Akkin Chechens mark anniversary of deportation despite Ramzan Kadyrov's policy

On February 23, the village of Yaryk-Su in the Novolak District of Dagestan marks a day of mourning. On February 19, 1989, a monument to the victims of the Stalin's repression was built in the village. Every year, residents of the Chechen villages bordering with Dagestan come to Yaryk-Su, since the day of mourning is banned in Chechnya.

In April 2011, in Chechnya, a special commission announced that the Day of Remembrance and Mourning of the Peoples of the Chechen Republic will be celebrated on May 10, on the day of the funeral of the first Chechen President Akhmat-Khadji Kadyrov, who was killed in a terror act on May 9, 2004. Meanwhile, the Chechen authorities urged people to abandon using the term "deportation" and to replace it with the words of "eviction" or "repression". However, sociologists believe that the authorities will not be able to erase the date of the deportation from the memory of the people.

One of the local residents has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent he believes it is wrong to postpone for another month the events on the occasion of the day of remembrance of the deportation victims.

Movsar, a resident of the Chechen village of Oiskhara at the border with the Novolak District, has noted that every year more and more people from the bordering Chechen villages come to Yaryk-Su.

The initiative group of Dagestani Chechens managed to build a monument to the victims of repression, despite the active opposition of the authorities, noted Imampasha Chergizbiev, a member of the Dagestani Council of Elders.