Dushanbe authorities have not given permission for carrying out the ‘Immortal Regiment’ initiative in the Tajik capital this year.
“The Dushanbe mayor’s office says it banned the “Immortal Regiment” march for the purpose of security. Besides, festive activities will be carried out in Victory Park and all security forces will allegedly be concentrated there,” the deputy head of the Republic Council of Veterans of War and Labor, Vali Sayorabekov, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Representatives of the Dushanbe mayor’s office have also confirmed this information.
Recall, a so-called “Immortal Regiment” was supposed to march across Dushanbe on May 9 in honor of the veterans of World War II. A procession of the relatives of those who fought in World War II (WW II) were going to commemorate the triumph over Nazi Germany on May 9, which is celebrated in the CIS nations as Victory Day.
The procession was supposed to start in the morning of May 9. Starting from the 800th Anniversary of Moscow Square, the “Regiment” was to walk to Victory Park via Roudaki Avenue.
Last year, more than 100 people carrying photographs of their relatives who took part in World War Two participated in the “Immortal Regiment” march in Dushanbe to pay tribute to WW II heroes.
The ‘Immortal Regiment’ is a public non-profit organization, created in Russia on a voluntary basis with the aim of "immortalizing" the memory of home front workers, partisans and members of the resistance, concentration camp prisoners, survivors of the Siege of Leningrad and children of war.
The ‘Immortal Regiment’ brings together people of all ages, social groups and political beliefs. Anyone can carry on the memory of war veterans and enroll to participate in the march to honor the memory of those who earned the hard-won victory in 1945.
Since its inception in 2007, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ initiative has been met with unprecedented support, and by 2015 it had received national status.
In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of the victory in WW II, more than 1 million people took part in the event in Moscow, and up to 12 million across Russia. Participants marched along the streets of cities around the country bearing portraits of their ancestors who were killed or participated in the war.
Meanwhile, Rossotrudnichestvo’s office in Dushanbe has organized the St. George’s Ribbon action in the Tajik capital.
“To-date, more than 1,000 St. George’s ribbons have been distributed at events being held in schools on the occasion of the 72nd Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” Mikhail Vozhdayev, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo’s office in Dushanbe, told Asia-Plus today morning.
The St. George’s Ribbon action in memory of the victims of World War II is carried out under the motto of “We Remember! We Are Proud!”
The St. George Ribbon constitutes one of the most recognized and respected symbols of military valor in modern Russia. It is widely associated with the commemoration of World War II. The ribbon consists of a black and orange bicolor pattern, with three black and two orange stripes.
The Georgian ribbon emerged as part of the Order of St. George, established in 1769 as the highest military decoration of Imperial Russia and re-established in 1998 by the Russian Federation. The ribbon of the Order of Glory, an order of the Soviet Union that was established on November 8, 1943, was orange with three black stripes – the same as that of the Cross of St. George. The Order of Glory was awarded to non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file of the armed forces, as well as junior lieutenants of the air force, for bravery in the face of the enemy.
Since the 60th anniversary of the Victory Day (May 9, 2005), the ribbon is freely worn by civilians as an act of commemoration and remembrance.
The Republican Council of Veterans of War and Labor of Tajikistan says only 443 Tajik veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are estimated to be still alive. The oldest of them is Dodarjon Umarov living in Khatlon’s Vakhsh district. He is 114 years old. Leokadiya Kovtun is the youngest of war veterans living in Tajikistan. She turned 90 this year.
More than 300,000 residents of Tajikistan took part in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and 92,000 of them died in battle. 54 of residents of Tajikistan were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Besides, 15 other Tajikistan’s residents were Full Holders of the Order of Glory.
Victory Day marks the end of World War II in Europe, specifically the capitulation of Nazi forces to the Allies (the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, France, the United States and other principal Allied nations) on May 8, 1945.
In Russia and other countries of former Soviet Union, the day of Victory over Nazi Germany was celebrated on May 9, because when the German Instrument of Surrender actually entered into force (May 8, 1945 at 23:01 CET), it was already May 9 by Moscow Time. Post-Soviet countries have continued the tradition.
