March 8 celebration splits North Caucasians

From their religious viewpoint, residents of Dagestan and Chechnya have no uniform opinion about the celebration of the International Women's Day. The residents of Kabardino-Balkaria interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have recalled the anniversary of Balkarians' deportation.

Students and elderly people perceive this holiday as an opportunity to pay more attention to women; however, some residents stress the inadmissibility of celebrating March 8 for religious reasons.

On March 7, at a solemn meeting in Grozny, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, awarded several women with medals and gratitude letters.

Opponents state that Islam does not imply any "female" or "male" holidays.

Residents of Dagestan are mostly neutral about the Women's Day. Islam prescribes to take care of women daily, thus, for Muslims, March 8 should be a regular day, said Khasan, a servant of the mosque in Kizilyurt.

The agiotage around March 8 is created by traders selling "women's" goods, said Arslanali Kasumov, a resident of Buynaksk.

Magomed Gasanov, a candidate of economy and the owner of a coffee house in Makhachkala, believes that the March 8 celebration is permissible for a Muslim.

Residents of Kabardino-Balkaria are inclined not recognize this holiday not only for religious reasons, but also by the memories of March 8, 1944, when deportation of Balkars was committed.