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Claimant: Khaliloff Gusman Sinnatovich
Res: 420133, Kazan, Ac, Lavrientieff str., 16-5,
T/fax: (8432) 57-55-92;
e-mail: bolgarhalil@yandex.ru
Respondents:
1. The Government of Russia
Chairman V.V.Putin
2. The Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF)
Chairman G.A. Siuganoff
3. Presidium of RF Gosduma
Chairman G.N. Sielesnieff
1.the Decree of SPC (Soviet of People’s Comissars) and ACEC (All-Union Central Executive Committee) of RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federation Socialist Republic) of 27 May 1920 about “Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic” (TASSR).
2. the Resolutions of Political Bureau of ( the Central Committee of Russian Communist party (Bolsheviks) CCRCP (b) of 26 January 1920 about organization of the Tatar Republic;
Both are concerning the name of the created republic “Tatar”.
If is well known that by the decree of Russian Bolshevik’s government (SPC RSFSR) of 27 May 1920 “On Autonomous Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic” in a part of the former Kazan Province lands the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (TASSR) was created. In due course the elements of the name “ autonomous, Soviet, Socialist” were abolished as untrue to the reality.
Now this Republic is called “Republic of Tatarstan” (RT). The main sense that it is the Tatar Republic, the Government of Tatars, is preserved.
Thus, in the society the opinion is formed that “Tatar-Tatarstan” corresponds to the native name of aboriginal population of the Republic, namely: Kazan Tatars.
But in this far from being that, moreover, the case is quite the reverse. The native population of modern RT till 1920 called themselves “Bolgars” and, therefore, they’re never existed a Tatar state on the Kazan Province lands, never in its history. The name “Tatar” was given to the Republic by the Bolshevik’s garment of Russia with the only purpose: to impose by force the nickname “Tatar” on the Volga Bolgars. So, it was a command from adores far every Bolgar to be called as his Republic was named. The force of the state power was used to change the people’s name in order to attach an official status to the nicknames of the “people’s prison” – “Tatars” and to distort the national consciousness of the Russian peoples. The following material confirms that.
It is well known that the Tatar Republic was organised by Lenin’s Communist government (At that time Lenin was the chairman of SPC RSFSR). “On 26 January 1920 the political Bureau of Central Committee of Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) settled positively the problem of organisation of the Tatar Republic”. (From the book: the History of the Tatar Republic. Under the editing by Dr. Of list Sc. M. K. Mukharriamoff, Kazan Tatpublishing house, 1973, p. 134 ).
“On 2 February 1920 in his report on the first session of ACEC about the work of Sovnarcom V.I Lenin declared: “We gave the autonomy to the Bashkir’s Republic. We are to create the autonomous Tatar Republic…” (see the above book, p.134)
On 27 May 1920 V.I. Lenin and Chairman of ACEC of RSFSR M.I. Kalinin signed the Decree about creation of the Tatar ASSR. But there is a question what were the reasons for calling the Republic Tatar?
Though there is hardly anyone who will put that question to oneself. As it was mentioned above, the answer to that question was done and we know that from childhood and school years. Namely: Lenin’s Russian government named our Republic Tatar because it is organised on the place, on the territory of the former Tatar State – the Kazan khanate and as a national-state organisation of the Tatar people. That is we believe it true to call the Republic by name of the aboriginal people, who live here and (or) under the name of the state that existed on these lands/ and in fact, the main reasons for determining the names of states all over the world serve these arguments. (There exist also less used signs; namely geographic: Tran Caucasian Republic, duster Republic, Republic “Idel – Urals, USA and the alike signs, but it is not our theme”).
In our case we clear with Tatar Republic, in its title lies the ethnonym, that is the native name of the people. It means that at the moment of determining. The title of the state there should have been present. The following facts:
1. The existence of the State organisation of the same names (that is Tatar) on the land before the October revolution. Example: before the October there was the Russian Empire, later the Russian Republic (RSFSR) was organised.
2. Existing (living at that moment) on those lands the nature, aboriginal people, calling themselves Tatars. Example: living Belorussians on their territory was the reason for calling their Republic Belorussian? Through the history does not know the Belorussian State organization. The same situation takes place with the Bashkir ASSR, Chuvash ASSR, Mordva ASSR and the like.
The absence of the first reason in the actions of the Russian government is evident: on the moment of creating TASSR there existed no state system with the element “Tatar”. Looking deeper in the history one can hardly find the Volga river, especially on the lands of modern Tatarstan and former Kazan Province, any State called Tatar. It is known that the Bolgar State on the Volga was abolished in 1552 and its lands were captured by Moscow state. The documents prove that: “In spring 1487 by order of Ivan III a huge army under the voivods and Mokhammed-Amin was send to Kazan, …after 50 days’ siege Kazan surrendered to. Chronicle written: In 6995 …bolgar Kazan city was taken. For the first time in Russian troops hands, in Moscow festivities started: the bells rang, public prayers, religious procession, rewarding and granting boyars were held. The protectorate of Moscow great principality over Kazan Khanate was set up.(From the book: History of Kazan I – Kazan, Tat. Publishing house – 1988, p 48),
and “Ivan III took the title of Bolgar Prince”.(The history of TASSR, p 33)
Russian chronicles, especially that of Nikon, written in 1530 by metropolitan Daniil Riasantseff, are constantly used to speak about genetic relations between the former Bolgars and nowadays Kazaners. His significant that the Great prince Vasily III, under whom it the beginning of XVI century the Kazaners agreed with the Russian protectorate, restored in his rank of the Bolgar Prince adopted firstly by Ivan III in 1487.(History of Kazan, p 41) .
