KHOROG, March 26, Asia-Plus – The demand to return six villages that were recently redistricted into the Tavildara district as well as doubt about validity of resolution of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) of 2002 on ceding 96,000 hectares of Pamir Mountain range to China have resulted from mistakes in work of relevant structures of the government that failed to explain the essence of the matter to the population, Shodi Shabdolov, the deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon as well as the leader of the Communist Party (CPT), said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting on a demonstration that the Social-Democratic Party (SDPT) intends to hold in Khorog in April.
On redistricting six villages of GBAO’s Darvoz district into the neighboring Tavildara district, Mr. Shabdolov said that the territory where these villages are located “is an administrative part of Tavildara.” “These villages were transferred to jurisdiction of the Saghirdasht jamoat in Darvoz without changing the administrative borders of Gorno Badakhshan,” said Shabdolov. “Therefore, redistricting them into the Tavildara district did not require consent of the GBAO regional legislature (Majlis).”
As far as the issue of ceding 96,000 hectares of Pamir Mountain range to China (the SDPT intends to raise this issue during the upcoming demonstration) is concerned, Mr. Shabdolov said, “There is an evident confusion of notions of “national boundary” and “administrative borders” here.” “Formation of and change to the national boundary is in competence of the supreme power of the country only,” MP stressed.
We will recall that boundary agreements signed between Tajikistan and China in 2002 cede 1,000 sq km of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China relinquishing claims to 28,000 sq km of Tajikistani lands.
