina Martazanova, secretary of the party organization of the Nazran knitwear factory, at a meeting of the party activists, in the presence of some leaders of the Chechen-Ingush Republic, said:

During this speech, Martazanov was dismissed from work, expelled from the party, “preventive conversations” were held with her, her husband divorced her, and her friends and relatives refused her. As a result, she became disabled. ^[6]

In December 1972, several Ingush Communists, headed by Dzhabrail Kartoev, wrote a letter to the CPSU Central Committee, now 80 pages in which raised questions about the protection of Ingush rights. On the way to Moscow, this group was taken off the train and arrested without the approval of the prosecutor, demanding that they abandon the trip ^[6] . Nevertheless, the initiative group managed to reach the capital. In Moscow, they were met by the assistant secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Yevgeny Razumov, who told the walkers that their demands diverged from the party line ^[7] .

A few months before the rally, the leaders of the Ingush movement began to “work out” in the authorities and law enforcement agencies with the requirement to give a subscription to refuse to continue the struggle ^[6] .

Meeting

Intelligence agencies began to spread rumors about the arrival in Grozny of Politburo member MA Suslov, ostensibly to discuss the Ingush problem. Local leaders were also informed about the upcoming rally. The authorities hoped to provoke a conflict, in order to qualify the rally as extremist and nationalistic ^[6] .

On January 16, 1973, in a 27-degree frost, the Ingush came to the central square of Grozny. Fifteen thousand people attended the meeting ^[6] (in the transcript of the meeting of the party members of the Chechen-Ingush regional party organization, the numbers were from two to six thousand ^[8] ). Protesters brought with them portraits of Lenin , Brezhnev , Aslanbek Sheripov , Gapur Akhriev , slogans with quotes from the classics of Marxism-Leninism about internationalism and friendship of peoples . Speakers did not express any anti-Soviet thoughts. Inflammatory speeches immediately stopped by the other participants. Such speakers dragged from the podium. To prevent excesses, the protesters organized the protection of public order ^[9] . During the rally, not a single case of illegal actions was registered ^[7] .

At night, people were warming themselves around bonfires, waiting for the party functionaries headed by the first secretary of the Chechen-Ingush regional committee of the CPSU, S. S. Apryatkin , to come out to the people. Thousands of Chechens and representatives of other nationalities joined the rally. The Chechens who spoke at the rally reproached the Ingush for not warning them about the rally. Representatives of other peoples of Chechnya-Ingushetia expressed their support to the participants ^[9] . Local residents fed the participants and watered them with tea ^[7] . Some Chechens destroyed their own outbuildings to provide protesters with firewood, and slaughtered their livestock to feed them ^[9] .

In the meantime, troops and policemen were being forced into the city. The rally was cordoned off by security officials from all sides. Telephone and telegraph communication with the rest of the world was interrupted. Loudspeakers were installed on the balconies and roofs of the buildings around the square, through which the security forces' demands were immediately dispersed ^[9] . The volume was such that those standing in the square did not hear each other. Several young people from among the protesters threw loudspeakers on the ground and the rally continued ^[8] .

At first, none of the members of the republic’s leadership came to the people. A government delegation headed by Politburo member M. S. Solomentsev arrived in Grozny. To the rally drove buses. Participants were offered to go home and promised not to prosecute for participating in the rally. When it became clear that the participants did not want to disperse, the party’s leadership of the republic began to threaten persecution for breaking the law ^[9] .

When these measures did not work, young people appeared among the protesters, who behaved defiantly and provoked a conflict. However, the participants quickly tied them up and removed them from the rally. Then the republican leadership turned for help to authoritative people among the population - Akhmed Gazdiev, Sultan Pliev, Dzhabrail Kartoev, Idris Bazorkin . Knowing the possible consequences, the latter asked the people to disperse. But this appeal did not find the support of the audience ^[9] .

On the third day of the rally, it was announced that a commission was traveling from Moscow to the Ingush places of residence and that they needed to be at their places of residence in order to express their wishes to the members of the commission. People parted on the filed buses and taxis. Those who remained on the square were dispersed with batons and water from the hoses ^[9] . The detainees were transported by truck out of town and landed in an open field. Martial law was introduced in the city. After the rally broke up, the authorities began to spread rumors about the nationalist character of the rally ^[8] .