That title had been preserved afterwards by Russian tsars up till 1917.(Khalikoff A.Kh. “Who are we: Bolgars or Tatars?”- Kazan: pub. House “Kazan”, 1992, p.15).
(In XX century for denominating the Volga Bolgar the form of “Bulgars” was in preference so that to distinguish them from the Danube Bolgars. Therefore the notions the Volga Bolgars and Bulgars are equal.)
Russian chronicles up till the end of 16 century thought Kazan and its population are Bolgars. Thus, in the Tall about a honest life of Tsar and Great prince of the all Russia Fiodor Ivanovich “it is said: “Ivan IV the great city of Kazan captured, its population took in prison and a great number of Bolgars killed.”(Alisheff S. Kh. Kazan and Moscow: interstates relations in XV-XVI centuries – Kazan: Tat publ, House, 1995, p. 19)
The foreign documents also witnessed that, for instance Turkish ones: “… the capital of Bolgar village, a splendid and blessed city, one of the greatest cities of Islamic world, Kazan is a phenomenon of the time and, being far away from the Islamic villages, borders on unbelievers’ states.” This is the document written in 1550, two years before subduing Kazan completely by Moscow.(j.” Echo of centuries”, Kazan, May 1995, p. 87)
As it is seen, Kazan was the Capital of the Volga Bolgaria. (Evidences of Western witness one can find in the above book by Khalikoff A. Kh “Who are we: Bolgars or Tatars?”)
It is well known that the Bolgar kingdom on the Volga had existed from 922 till 1552. “In 1552 the Moscow army won a magnificent victory – Kazan was captured. At last a many centuries struggle between the Riurikovitches and the Volga Bolgars’ state was completed, Volga is a Moscow river… Later on historians will create a myth about the sub dueling “Kazan Khanate”- the last stronghold of Tatar conquerors”. But Ivan Vasilievich himself was perfectly aware of whom he was conquering. In the documents about that period of time there is no mentioning of Tatars”, Ivan the Terrible subdued the Bolgar Kingdom.” (Grimberg F.L. “The Riurikoviches or seven century of everlasting” questions”., M,: Moscow Lyceum, 1997. 308 sh.)
After abolishing the Bolgar Kingdom the Kazan Voievodeship, and later the Kazan Province was organised. The Kazan Province had been preserved till 1920, when the Bolsheviks on the part of its lands a new formation, namely the Tatar Republic organised.
It is very significant to notice that when the February revolution of 1917 gave freedom to the peoples of Russia the Volga Bolgar Muslims adopted a decision about the restoration of their own state system and created the Republic called Idel – Urals States “This decision” was adopted in July 1917 on the II. Muslim Congress in Kazan. (The history of Kazan. Book II- Kazan, Tat, pub. House, 1991, p.32 (it is worth noticing, that the word “Muslim”) my forefathers used in those times as a title of the people, but not as a religious attribute. Therefore the word combination “Muslim Congress” here means not a meeting of the Muslim priesthood, but a meeting of the people’s representatives rather).
On 20 November 1917 the National Assembly, that is the Parliament of the Republic ( Millie Majlis) started its work. The town of Ufa was chosen as a capital of the Republic. The Republic’s territory included in itself the lands of modern Republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, that is historic lands of the Volga Bolgaria. The Russian Bolshevik’s government in spring 1918 destroyed that republic. This fact witnesses about the tendencies of national state building of the Bolgar people, namely about its being unwilling to call its state the Tatar state. It shows also a negative attitude of RCP (b) and SPC RSFSR to those people tendencies, to ready made national state organisations to political will and to natural and lawful people’s interests contradicting their valuntavistic anti people constructions. This circumstance confirms that the above decree of 27. May 1920 did not conform to the law and any other legal acts.
As we see, there was no reason to form the Tatar Republic on the lands called Bolgar lands. There was no second reason for the Bolsheviks to organise such a Republic as to the moment of creating the Tatar Republic on the lands of Kazan Province there did not live people calling themselves Tatars.
Among other documents we can address to the famous Encyclopedic dictionary by Blockhouse and Efron ( St. p., 1901, v.64, p.671) where it is said: Tatars as a special folk do not “exist”. But there existed an official tradition by Moscow governors to call all the Turkic and Muslim people of Russia Tatars. However, no one of these peoples did not call themselves Tatars. It was their common nickname of the times of peoples’ of prison (as for instance the name “Soviet people” was the common name of all the peoples of USSR). Even the great Russian historian N.M Karamsin authoritatively witnessed in 19 century: “No one of modern Tatar peoples does not call themselves Tatars, latch of them is called by special name of its land.” (The History of Russian State, St Petersburg, 1818, v.3, p. 172)
In particular, such was the situation with Volga Bolgar – Muslims. “The citizens of Kazan themselves did not cease to call themselves Bolgars up till the October Revolution”. (The History of Kazan, book 1, p.40).
“The Turk populations of that region till the 20 century never called themselves Tatars”. /Kazan and Moscow: interstate relations in XV-XVI centuries, p 20/.
“… The names «Tatars» till the 20th of XX century had been used not as an ethnonym proper butas an imaginary microethnonym for denoting… all the Turk peoples in the whole ”. (A. Karimullin. The tern “Tatars” in the system of ethnonym”. In the journal “Argamak”, ¹ 10, 1994, p. 142)
Rector of the Kazan Muslim Academy, one of the active practitioners and theoretician of antimuslim education of the population P. Znamensky, who can hardly been suspected as a person sympathizing with the Tatars situation, wrote in 1910 “: Tatars themselves call each other Bulgars (Bulgarly)…” (P. Znamensky “Kazan Tatars”, Kazan, 1910, p. 4 from the book: A.G. Karimullin. “Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym”, Kazan, 1989, p. 102-103).
