DUSHANBE, June 26, 2010, Asia-Plus — To reach full national consolidation Tajikistan has to pass through the stage of national unity while it is still a long way off, Tajik political scientist Abdugani Mamadazimov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the main reason for civil war in Tajikistan was “the fight between Communism and Political Islam over the national ideology.” “During the civil confrontation, the military and political situation has changed and parochial local-territorial values came in stead of national values and ideology,” Mamadazimov noted.
“To reestablish peace in the country a good will of both confronting sides was necessary, and therefore, the government and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) made equal contribution to reestablishment of peace in Tajikistan,” the political scientist said.
According to him, peace has been reestablished in Tajikistan and has gained irreversible character, however, “some mistakes, made by the government or structures being close to the political leadership of the country, have affected the general picture of peace and national accord recently.”
“Since 1997, the ideology of so-called ‘Shukrona’ (mercifully) has been intensively propagated in Tajikistan. I agree that this ideology works in the sociopolitical sphere, but it does not promote economic and social development,” said the expert, “In this connection, there is discontent, because some 50 percent of our population lives below the poverty line.”
We will recall that Tajikistan marks the National Unity Day on June 27. The General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan was signed in Moscow on June 27, 1997.
For the purposes of achieving peace and national accord in Tajikistan and overcoming the consequences of the civil war, inter-Tajik talks on national reconciliation were conducted from April 1994 to 1997 under the auspices of the United Nations. Protocols that were agreed and signed in the course of eight rounds of talks between delegations of the Government of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), six meetings between the President of Tajikistan and the UTO leader, and also three rounds of consultations between the delegations of the sides in Almaty, Ashgabat, Bishkek, Islamabad, Kabul, Mashhad (Iran), Moscow, Tehran and Khusdeh (Afghanistan) constituted the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan.
