Uzbekistan: Wary Uzbeks want change but dread unrest
Source:
Reuters A revolt in the eastern town of Andizhan in the mainly Muslim Ferghana Valley was crushed by Uzbek troops, who opened fire on thousands of protesters, many opposing President Islam Karimov's autocratic rule.
TASHKENT, May 15 (Reuters) - Khamid, selling Islamic books and art on the outskirts of the Uzbek capital, was sure change was what Uzbekistan needed until last week's bloodbath when troops crushed an uprising.
"After what happened in Andizhan, all I know is that if change in Uzbekistan is possible only through violence and blood -- then I don't want that kind of change," Khamid, a calm man in his sixties, said as he kept an eye on his makeshift stall.
"We do want change, we do want our country to be strong and prosperous," he said, waving towards crowds of busy shoppers drifting through the dusty maze of dimly lit market passages.
"But after what happened, I really don't know."
A revolt in the eastern town of Andizhan in the mainly Muslim Ferghana Valley was crushed by Uzbek troops, who opened fire on thousands of protesters, many opposing President Islam Karimov's autocratic rule.
There has been no official word on civilian casualties. But human rights groups put the overall death toll at up to 500 -- which makes last Friday the bloodiest day in Uzbekistan's post-Soviet history.
Karimov blamed unrest on Islamic fanatics who he says want to overturn his government and create an "Islamic caliphate".
But people in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, its Soviet-era apartment blocks decorated with elaborate Uzbek patterns, doubted the official line.
"Here in Tashkent we have absolutely no idea about what's happening there, across the mountains," said Nilyufar, a neatly headscarved woman selling electronic parts.
"But we know that something terrible is happening there. And there is a lot of talk about it here, in the bazaar," added Nilyufar, who, like all people interviewed, refused to give her last name.
Uzbekistan's main tightly controlled television channel, whose broadcasting patterns have changed little since Soviet times, gave no comprehensive account of Andizhan events.
On Sunday, air time was dominated by Karimov's three-hour news conference a day earlier, in which he praised Uzbeks' approval of his policies, and lengthy programmes about Uzbek culture.
Uzbeks, reserved in expressing opinions after decades of communist rule followed by Karimov's regime, seemed unusually talkative on Sunday.
In Tashkent's old city, little touched by Soviet architectural innovations and lined with old mud-brick buildings and calm garden courtyards, there was talk about unrest spreading to the capital.
"When people are not being given any information, when there are no jobs and when they know their brothers are being killed, people get angry," said Ilham, a man sipping tea on a bench outside an old, domed medressa Islamic school.
"I am afraid for my family, for my property. But everything is in God's hands, and we'll have to cope with that."
By Maria Golovnina, 15 May 2005, Reuters
"We do want change, we do want our country to be strong and prosperous," he said, waving towards crowds of busy shoppers drifting through the dusty maze of dimly lit market passages.
"But after what happened, I really don't know."
A revolt in the eastern town of Andizhan in the mainly Muslim Ferghana Valley was crushed by Uzbek troops, who opened fire on thousands of protesters, many opposing President Islam Karimov's autocratic rule.
There has been no official word on civilian casualties. But human rights groups put the overall death toll at up to 500 -- which makes last Friday the bloodiest day in Uzbekistan's post-Soviet history.
Karimov blamed unrest on Islamic fanatics who he says want to overturn his government and create an "Islamic caliphate".
But people in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, its Soviet-era apartment blocks decorated with elaborate Uzbek patterns, doubted the official line.
"Here in Tashkent we have absolutely no idea about what's happening there, across the mountains," said Nilyufar, a neatly headscarved woman selling electronic parts.
"But we know that something terrible is happening there. And there is a lot of talk about it here, in the bazaar," added Nilyufar, who, like all people interviewed, refused to give her last name.
Uzbekistan's main tightly controlled television channel, whose broadcasting patterns have changed little since Soviet times, gave no comprehensive account of Andizhan events.
On Sunday, air time was dominated by Karimov's three-hour news conference a day earlier, in which he praised Uzbeks' approval of his policies, and lengthy programmes about Uzbek culture.
Uzbeks, reserved in expressing opinions after decades of communist rule followed by Karimov's regime, seemed unusually talkative on Sunday.
In Tashkent's old city, little touched by Soviet architectural innovations and lined with old mud-brick buildings and calm garden courtyards, there was talk about unrest spreading to the capital.
"When people are not being given any information, when there are no jobs and when they know their brothers are being killed, people get angry," said Ilham, a man sipping tea on a bench outside an old, domed medressa Islamic school.
"I am afraid for my family, for my property. But everything is in God's hands, and we'll have to cope with that."
By Maria Golovnina, 15 May 2005, Reuters