There were many attempts of restoring the Truth. Let’s remind of one of them.
In April 1946 in Moscow at the AS USSR there took place a special scientific session, dedicated to the problem of ethnogenesis of Kazan Tatars.
It was organised by the history department of AS USSR. In its work many prominent scientists: historians, archaeologists, ethnographers, linguists and other specialists took place, the famous M. N. Tikhomiroff, B.D. Grekoff, N.K. Dmitrieff, A. U. Yakubovsky among them. One of the main reporters – historian and archaeologist A.P. Smirnoff who all his life devoted to studying. The Volga Bolgaria, when speaking of ethnic self-consciousness of the people underlined that Tatars from the times immemorial had called themselves Bolgars. The famous linguist – turkologist L. Saliy stated, that the language of modern Tatars is natural and direct continuation of the language of Bolgars. The outstanding turkologist A.U. Yakubovsky noted, that “the population of Tatar Republic occupying the territory of former Bulgar State, never left that land, was not liquidated by anyone and continues to live here up till now:; we can surely say that the ethnic structure of Tatars or the Tatar autonomous Republic form ancient Bulgars…”.
The main conclusion of that scientific forum was drawn by Academician B.D. Grekoff: modern Tatars have nothing in common by their origin with Mongols, Tatars are direct descendants of Bulgars, the ethnonym “Tatars” with respect to them is a historic error. (A.G. Karimullin: “Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym”, Kazan, 1989, p 9-12 ).
Thus, by the moment of organising the Tatar Republic on the territory of the Republic being created and on the whole Kazan Province no Tatar people existed.
The conclusion is evident: the lack of the second reason for Bolsheviks and the Russian government to call the Republic Tatar.
Why did that error appear?
It is known that when an opportunity for the peoples of Russia to organise their national state formations appeared, it was quite natural to call them by the name of their native population. Belorussian Republic, Bashkir Republic etc.
Of course, with permission of RCP (b). Bolgars also wanted to create the Bolgar Republic. Especially actively stood up for that “the Soviet of Volga Bolgar Muslims” (the party of Firkai Nadjia, that represented national – liberation movement of Bolgar people in 1862 –1923 under the leadership of Vaisovs’ dynasty (Vaisovs’ movement). (F.G. Kh.Nurutdinoff – “Motherland History”. Methodic text- book on Tatarstan’s History, Kazan, 1955, p. 156,159).
V.I. Lenin and M. Vakhitoff – the leader of “Muslim Social Committee” (here we see that even Bolsheviks first called Volga Bolgars Muslims) also were inclined to the formation of Bolgar Soviet Republic (the above book, p.157). However, among Bolgar people a part of intelligentsia appeared who decided to call themselves Tatars to spite Russians. They acted treacherously towards their natives, but they believed they presented them the Greatness of Chingis Khan instead, that it automatically made them great. For instance, one of them, the proletarian writer G. Ibragimaff wrote: “Our arising culture will be a Tatar culture”(1912). (G. Ibragimoff. Works in 8v, v7, Kazan, 1984, p 10)
These words demonstrate a stupid sprite of tatarism and ignoring the Historic Truth and people’s interest to please their own maniacal ambitions. And at the same time it is a doubtless of the fact, that at the beginning of XX century the Tatar people did not exist. It was artificially being engendered as in a test –tube. And it is despite the fast that a real situation with the nickname “Tatars” was such, that the people rejected it, considering that word abusive and insulting the dignity of a man. Ibragimov himself witnesses about it saying that if anybody is called Tatar he rushed to him with the fists, crying: who do you insured me? (In the same book, p.5)
What a violation one must be to thrust such a hateful name to one’s own people!
G. Ibragimov and some more similar communists on Stalin’s orders composed a letter on behalf of communists of Kazan Province making a request to name the Republic Tatar.
An expert at carrying on a political intrigue – Stalin managed to satisfy that request. (Motherland test-book, p 157).
“Rumors about Bolsheviks wish to form a Tatar Republic on the territory of Bolgaria gave rise to the birth” of indignation… in February 1920 in Kazan and Ufa Provinces peasants excited a big antibolshevikc revolt with the only purpose: to restore the Bolgar state. The revolt quickly involved Menselinsk, Ufa, Belebey, Birsk, Chistopol and Bugulma districts, a number of rebels reached 40 thousand people…” “The “pitchfork” rebellion had raged about two months but suppressed by Red Army troops, they did not stop before gun firing of villages”. (Motherland test-book, p 158).
Later on for the complete suppression of the Bolgar people and their will in 1921 Bolsheviks organised a hard starvation in the Kazan Province, hundred thousand people perished as a result. General world practice is such that the name (ethnonym) of the state. Here we have the opposite: the Republic was called Tatar in order to impose that nickname to Bolgars.
It may not be an unaware error; Lenin knew that we were Bolgars. That means a well-realized ill intentioned act. What an ill intention had Bolsheviks artificially creating the Tatar Republic?
