By Vladimir Markov
A religious activist, a citizen of Russia, a man is killed. Any such fact is a tragedy. But when a clergyman is killed, a public person who is respected not only in his region, but in the country, such an event raises questions.
A day before the murder, on August 15th, the imam of the Vladikavkaz mosque, deputy mufti of North Ossetia, Rasul Gamzatov, read a sermon in the mosque. In his last address to the faithful he urged them to be watchful, not to believe blindly in everything that is said by strangers and to think for themselves.
Let’s follow this wise advice.
Facts only. According to the investigation, on August 16th at around 11:40 p.m. Rasul Gamzatov was killed near his house by an unknown person who shot Gamzatov at least seven times in the head and body. Imam died of his injuries at the scene.
Rasul Gamzatov was born in Vladikavkaz in 1981. He studied in the Islamic universities of Damascus (Syria) and Medina (Saudi Arabia). Since 2012, being the deputy mufti of North Ossetia, he supervised the educational sphere and became the imam of the Vladikavkaz Jameh Mosque. He initiated several educational programs, published many articles, and had a scientific and historical website on Islam.
According to the mass media, Rasul Gamzatov had a wife and five underage children. They were expecting a sixth child.
According to experts, crimes against Muslim activists are often connected with their religious activities and promotion of traditional Islam, which makes people reject extremism.
The former deputy mufti of North Ossetia, Ibrahim Dudarov, was also killed by unknown people. The murder took place in December 2012 and the murderers were not found out.
A criminal case into Gamzatov’s murder was opened. Law-enforcement agencies are asking drivers in Vladikavkaz to help them with this investigation. The regional Interior Ministry published a detailed itinerary of the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 which was driven by Gamzatov ahead of the murder.
The chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, sent a letter to the family and friends of Rasul Gamzatov. “We share the pain of the Ossetian people and send our condolences to the family and supporters of their lost one,” the letter says.
These are facts. Let’s think about the questions “Who benefits from this?” and “Who is guilty?”
It is obvious that inside the republic, which has always been thought one of most stable in the region, the murder is not beneficial to anyone. It is not beneficial to the law-enforcement agencies; it is not beneficial to representatives of either Muslim or Christian communities, as inter-religious consent is thought to be one of the highest values. The authorities don’t need the murder either.
According to people who knew Rasul Gamzatov, he was devoted to his work, he was a faithful, kind and god-fearing person who had never done any harm to anyone.
Probably the murder was organized by some forces outside the republic. It is clear. It seems the word “outside” includes not only the North Caucasus Federal District and Russia, but also a foreign territory. To answer our questions, we should analyze the geopolitical processes which are going on around our state at the moment.
Obvious and cynical provocations against Russia in the context of the Ukrainian events (insane economic sanctions, murders of journalists, untruthful information war, and so on) are separate rings of a long chain of a dreadful play directed by Western political technologists. Ukraine is also a victim. Our “opponents” are trying to find a weak point in our country.
They couldn’t find it in Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia or Dagestan. And now they try other regions. They hope for a wide public reaction (and here we should remember the address by Rasul Gamzatov “to be watchful and not believe strangers widely”). It is clear that the policy of the initiators of such murders is importing provocations.
A series of similar crimes was thoroughly prepared and professionally committed – no signs, no witnesses, no chances of surviving. It has nothing in common with the “dirty methods” of the North Caucasus terrorists.
The murder of the peaceful religious activist cannot be explained by a set of sad circumstances. The crime was committed almost publicly. It was loud, painful, cruel… No evidence. Nobody declared their responsibility for the crime.
We wish good luck to the law-enforcement agencies in investigating this dreadful murder; patience and wisdom to the faithful; deep condolences to the family; and unity to all of us.
