The demand for the rights of the Chechens is well understood by the world and international human rights organisations. They are aware of how Josef Stalin drove the Chechens into exile killing one-third of them on the trek to Kazakhstan, accusing them of collaborating with the Germans during World War-II. Again brutal war is being carried out by Kremlin for over ten years in Chechnya, killing innocent men, woman and children. This has sparked the Chechnyan separatist movement, increased the desperation of the Chechen Muslims and driven young people towards Islamist radicalism and suicide bombing.
The siege of a primary school early last month, by the terrorists reportedly acting in the name of Islam, not only put the Chechnyans' politics and ideology in shambles, but posed a problem to entire 1.2 billion Muslim population of the world. This barbaric act is undoubtedly the most horrific experience for any human being. Therefore the Muslims of the world condemned this idiosyncratic crime and shared the grief of those who lost their near and dear ones in the Beslan massacre.
As a consequence this dastardly action will strengthen the hands of Putin and misguide the Russian population against the Muslims. Likewise, a political gift for Bush, who will seize on these tragic events to justify Washington's militarist policies in the name of the "war on terrorism," and add mileage to his election campaign. The other advantage is for the coalition forces killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq on plea of terrorism.
In brief, this barbaric action took place in Beslan, a town of 30,000 inhabitants in North Ossetta, a republic near the war torn region of Chechnya. Majority of the population of North Ossetta are orthodox Christians and others are a small community of Ingush Muslims. Some twenty criminal assailants identified as six Chechens and the rest Ingus, and two women -- so-called, "Black Widows" of slain Chechen fighters -- stormed the school during the opening after the summer break. They took some 1500 people hostage into the gymnasium of the school. Maximum of them were children. The 53-hour siege ended in a bloodbath with a death toll of 327, half of them children.
If this is retaliation for the Kremlin monstrosity to Chechnyans, then this atrocity would in no way help the democratic and social interest of the Chechens. It minimises the crimes of repression carried out by the ruling elite of Russia against the Chechen people and their demand for independence.
This hostage taking will cost dearly the approximately 20 million Muslims of the estimated 150 million population of Russia.
Muslim population first assimilated into Russian Empire, and later under duress into the Soviet Union. Under Soviet rule, religious freedoms were significantly pruned. Majority of mosques and madrasas were closed or destroyed.
After 1991, a drastic change was visible, when freedom of religion became one of the main credos in the newly democratic Russian Federation. Islam experienced a revival, with hundreds of mosques and religious schools opening across the country, supposedly helped in no small part by Saudi Arabian, Turkish and Iranian efforts.
Skimming the Russian history it reveals the rise of the country as a major conqueror of Muslim khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in the 16th century, Central Asian territories in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the largely Muslim Caucasus in the 19th century.
Muslims of Russia have historically lived in two wide-ranging geographical regions of the country. One of the regions where Muslim populations are concentrated is in the Volga river basin, and is made up of Tatars, Bashkir and Chuvash peoples. They have been part of the Russian state since the 16th century, and their autonomous regions and republics lie in the heart of the Russian Federation.
The second large Muslim population lives in the region between the Black and the Caspian Seas, in the Caucasus area. Populations of this region were finally consolidated into the state much later, in the 19th century. Though the population merged, but skirmish continued all the way up to 1991. This resistance quickly intensified into full-scale war as the Republic of Chechnya sought to break away from the Russian state.
Still, the majority of Muslims in that region owe their allegiance to the Russian state, and have repelled attempts by Chechen separatists and their backers.
Currently, Russian forces are fighting a bloody war in Chechnya, with no end in sight to the conflict. The cycle of violence is claimed to have allegedly attracted powerful Islamic fundamentalist forces, such as al-Qaeda, to the region. But, Kremlin is yet to prove such involvement. Some think-tank say, such claim is nothing but to give international colour to terrorism in Russia.
Though, Russia supported the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US and Britain, they and some countries of EU are said to be providing asylum to many Chechen and Ingus fugitives. Some of the top Chechen brass who have been given asylum are Ahmed Zalkaev in the UK and Ilyas Ahmadov in the US. The irony is that neither US nor UK are pressuring Russia to improve human rights condition.
To sooth the Chechen Muslims and as a showcase to the world Kremlin seeks to constantly reassure the Muslim population of the freedom to practice their religion and of their full inclusion into all facets of life in the Russian Federation.
In August 2003 Russia went a step further in reassuring its Muslim population by becoming a member in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
Joining OIC helped Russia to achieve a better relationship with Islamic states than it had during the Cold War. Beside, its membership of the OIC serves its own geopolitical intention of monitoring the growing American presence in the Muslim states following the terrorist attacks of September 11.
But the war in Chechnya has gone to great lengths to antagonise the general population -- and, in some cases, the government itself -- against Russian Muslims. Many of them also complain of harassment and intimidation by police and federal forces in Chechnya.
The present upheavals have put Russia to a dreaded repercussion, as it now faces the possible dangers of ethnic violence. Just after the end of siege, the population of Beslan was obviously so angry that they wanted to retaliate in Ingusshetia in same manner.
It is not clear how Kremlin will respond to the recent series of terror attacks. Putin known for his hard line on Chechens may have to change his scheme to tackle the issue. Playing drake and duck game is not the solution. Striking a tactful balance with the Chechens, such as, providing safety, security and reassurance to its large Muslim population and in general to all Russians, which Putin promised on his return to presidential office for the second term, could be a possible solution.
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Billy I Ahmed, is a Columnist and Researcher, writing for leading English Dailies and Journal in Bangladesh as well as overseas online newsletter. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, in print or electronic media without written permission of the author. For reproducing or reprint, please contact the author by e-mail:
thewritingtable@yahoo.com You may also visit my web site: http://www.writesight.com/writers/Billy
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Graduated from AIR FORCE PUBLIC SCHOOL AND COLLEGE, known as ETON of Pakistan. 