Nowadays there is no secret that Bolsheviks were successors of the worst traditions of imperialistic policy in national question, namely: of Great Russian chauvinism. To formulate a feeling of class superiority in the man, it was necessary to keep and deepen feelings of man to man by national indication, which Russia was famous for. It is easier to set an embittered and deceived man on a similar creature, declaring them enemies (both against home opposition and as an instrument of international expansion). For that purpose peoples were differentiated as good and bad, elder and younger. To whitewash and make valid that policy from historical point of view, the history of all the peoples of Russia was distorted. In the first place the history of Russian and Bolgar peoples. Bolsheviks were in need of a second rank Tatar people as a historical scarecrow to force psychic enmity and hatred among people, and Tatarists also were in need of Tatar people, and now only as a first-class, the greatest people which could be able to restore the Golden Horge and to put Russians in their place. To achieve those “great “ aims it was necessary to cultivate common spite and enmity between the two greatest peoples of Bolsheviks and Tatarists were common and Bolsheviks having used their power supported Tatarists and created the Tatar people.
Political interests of the communist government of Russia included also an intention to divide the Bolgar people into parts and to remove from the agenda a question on creating the Bolgar Republic in the large territory (as there was a situation with the destroyed Republic “Idel-Urals”).
After realisation of Stalin’s project of creating Bashkir and Tatar Soviet republic Volga-Bulgar people was divided into two parts. “Not wishing for Bolgar to form in the Central Russia a very big Republic, Stalin aimed at limiting a Bolgar autonomy by the boundaries of Kazan region only, attaching the Easter Bolgaria to Bashkir Republic. (The above book, p. 156)
The conclusion is evident: Bolsheviks called the Republic Tatar to please their antihuman political calculations in the name of everlasting triumph of evil and violence.
“It was Stalin who gave the Bulgar land the name Tatar” (the above book, p. 160)
After organising Tatar ASSR as a pert of Soviet Russia all the Bulgars became officially called “Tatars”, Bulgar culture became “Tatar culture” and the Bulgar language – the “Tatar language”… (There, p 159)
“After 1920 Kazan Tatars could not but used the name Tatars, because under the hard Soviet regime it was impossible to use another ethnonym” (Prof. N. Davlet “On the problems of national self-consciousness of Tatars in the book: “Academician M. Sakieff”, M, 1968,p 46).
So, the nickname “Tatars” was imposed to the Volga Bulgars by force.
However, even under the conditions of hard repressions Bolgars continued to call themselves Bolgars. For instance, a famous Russian historian M.G.Khudiakoff in 1922 witnessed: “Masses of modern Kazan Muslims nowadays do not consider themselves as Tatars, but called themselves Bolgars”. (M.Khudiakoff “Muslim culture in the Middle Volga district”. Kazan, 1922, p 15).
And during general census of the population of USSR in 1926, according to some information, about 1,5 mln men called themselves Bolgars (Bulgars). See a duplicate of personal questionnaire of All-Union census in 1926 to the name of A.N. Makhsudoff, where he determined his nationality as “Tatar (Bulgar Turk)”- (mag. “Echo of Centuries”, Kazan, May, 1995, p. 184, enclosed).
Many people remember that we are Bolgars, not Tatars. In his book “Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym” academian A.G. Karimullin (p.6) says he “always seeked contacts with the elderly people and was convinced that in their memory the origin of modern Tatars is always connected with Bulgars – Turks and these people always say with deep mortification about discrepancy between the name of the people and their origin”.
And nowadays the people remember their name and wish to return it, that being confirmed by official acknowledgements:” In many letters from different regions of the country Kazan Tatars request to call them “Bolgars” or “Bulgars” ”(Mag. “Isvestia CCCPSU” ¹ 10, October, 1988. Pub. House of CP CPSU, M. From the list of request regularly coming to CC CPSU on the questions of international relations”).
This is the irony of history: CPSU Bolsheviks, 70 years later, imvillingly admitted, that in 1920 they committed a crime towards the Volga Bolgar people, imposing them by force the nickname “Tatars” as a selfsame.
In Kazan the Bolgar National Congress is organised. It is a public movement aimed at restoring the self-name “Bolgars” to the native people.
I believe the above material convincingly witness about the discrepancy between the law or other legal act of the CC RCP (b) politburo and the Decree of SPC and ACEC of RSFSR about organisation of Tatar Republic in the paragraph concerning the name “Tatar”, because there the following circumstances are present:
1. That Decree (and resolution) did not accord with neither of the laws of RSFSR which was valid at the moment of its adoption, particularly with such a law as “On the Right of nations to self determination”, “Determination of Rights of working and exploited people”, constitution of RSFSR adopted on V Congress of Soviet on 10 July 1918, which proclaimed that “The Soviet Russian Republic is established on the principles of free alliance of free nations as a Federation of Soviet national republics”. It was declared on the nations right for a free self-determination up to separation and organisation of independent states (without speaking about the self-name of a people). It was assured that their rights, customs, beliefs and traditions are to be protected “with all the revolutionary power” and they were declared free and inviolable, and the people themselves-equal and sovereign.
The discrepancy to the law manifested itself in the following:
A)The Decree (and the resolution) was adopted with the breach of democratic procedures, without the procedure of determining and taking into account people’s will, moreover, despite clearly expressed people’s will and by force;
B) The Decree, in the paragraph discussed, was adopted with the excess of powers of Politburo of CC RCP (b), ACEC and the Bolshevik’s government of Russia, as they did not have powers for determining the name of a people. The choice of the name of one’s own state is a prerogative of the people of the autonomous republic itself;
C)It was an act of forcible and ill-intentioned imposing the nickname of Tatars to Volga Bolgars as self-nomination by the Communist Russian government;
D)The Decree (and the resolution) laid on me (and my people) an unlawful responsibility to call me Tatar;
E) The Decree (and the resolution) laid on me (and my people) a moral responsibility before the citizens of different nationalities for “evil deeds of Tatars” in the history of Russia, for “the Tatar yoke”, that is not provided by any normative acts;
F) The Decree was adopted without taking into consideration the conditions of great importance. The main of them is that Bolsheviks ruined national state of Volga Bolgars the Republic “Idel- Urals States” and made the people “Happy” by presenting them the Tatar republic desired the people’s century-old interests and desires;
G) The Decree legitimatize only in respect of my people a colonial, false, humiliating and defaming my honest name tradition of tsarism to call all the Turk peoples Tatars.
