Eternity should not be politicized

People of over 90 nationalities live in Chechnya today. Chechens are the dominating ethnicity, followed by Russians. The Socio-Consultative Council for Interethnic Relations of the Chechen leader was formed to improve the efficiency of national policy and harmonize interethnic and interreligious relations. The Council will come up with proposals on priority courses in the sector of interethnic relations, cooperation of national and cultural centers and autonomies, representatives of ethnic minorities. Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Khakimov heads the Council. The organization consists of heads of ministries and agencies, science and art officials, heads of mass media, national and cultural centers and autonomies. 

Roman Bogdasarov, deputy head of the Section for Relations between the Church and Society, the head of the secretariat of the Interreligious Council of Russia, has expressed his outlook on interethnic and interreligious relations in Chechnya in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza. 

“I visited Chechnya several times in the 2000s, and the visit in September last year was very important to me. I had a look at the big changes and serious transformations in construction and reconstruction of religious buildings, secular buildings, agencies, but most importantly I saw that people living there were working in the Chechen Republic, they are not just citizens of their region, I would say, but they are people who were living in Russia. They are people who love their Homeland and understand that their Homeland is Chechnya and Russia. And this is the most joyful feeling I had from the visit. 

I got a chance to speak at the parliament of the Chechen Republic and the Institute for Advanced Training of Education Staff of Chechnya. We visited the highland village of Itum-Kale, where we watched interesting folk speeches of ensembles and marriages and went to museums. We simply had conversations with ordinary people living, working, working in different spheres, starting from the law-enforcement structures and ending with ordinary women who were teaching something or bringing up children,” Bogdasarov said. 

In his words, the government and the society in Chechnya have created conditions that allow traditional religions to realize their striving for peace. 

“My journey to Chechnya last September was not just an ordinary protocol event. On the contrary, I had an opportunity to talk with people, see what an example they show their children. It is a very pleasant example. They do live according to the laws of their community, their law is written in the hearts of the people. It is important for every inhabitant of the republic, every citizen of our country, that we live with fear of punishment, according to the law of conscience. Those are two different scales,” supposes Bogdasarov. 

“The traditional religions of our country – Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism – do not go against the law of our state. On the contrary, we are saying that a bad citizen of the earthly Fatherland cannot be a good citizen of Heaven. We canonize those who were not only thaumaturgists in life, but those who showed love and care for the Fatherland to their last drop of blood, to their last breath,” the cleric explained. 

“It is especially topical in the light of the 70th anniversary of the Victory of our nation in the Great Patriotic War. The topic may be controversial. But traditional religions say that there are inviolable things. There are things in the range of eternal values. Our victory in the Great Patriotic War is an eternal value, it cannot be disputed. We are the victorious nation. And, of course, all nations contributed to the victory. The Chechen people, the Ukrainian people. Poland has been discussed, that a Ukrainian opened the gates of Auschwitz. Yes, there were Ukrainians in the Soviet Army, of course, but there were other people too. Eternity should not be politicized. You will face destruction, you will humiliate yourself if you go against the objective truth,” concluded Bogdasarov.

Roman Bogdasarov: “You will humiliate yourself if you go against the objective truth”People of over 90 nationalities live in Chechnya today. Chechens are the dominating ethnicity, followed by Russians. The Socio-Consultative Council for Interethnic Relations of the Chechen leader was formed to improve the efficiency of national policy and harmonize interethnic and interreligious relations. The Council will come up with proposals on priority courses in the sector of interethnic relations, cooperation of national and cultural centers and autonomies, representatives of ethnic minorities. Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Khakimov heads the Council. The organization consists of heads of ministries and agencies, science and art officials, heads of mass media, national and cultural centers and autonomies. Roman Bogdasarov, deputy head of the Section for Relations between the Church and Society, the head of the secretariat of the Interreligious Council of Russia, has expressed his outlook on interethnic and interreligious relations in Chechnya in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza. “I visited Chechnya several times in the 2000s, and the visit in September last year was very important to me. I had a look at the big changes and serious transformations in construction and reconstruction of religious buildings, secular buildings, agencies, but most importantly I saw that people living there were working in the Chechen Republic, they are not just citizens of their region, I would say, but they are people who were living in Russia. They are people who love their Homeland and understand that their Homeland is Chechnya and Russia. And this is the most joyful feeling I had from the visit. I got a chance to speak at the parliament of the Chechen Republic and the Institute for Advanced Training of Education Staff of Chechnya. We visited the highland village of Itum-Kale, where we watched interesting folk speeches of ensembles and marriages and went to museums. We simply had conversations with ordinary people living, working, working in different spheres, starting from the law-enforcement structures and ending with ordinary women who were teaching something or bringing up children,” Bogdasarov said. In his words, the government and the society in Chechnya have created conditions that allow traditional religions to realize their striving for peace. “My journey to Chechnya last September was not just an ordinary protocol event. On the contrary, I had an opportunity to talk with people, see what an example they show their children. It is a very pleasant example. They do live according to the laws of their community, their law is written in the hearts of the people. It is important for every inhabitant of the republic, every citizen of our country, that we live with fear of punishment, according to the law of conscience. Those are two different scales,” supposes Bogdasarov. “The traditional religions of our country – Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism – do not go against the law of our state. On the contrary, we are saying that a bad citizen of the earthly Fatherland cannot be a good citizen of Heaven. We canonize those who were not only thaumaturgists in life, but those who showed love and care for the Fatherland to their last drop of blood, to their last breath,” the cleric explained. “It is especially topical in the light of the 70th anniversary of the Victory of our nation in the Great Patriotic War. The topic may be controversial. But traditional religions say that there are inviolable things. There are things in the range of eternal values. Our victory in the Great Patriotic War is an eternal value, it cannot be disputed. We are the victorious nation. And, of course, all nations contributed to the victory. The Chechen people, the Ukrainian people. Poland has been discussed, that a Ukrainian opened the gates of Auschwitz. Yes, there were Ukrainians in the Soviet Army, of course, but there were other people too. Eternity should not be politicized. You will face destruction, you will humiliate yourself if you go against the objective truth,” concluded Bogdas