"What are you doing?" : The State Duma Approves the Renaming of Ancient Cossack Villages in Chechnya
Compliance with the "Russian Literary Language Norms" was not the primary reason for this decision
(Image caption: Vladimir Shamanov, a member of the United Russia Party and a general)
"What are you doing, I'm asking you?!" During the discussion of the Chechen Parliament's proposal to rename three settlements in the republic — Shernovotskoye, Nauorskaya, and Sherkovskaya — as Shernovotsk, Nevre, and Terek, Vladimir Shamanov, a member of the United Russia Party and a general, asked all the deputies on the floor of the State Duma.
The explanatory note first emphasized that these settlements already have city status, and their current names do not match the attribute of being a "city." The note stated (all the following quotes are from the Russian Business Consulting News): "There are clear regulations in the Russian literary language norms for the declension of geographical names. For example, when a name is combined with attributes such as 'city,' 'village,' or 'town,' and functions as an attributive, it must agree in gender, number, and case with the modified word, i.e., it must be declined."
In addition, the note pointed out that the place name "Naur" (наур) originates from Mongolian and Tatar, meaning "swamp," which is "semantically inconsistent with the attributes of an urban settlement"; while "Nevre" (невре) in Chechen means "north," "which can reflect the most prominent feature of this geographic object being located in the northern part of the republic."
As for Sherkovskaya, the proposal suggests renaming it Terek because the settlement located along the Terek River "is no longer associated with the production and sale of silk products."
In 1999, under the command of Vladimir Shamanov, the Western Military District forces liberated the Achkhoy-Martan and Urukh-Martan districts of the Chechen Republic and advanced toward Grozny in the anti-terrorism operation, known by the public as the "Second Chechen War." Shamanov pointed out that the proposed renaming concerns historically significant Cossack villages.
He said, "The Cossack villages that the Chechen Republic proposes to rename have their own historical names. What is more extreme is that they first drove Russians out of here, and now they want to erase these place names. This is our country's history."
However, the State Duma has already passed the Chechen Parliament's proposal with a majority vote in the first reading. It is reported that even Cossack representatives Viktor Vodolazky and Nikolai Doluda voted in favor.
We will not discuss the so-called "Russian literary language norms" — these norms often contradict the traditional naming practices of Russia itself. Because of this, there have long been some place names in Russia that do not conform to the "norms" but are entirely reasonable, such as Uzlovaya in Tula Oblast, Vidnoye in Moscow Oblast, and Usolye-Sibirskoye in Irkutsk Oblast.
We also need not focus too much on the additional costs this decision may bring to Russia's already strained budget (unlike the recent decision of Yaroslavl Oblast to rename "Rostov" as "Great Rostov").
Instead, let us try to answer General Shamanov's unanswered question — "What are you doing?" Recently, there have been vague rumors online about serious health problems of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and there are indications that the State Duma's approval of the renaming of the ancient Cossack villages coincided with the birthday of Deputy Adam Dzhemilkhanoov, which is likely not a coincidence — as early as 2009, Kadyrov himself had called Dzhemilkhanoov his successor.
"In my opinion, this issue is far more complex than it appears at first glance," independent information security and information warfare expert Igor Nikolaichuk shared his views on this event with "Svobodnaya Press" ("SP").
"This involves both political considerations at the cultural and historical level and immediate tactical considerations. If I start with the latter, I might agree with General Shamanov's view that what is happening now is not accidental but inevitable.
In an election year, the federal center is likely to use such methods to 'calm down' influential elite groups that affect the internal political process in Chechnya. It can be speculated that this move is intended to show that Moscow remains an ally of Grozny and values certain of its interests. That is one point.
The second point is that the passage of this renaming proposal reflects the overall trend of changes in the naming system within the Russian Federation and the entire post-Soviet space — compromising with elite groups who are not necessarily nationalists but should be described as having nationalist positions. These elites need to construct new myths during the power transition process through modifying old place names or creating new ones.
By the way, this trend began with the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II ("Bloody Nicholas") — in the early 20th century, he first renamed Fergana as Skobelev, then Saint Petersburg as Petrograd. In 1925, the Soviet regime renamed Novonikolaevsk as Novosibirsk; in 1929, Gatchina was renamed Trotsky, and similar renamings followed thereafter.
By the end of the 20th century, the renowned Russian democrat Anatoly Sobchak strongly pushed to rename the revolutionary hero-encircled Leningrad back to Saint Petersburg."
"Svobodnaya Press": "This is undoubtedly interesting, but how does it relate to the Chechen Republic?"
"In my personal opinion, there are actually three different 'Russias' within the current Russian territory.
The first can be summarized as our megacities with millions of inhabitants. In these cities, the so-called 'revival of holy Russia' political discourse is not widespread, and people live according to the rules of a consumer society.
The second is our resource-poor remote provinces. The main pressure from the special military operation (SVO) and the resulting worldview mostly falls on these regions.
The third is the North Caucasus region, with the Stavropol Krai accidentally included in it. On this land, most people do not pay attention to figures who have heroic significance for other Russians, such as Alexander Nevsky or Alexander Matrosov — because this is a highly Islamic region where people identify more with the Islamic law practiced in the Arab world.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand the difficulties in integrating this region with the traditional Russian mindset.
This unique nature is partly shaped by historical processes during the First and Second Chechen Wars.
For example, at that time, an advocate of Chechen separatist ideas once claimed that Grozny should never be rebuilt. Because future Chechens would live in the mountains, and the ruins of this city, built and destroyed by 'Russian barbarians,' would serve as a warning to future generations about the consequences of betraying ancestral teachings.
In my view, the roots of this process go back to the dissolution of the USSR, more precisely, to the disintegration of the newly emerging historical community of 'Soviet People.' At the Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, it was officially declared that this community should be built.
The dissolution of the USSR could only be achieved through the breakthrough of ethnic tensions — because, in all other aspects, the Soviet society was highly unified. Gorbachev and his colleagues used this opportunity, allowing casualties in Nagorno-Karabakh and distorting information to various parties, thereby 'triggering' the dissolution process nationwide.
As a result, today, Slavs, especially Russians, including Cossacks, have almost disappeared in Chechnya. The ancestors of the Cossacks indeed paid a great price in blood to incorporate this land into the Russian Empire.
So, what is the point of preserving these place names? As people say, "the cat is out of the bag," and everything is irreversible. If we chose to fight, we should bear the consequences, and now it is pointless to discuss it anymore."
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7555797719257481791/
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