2. That Decree (and the Resolution) do accord with the common practice of calling states by the name of the people or by the name of the previous state (or by some other reasons generally used): by the moment of forming TASSR there did not exist neither the Tatar people nor the Tatar state.
Simultaneously, by these deeds non-conformed with the normative acts the government of Russia broke my non-property rights (civil rights and liberties) and non-material values, that belong to me by the fact of my birth and by law, protection of which by the state is provided according to articles 150-152 of State code of RF.
Having called the Republic Tatar the bolshevik’s of Russia:
1. Abused my right to have own native name.
2. Broke my right to decide and indicate my national belonging by myself.
3. It has also legalized my Bolgar essence. I have right to my own national essence belonging to me by the fact of my birth and corresponding to the national essence of my ancestors.
4. It broke my non-property right to historic and spiritual succession of generations – mine and my castors. The law provides to care of the historical and cultural heritage and to cherish the treasures of people’s national history and culture (art. 44 CRF).
5. The Decree hurts the spirit of my forefathers still living in my heart and the spirit of my grandfather, in particular, who told me that we are not Tatars, but Bolgars rather as the word Tatar means atheist (a godless man). He would hardly be pleased by the fact that in my passport there is a record “Tatar” and that I am forced to call myself that name. The spirit of my grandfather is my non-material value and morals order us to be true to the spirit of our ancestors.
6. By hurting the spirit of my forefathers the nickname “Tatar” hurts me either and violates my moral well-being and moral freedom.
7. My state by force of its authority and by force of state coercion obligates and compulsed me to call myself Tatar. By that it deprives me of freedom of thought and convictions, freedom of moral condition and freedom of spirit (Art. 29, p. 1 and 3 CRF)
8. It interfered into my private life by this depriving me of such non-material value as personal privacy and violated my right to freedom and inviolability of the person.(Art. 22&23 CRF).
9. The state forced me to acquire an information of the history of the alien to me Tatar people, the Golden Horde being meant. A person carrying the name “Tatar” psychologically perceived the Tatar history as his own. The state conceals and misrepresents the Bolgar history by propagating a lie about the history of my people with the help of school syllabus on history, works of art and fiction and mass-media. Thus, my right to get a true information of my people and their history is abused. The information of my people and their history is my non-material value that belongs to me by the fact of my birth and in no ways is liable to alienating.
10. The policy of tatarism, set up by the Decree being appealed limited my right to get a true information about my forefathers and let know (even to my children), the information of the past of my people, violating a demand of article 29 p. 4 CRF. An information about Tatars is perceived by all people as an information about me and my people and by that artificially a false and negative impression about me is created and as a result – a contemptuous attitude towards me.
11. A discrepancy (an unnatural disagreement) between my national origin, my history, my national character and my officially imposed Tatar name is artificially created. My character is that of a Bolgar and the name – of a Tatar. The nickname Tatar denies my national essence and obliges me morally to accord with alien moral criterions, which were worked out by an alien people non-conformed to all making criterions. That makes me to regard the society, the man and the life from different point of view: un human and mean, that causes unnecessary distortions in my character (psychology) I occurred to live in a zone of attraction of two moral poles: my own one and alien. That tares my soul and put me into a wrong condition in the so ciety. It is evident that there is depriving me of such a non-material value (right) as the right to be whole – hearted and have peace of mind, a correspondence to the spirit of native people and the harmony between the man and society (people).
12. The name of a man is a special psychological phenomenon, his national name included. It determines the man’s destiny. A false name distorted my fate and it violated my right to a happy fate.
13. The name of a people, ethnonym, as if it were its banner, has ideological functions in itself.(A.G. Karimullin “Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym”, p.8). “The title of the people – ethnonym…contains a certain characteristics of the ethnos itself” (The above book, p. 3). It is evident that the name of the people contains itself characteristics of every man, relating to that people. it is very important because the name “Tatars”,by which I was obliged to call myself due to the power of my state, has a strongly pronounced negative, vicious and offensive character and therefore humiliates my honour and dignity and my business reputation. Especially as the decree spread that humiliating me false information (that does not accord with the real facts, that is libels) about my national belonging through all mass-media, in all official documents and in all pieces of art and fiction, as well as in test –books for all educational institutes .It means the violation of my right to my good name.
14. In fact, tatarism (an ideology convincing that my people and I are Tatars) is raised to the level of the state and compulsory ideology for everybody, that contradicting the legislation of RF, Art. 13 p.2 and Art. 28 CRF.
15.Every citizen of Russia knows that the name «Tatar » has a vicious meaning . It is a well-known fact and does not demand proving. However, we must speak more about it, to underline what a pernicious affect has it on men (on my) and to show that it is not my subjective impression, but it is an objective phenomenon of the public life, an estimation of a man by the society.