Subsequent events

Chechen-Ingushetia enterprises held a series of meetings organized by the authorities in order to discredit the protesters and sympathizers. The administrative and criminal prosecution of the organizers and active participants of the speech, who were called “renegades, money-givers, speculators, terry nationalists, anti-Sovietists,” etc., began. About a thousand people were arrested. The local press published repentant letters of the Ingush. There was a formation of an image of the people-traitor. The idea of ​​the Ingush collaboration and deportation as a compulsory measure of the authorities was introduced into the public consciousness ^[10] . The rally participants were fired from their jobs, expelled from the party and the Komsomol, expelled from universities ^[7] .

They began to make statements about the premature rehabilitation of the Ingush. M.S. Solomentsev expressed a statement, which was then repeated by one of the members of the republican leadership, later the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Republic, H.H. Bokov , that the Ingush and Chechens were not rehabilitated, but only pardoned in advance, hoping their good behavior. Rustem Goygov, head of the construction department of the republican regional committee, who tried to recall the decisions of the 20th Congress of the CPSU , was not allowed to finish and was removed from work a month later. The unwritten directive of the Ingush regional committee was not promoted to local organizations on the career ladder and not sent to foreign business trips ^[10] .

To sum up the ideological base for its position by the regional committee in June 1973, a scientific-practical conference was held on the participation of the Ingush in the Great Patriotic War . The representative of the regional committee, who spoke with the official report, stated that the Ingush were almost all collaborators and deserters, and the authorities had to expel them. Some members of the older generation of the Ingush intelligentsia became ill. Several leaders of the speech, previously excluded from the CPSU, repented of their "mistakes" and returned membership cards to them ^[10] .

There was a severe reprisal against unrepentant participants. A participant in the Great Patriotic War, a lieutenant colonel of intelligence, who was awarded many orders and medals, one of the leaders of the rally, Jabrail Kartoyev, was deprived of his liberty “for currency speculation”. The teacher of the Chechen-Ingush State University , the candidate of philological sciences Hadijat Nalgieva-Tochieva, was asked to write a repentance. For the purpose of public reprisals against her, a meeting was organized at the university, which was chaired by H. H. Bokov, who offered to supersede Nalgiev to be deprived of the academic title. In the end, she was dismissed “for antisocial behavior” ^[10] .

After the events of 1973, the situation of the Ingush in the Prigorodny District improved somewhat. Ingush language appeared in schools, literature in the Ingush language began to flow into the district, transmissions in the Ingush language began on radio and television, for the first time the Ingush appeared among the deputies of the Ordzhonikidze city executive committee and the Prigorodny district executive committee ^[11] .

But the problem of the Prigorodny district itself was never resolved. On this basis in 1979, Ingush pogroms took place in North Ossetia, the scale of which was limited only by the timely intervention of the KGB . In 1984-1986, more than a hundred conflicts on the basis of ethnic hatred were recorded ^[7] . In October 1981, riots broke out in Ordzhonikidze . In October 1992, an armed conflict began, which resulted in the death of more than 600 people.

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• Akhmadov Ya. Z. , Khasmagomadov E. Kh. History of Chechnya in the XIX-XX centuries. - M .: "Pulse", 2005. - 996 p. - 1200 copies - ISBN 5-93486-046-1 .
• Shnirelman V. A. To be Alans: intellectuals and politics in the North Caucasus in the XX century. - M .: New Literary Review, 2006. - 313 p.

• Maryam Yandieva. Civil Ingush rally in 1973 (Part I) (Neopr.) . Ingushetia: Historical Parallels (March 31, 2010). The appeal date is May 19, 2019.
• Maryam Yandieva. The civil meeting of the Ingush in 1973 (Part II) (Neopr.) . Ingushetia: Historical Parallels (April 1, 2010). The appeal date is May 19, 2019.
• Maryam Yandieva. Civil meeting of the Ingush in 1973 (Part III) (Neopr.) . Ingushetia: Historical Parallels (April 2, 2010). The appeal date is May 20, 2019.
• Maryam Yandieva. The civil meeting of the Ingush in 1973 (Part IV) (Neopr.) . Ingushetia: Historical Parallels (April 3, 2010). The appeal date is May 20, 2019.
• The Ossetian-Ingush Conflict 1992: Origins and Development (May 2005) (Neopr.) . Memorial Society (May 19, 2005). The appeal date is May 20, 2019.
• Vladimir Voronov. It is ordered “not to stir up history” (Neopr.) . Top secret (June 15, 2015). The appeal date is May 20, 2019.
• Ivan Proshkin. Mass riots in Grozny in January 1973: against which the Vainakhs rebelled (Neopro) . Russian seven (November 17, 2017). The appeal date is May 19, 2019.
• M. Kalinin, A. Gorkin. On the liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and on the administrative structure of its territory (Unidentified) . wikisource.org (March 7, 1944). The appeal date is February 19, 2018.