Pixelated Semantics

A schizotypical inventory

Literary Life in Chechnya

Chechnya is a place without printing presses, libraries, telecommunications, or internet access. Russia's strategic imperatives ensure that the intellectual life of the Chechens is as underground as during the worst days of the Soviets:

"Antiwar books don�t reach the territory at all, and possessing books on Chechen aspirations for independence can be life-threatening. We received reports of people being executed when Russian soldiers found such books or video materials. A teacher in northern Chechnya was arrested simply for receiving in the mail the latest book by Alla Dudayeva, the widow of the slain Chechen president. That teacher spent three days being interrogated by officers in the Federal Security Service, the Russian secret service, which ultimately burned the book in front of him."

The suppression of a country's language is one of the prime methods of cultural repression. According to Aslan Doukaev, Prague-based director of the North Caucasus service of CIA-supported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

"Our linguistic heritage is eroding so swiftly that on the eve of last year�s constitutional referendum, the pro-Russian administration couldn�t find anyone to translate the ballots. Also, the translation of the draft constitution was so abysmal that the authorities decided not to translate the laws on presidential and parliamentary elections into Chechen at all."

In other words, the Chechens are governed by Laws that are not written in their language. This is information warfare of the highest order.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 11:43 am ::