Each citizen of Russia knows that the name “Tatar” has a humiliating sense, it means unworthy, unmoral (that is a violator of all moral norms), interior, minor, wild, incomplete, a robber, a traitor etc. In a word, it means vile. This vicious sense penetrated into men’s consciousness so deeply, that the word “Tatar” today is a criterion of the man’s estimation, a standard of a moral imperfection, physical and intellectual incompleteness. The well-known and widely used proverb proves that: “An unbidden (self-invited) guest is worse than a Tatar”. Here we see that a Tatar is a criterion, a social estimation of a man, whose behaviour does not correspond to moral norms and violates them. A good man goes on a visit only being invited, for only such a behaviour corresponds to moral norms. A man who visited anybody without an invitation could not bear a comparison even with a Tatar, such a wicked person he is. Evidently, the estimation “Tatar” is a measure of the lowest estimation according to the scale of human values. That’s are no limit! There are no men worse than Tatars.
This well-known fact is confirmed by historians V.M. Kandyba and P.M. Zolin in the book “History and Idiology of Russian people”, v.1- SPt: Pub. H. “Lan”, 1997, p. 512:”…and such a nation as a “Tatar” never existed in the History. The word “Tatar” is just an insulting nickname…”
And here is what Academician of AS S.G. Karimullin says in his book “Tatars: ethnos and ethnonym “, Kasan, 1988:”Ask your acquaitances about the origin of Volga Bolgars.
Nine out of 10 persons will immediately remind you of a Tatar-Mongol invasion. “(O.Belosierskaya. “The Volga Tatars. “-(Znanie – sila, 1970, ¹7., p. 34-35)
Professor M. Aji in his book “Polyn polovetscogo polia” (M. TOO Pic-context”, 1994, p. 290-291) writes: …the word “Tatars” is widely spread and has a special humiliating sense”. Tatars – “ it was rather a nickname than an unfriendly name as “swarthy”, for instance”, It is “…a swear-word”.
And this swear-word imposed on me by force creates around me , a carrier of this name, a social (moral and psychological) atmosphere, that humiliates my honor and dignity, oppresses my psychics and creates a feeling of inferiority. It is proved by reach studies of the director of Kazan Psychological Center R.Garifullin: “ 89 % of Russian speaking Tatars and 19 % of Tatars speaking the native language suffer with the feeling of inferiority (or lower self-appraisal) (the citizens of towns are prevailing in comparison with peasants ).
74% of Tatars who served in the armed forces experienced on themselves the humiliating insults, and 20% of them concealed their nationality.
Despite the fact that national programs are adopted in our Republic 29% of Tatar children are ashamed to speak their native language. 91% of Tatars who would like to change their names for Bulgars have that feeling. 41% of schoolchildren are ashamed of the theme “The Mongol – Tatar invasion”. (Newspaper “Kazanskie Viedomosti”, 20.03.98, a copy is enclosed).
Terrific figures: 89% of Tatar townsmen bear a feeling of inferiority. It means that 9 persons out of 10 are sick! It means that practically the whole nation is mentally diseased!!!
The cause of it is in the humiliating condition as a result of the above Lenin’s decree from the 27. May 1920. The main condition of curing the most part of Russian society from that psychic illness is to decline that decree is invalid.
Besides, this information witnesses that 89% of Volgar Bulgars do not wish to call themselves Tatars and will be happy to take the load of the Tatar joke off their minds whenever an opportunity presents itself. The ethnonym “Tatars” has a vicious meaning in Europe as well and that is the evidence of extent to which the information humiliating me has spread.
“During the Second World War we were the witnesses of the fact what fear and even horror caused only mentioning the name “Tatars” among common inhabitants of Eastern European countries… Even nowdays “Tatars” for most people remain Barbarians and savages and are associated with the invasions of conquerors to Europe in 13 century”. ( A.G. Karimullin , p.4).
Such an opinion about Tatars is not fully overcome and is being supported and agitated in a number of new works and serves to keep an enmity to Tatars, puts them in a wrong position and, naturally caused a feeling of offence in them.” (in the above book, p. 5)
Who can say how many of them will find a lost national dignity in nationalism, that is in hatred to other nationalities, in the first place to Russians? And how many Russians are poisoned with enmity and hatred of mankind towards the men of different nationalities for the reason of educated from childhood enmity to Tatars? It is probably the same quantity. It is worth mentioning about the Russian Nationalist movement RNE . And it is not for nothing the vicious outlook of Russians to a man made it possible for such politicians as V. V.Jirinovski to manifest that he would deport Tatars to Mongolia, there is their motherland, where there is dirt and syphilis (a copy of the newspaper” Ëüìåò” is enclosed).
It follows from this that Bolshevics created TASSR with the only aim: to have a permanent source of evil and hatred of a man to a man and for a non-stop automatic reproduction of hatred to mankind.
16. So that a man from the cradle would be injured by non-understanding, hatred and evil and could not even think of his right for the love to other people and mutual respect.
17. Here we see that the decree forces a man – me, to be convinced in hatred to a man, forbidden by Art. 29 p.3 CRF.
General wisdom calls everybody to know the truth “and to love other people the same as you love yourself”, and RCP(b) made everything on the contrary: materialized the falsehood in the form of TASSR and created the Tatar people as an alive embodiment of a historical image of an enemy”-(these are the words by academician M.S. Sakieff). In a word it created an artificial source of hatred and evil between people. The following acts of RSP(b) are taken as a principle: the violation of the right to one’s own native name, the right to determine it by oneself; the right to the Truth, love, freedom of thought and belief, the liberty and personal life. It is evident that only the observance of human personal right is the condition of the triumph of love and friendship, equity and peace in the society and happiness of a man.
