July
21, 2006
Chechnya
after Blast Kills Its Rebel Leader
The ferocious
looking, darkly charismatic, 41-year old, Shamil
Basayev, the Chechen rebel leader declared a terrorist
by the UN and many countries of the world, blew
up in pieces in a blast on July 10 when a truck
carrying a heavy load of dynamite suddenly blew
up in Ingushtia, a state in the vicinity of Chechnya,
destroying the truck and several cars in the cavalcade
including that of Shamil.
The head of Russian security service immediately
claimed credit for killing “the biggest criminal
of his country”.
Shamil’s personal courage, audacity and accomplishments
were no doubt remarkable by any measure. He had
become a folk hero among his people and a legend
for his followers who regarded him as totally invincible.
No wonder, they have declared the blast to be purely
accidental, while the Russian Security Chief, Nikolai
Patrushev, said in a TV address that his organization
had caused the blast. Whatever be the factual position,
Shamil is no more.
Would the struggle for the independence of Chechnya
also die down with him? Although some of the leading
American papers have predicted that, the history
of Chechnya does not point to a clear different
direction.
An adversary relationship has existed between Russia
and the states in Caucasus since the forces of the
Czar conquered the area in 1859. The people, mostly
Muslims, did not succumb to the Russian yoke. Their
war hero, Imam Shamil (after whom Shamil Basayev
is named) continued to fight the Russian might for
more than a quarter century. The famous Russian
novelist, Leo Tolstoy, served in the Czarist army
in the region and wrote about the often losing struggle
to make the mountain warriors loyal subjects of
the Russian empire.
After the 1917 communist revolution, the Caucasian
states declared their independence. Six year later,
the Bolshevik troops reoccupied the area but declared
the states in the region as autonomous.
This subservient status was not acceptable to the
freedom-loving souls. During WWII they were suspected
of collaborating with Germany. Giving vent to his
anger, Stalin deported almost the entire population
of Chechnya to the inhospitable Siberia in 1944.
Half of them died of hunger and cold. Thirteen years
later, in 1957, President Khrushchev allowed them
to return to their homeland.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, all
the component republics were given the option to
secede from the Union. While the declaration of
independence of other states was accepted, the claim
of Chechnya to independence was rejected. Its oil
reserves made it a special possession of Russia.
(For details read The History and Politics of Chechen
Oil by Robert Ebel). Then it lies on the route of
oil pipelines from Kazakhstan and Caspian Sea region
to a Black Sea port. The Russian effort to re-impose
its control over the region led to a two-year war,
1994-96, in which over 70,000 persons were killed.
President Yeltsin decided to withdraw his war-weary
and ill-paid troops despite the evident humiliation.
The peace agreement granted virtual self-rule to
the Chechens. Vladimir Putin who succeeded Yeltsin
as President elected to re-impose Kremlin’s
control over the state to be accepted as a leader
of grit. He sent into the state 100,000 troop to
pulverize the tiny republic that had a population
of a million and an area of 600 square miles, smaller
than many a county in the US.
While confronting this mighty army as best as they
could, young Chechens resorted to terrorist acts
- hijacking of planes, hostage takings, and bomb
blasts - to bring “our cause to the notice
of the world”. Shamil emerged as their leader.
He had made his mark as the leader of a three-member
team that hijacked an Aeroflot flight to Turkey.
The hijacking was resolved. In 1995 he lost 11 members
of his immediate family including his wife.
In the 1994-96 Chechen war, Shamil emerged as the
rebels’ top field commanders. Chechnya became
virtually independent. He ran for Presidency but
lost. Two years later, he became the Prime Minister
for a brief period.
In 1999, he led a force in neighboring republic
of Dagestan to unite it with Chechnya. This led
to the second Chechnya war. Soon afterwards, he
lost a leg when he stepped on a land mine. Audacious
as he was, this had not the least effect on his
field activities. Pieces of his prosthetic leg helped
in identifying his body.
He expanded his area of operations to Moscow and
other parts of Russia. According to the Russian
Security Chief, Shamil was now planning to target
the forthcoming G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg.
He had encouraged young Chechen women too to pick
up arms to fight for the independence of their homeland.
In Oct. 2001, a group of 53 of his followers traveled
1500 miles north to reach Moscow and seize the famous
Moscow Theater. Eighteen of this group comprised
young women, widows of Putin’s invasion of
their state. They wore black and became famous worldwide
as “black widows”.
Kremlin had put a bounty of $10 million on his head.
He used to mock them for their failure to capture
him. “Don’t tell me they are trying
to find me; I’m trying to find them”.
Now Shamil and his mockery are both history. The
question remains: Would his end put an end to Chechen
struggle for independence?
Events seem to be moving in that direction. The
Chechen separatist movement has received setback
after setback over the past couple of years. Only
a few weeks back, A.K. Saidullayev, who was appointed
President of the parallel government set up by Chechen
rebels, was killed. The elimination of Shamil is
perhaps the biggest setback to the separatists.
They will have to exercise rationality; for, they
cannot keep fighting on the basis of their valor
or the validity of their claim. They have hardly
any support in the international community. They
would be well advised to reconcile to the reality
of the situation.
- arifhussaini@hotmail.com