The vicious meaning of the name “Tatar” I suffered myself.
From the boyhood I have been feeling on myself the damnation of the official name “Tatars”, that was expressed as an enmity of the children of my age towards me.
An arrogant attitude, humiliation and beating only for my being a Tatar were usual in our street in Kazan where I was born and grown up. I remember how I, a boy under school age, when returning home after a usual battle for the reason of scolding me by the name of Tatar, was walking and thinking that there were good men- these were we and bad men- Russians. The school only proved my condition in this respect to my oppressors and weakened my position. It was especially displayed when we studied the topic about the Mongol- Tatar invasion into Russia. That psychological mood was founded at the primary school and remaining till now.
The depressed state, lack of interest to life became my permanent concomitants. It was schoolyears when I learned from doctors that there were calming medicines, which were prescribed for me to support my health. Some of my friends revolted not wishing to recognize themselves inferior, but the teacher steadily repeated over and again that Tatars were bad people ( savage, short, narrow-eyed, with dirty body and soul, robbers, they do not want to work, they always robbed Russians and prevented them from good life and building a happy future; they are non-talented, vicious conquerors and violators. Conquering of Kazan is a punishment for their evil deeds, the triumph of good men over evil ones). How I wished the earth would open beneath my feet, how I was ashamed of my fore-fathers and myself thinking that the dirty lie was the truth. I remember when we studied cases at the lesson on the Russian language one of my class-mates Tagir by name could not understand the rules.
The teacher cried for all to here: “If you cannot understand, go to Tatar school. In the Tatar language there are no cases, it is the language of wild nomads.” What a deep mortification I felt for my native language!
Being an obedient child I could not become embittered. My soul only suffered more because of such a humiliation, insult and feeling of inferiority. But God gave me strength to verify that information. How law fell prestige of our teacher in my eyes when I learned that she was spreading a slander about my native language and that there were as many cases in it as in the Russian language. Meanwhile, Tagir started missing lessons and if he appeared in the class, he behaved like a hooligan, contradicted the teacher Zoia Fiodorovna and snapped at her.
It is worth to show, however difficult it might be, what sufferings I experienced for to years service in the army. The officers, “the great experts of history” and educators of patriotism, openly propagandized chauvinistic ideas of superiority of Russian people over non-thankful Tatars. Never will I forget an officer when we were sitting around him at the halt who began to persuade us what bad men Tatars were and how good-Russians, directly setting soldiers on me, sergeant and section leader. I tried to tell that we are not Tatars, but Bolgars and soon felt sorry for that. The officer addressed directly to me saying, that we would not avoid a historical responsibility all the same and that I was telling lie to whitewash myself.
And how can one keep human dignity in such circumstances!
Then years spent among working people at the helicopter plant. There I saw the same picture, the same international misunderstanding and enmity.
Academician M.S. Sakieff is true saying that Tatars are an embodiment of a historical image of an enemy for all the peoples of Russia, and in true first place- for Russians. One incident shocked me indeed. Two small women were standing before a shop master who was Russian. Those women made the same work in our shop and always did it together: they took technological rubbish off the helicopters. I hear one of the women saying to the master: “why did you let me pay less than to her. We did the same work for the same time.” The other women kept silence. The master replied: “You must only to lick my hind part with your Tatar tongue.” I even could not imagine that one of the women was a Tatar, so alike looked they out. But the master appeared to take into account that fact and pay quite differently dependent on nationality: the Tatars got less than Russians. The following days I walked as stunned. I did not expect that even among workers- internationalists I might run into the fact of humiliating national dignity in such rude form, especially from the shop-master, a communist and a member of Politburo. That incident affected me so strongly, especially because I believed that the communist propaganda was a deliverer from discrimination by nationality.
Then the same master said personally to me, that I would not have a possibility to wear a Polish overcoat ,I would walk in Lapti ( a footwear made of lime-tree bast) , if not for the good deed of Russians. By that he underlined that I was indebted to him for ever, because I was second-rate and he was a top-quality benefactor , a deliverer from wildness, , he lead us to the light future and progress. In those years I knew about curing curing qualities of medicine “Elenium” which I had to use to cure my emotional excitement, a lack of appetite, sleep disorder and terrible head-aches.
The years of service in Bodies of Internal Affairs(1981-1997) also witness about a false and humiliated position in which the Volga Bulgars are put in by the Decree that obliged them to be called Tatars, and in particular myself as one of them. So the leaders of our Railway-transport Militia who often came on business to our office from Nizny Novgorod , always reminded us of that.
They often sticked to me with questions having an offensive sense; they liked to compare our to cities, our customs, our characters, our history, always finding elements of their superiority, based on the principle of an age-old second-class characteristics and imperfection of everything that is Tatar. By that time I was already inclined to be reserved and touchy. My colleagues called me nonsociable. I often caught cold and was ill, as a result of my nervous sufferings because of unfriendly relations with the people surrounding me. By that time I realized that the attitude to me, a kind man was so unfriendly because of my nationality.
It was worth mentioning my feelings concerned my children, when they began to attend a kindergarden and then go to school (a Russian one). I had to make a great efforts and experienced a lot of troubles so that the negative influence of school, where the national and human dignity of Tatar children could be humiliated, would not damage my children’s psychic and they would grow up self-respected men and with less spiritual sufferings than I had. And if I achieved these purposes it is because of my knowledge that I got during the years of studies at the history department of the Kazan State University because of scientifically proved knowledge about our Bolgar essence.
18. In RT and RF since 1993 (the year of adopting the RF Costitution) , more than 200 persons changed the records in their pasports: instead the false record “Tatar” they put the real record “Bulgar” or “Bolgar” (the answer of vice- chairman of the RT State Statistic Committee I.F. Ismagilova to “Bolgar Community”, Kazan – is enclosed). All those people achieved it by the court decisions. It means that the Pasport and Visa Service of RT and other services of RF refused them to satisfy their clams, thus violating their Constitutional right to determine and indicate their national belonging by themselves (Art. 26 CRF) and forcing them to pass through humiliating juridical procedures, where judges were busy with determination of the national belonging of a men, demanded to bring forward evidences of one’s belonging to the Bolgar nation instead of finding and detering violations of human rights by the Bodies of PVS (double violation of human rights: to determine and indicate one’s national belonging) also addressed PVS (Pasport Visa Service ) with an application to change my nationality in my pasport and also received a refuse, I passed through all the court instances, believing that the Supreme Court of RF would judge lawfully, but I was mistaken.
SCRF (a duplicate of the decision is enclosed ) also believes that I must show an evidence to the State, who I am in reality.
These actions of my State lestimate as enforcement to let me refuse of my opinions belief- concerning my national belonging, and that is forbidden by Art.29 p.3 CRF. Why does my government consider my a Tatar? Why does it violate my right to personal freedom and immunity and my right to the freedom of thought and inviolability of private life? Why does it imprudently into my soul and oppress it?
The answer: on the base of Decree of SPC from 27.05.20 that violated not only my rights but created and still is maintaining a socially political and morally psychic situation in the state, which promotes the violation of my natural, lawful and inalienable rights and liberties.
19. That situation brings harm to my business reputation as well. I am President of Bolgar National Congress (BNC) – a Social and Political organization aiming at returning to our people our native name Bolgars(Volga Bolgars ). People being oriented on the State Authorities who affirm by force of the Decree from 22. May 1920, that we are Tatars, manifest a lawful distrust to my competence to validity of program positions of BNC , damaging by this my business reputation (and also limiting a freedom of activity of that social Association, Art.30 CRF).
As it is seen from above my life has been passing in the conditions of spiritual and physical oppression, caused by permanent humiliating my honor and dignity.
20. I am forced to call myself a Tatar , and by this I am subjected to psychological sufferings with the only purpose to make me vicious towards other people, that is torture. All my life from my cradle up till now is not life but torture, to which I am subjected for getting my consent for creation “the great Tatar people” and for formulation the national superiority and hatred towards Russian to deprive me of the love to other people. That is forbidden by Art.21 –29 p.2 CRF.
21. Having made up their minds to create experimentally “The Tatar people “ the Communist government of RF put me into the position of an experimental rabbit, though neither me nor I my people did mot give a consent for that(Art.21 CRF).
It is the same experiment over me and my people as the experiment of creating the great Soviet people of USSR, over every citizen of USSR.
22. The assertion in society the thought that I am a Tatar (and my people are Tatars) is a criminal slander. That Decree made a world – scale slander on my people and myself, in particular, and by that it repressed me and my people. It is committing a genocide of Volga - Bolgar people and personally me by interfering into my personal life and imposing upon me a lawful obligation to call myself Tatar.
23. Having created TASSR the Russian government deprived me of such a non- material value as health. A permanent existing in a state of physical, psychic and moral suffering as result of unjust and humiliating attitude to me from the part of the society because of my national name “Tatar”, sufferings caused by a permanent interference of the government into my personal life and by direct violation of my nonmaterial values brought about an inner disharmony of my psychic, unnecessary tensity of my organism ,depression of my general feeling, hard headaches, heart and liver attacks, hot temper and irritability. In a word, the moral and psychological atmosphere of humiliating my human honor and dignity which was constantly present did hard damage to my health.
Summary:
By the Decree of the bolshevist government of Russia(SPC and ACEC RSFSR) from 27 May 1920 “On Autonomous Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic “on the part of Kazan Province lands the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Social Republic was created.
The Decree in its part claimed does not accord with the law and other lawful acts.
At the same time it breaks my nonmaterial rights and deprives me of my nonmaterial values.
It spread witnesses which discredit me and do not correspond to real facts violating by that my right to an honest name.
Thus, my state has maligned me is daily subjecting me to tortures with the aim to turn me into a Tatar; is experimentalizing on me by artificial changing my nationality.
By these acts my state inflected a moral harm to me and damaged my health irreparably.
At the same time the Decree materialized a lie in the form of TASSR with the purpose of having a permanent source of misunderstanding and evil between people, in such a way worsening moral and psychological climate in Russia, weakening positions of Truth and Good in the soul of every man.
Issuing from the above described and acting in my own interests and in the interests of most citizens of Russia, for improving moral and psychological climate in the Russian society and for triumph of truth and Good in our life I ask to protect my civil rights by the following:
1.Torecognize the Decree of SPC and ACEC RSFSR “On Autonomous Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic” from 27 May 1920 in the part concerning the name of created republic “Tatar”, and to admit invalid the decision of Politburo of RCP (b) 21. January 1920 about creation of TASSR in the same part.
2. To restore the position that existed before the violation of my civil rights obliging plenipotentiary Federal Body of the State Power RF by a special Act (an edict by the President of RF or mutual Resolution of the Government and Gosduma of RF) to abolish the word “Tatarstan” from the name of a subject of RF “Republic Tatarstan”.
3. With a view to disprove discrediting my honor, dignity and a business reputation witnesses, that I am a Tatar, to oblige the respondent by:
a) to make a reputation of discriminating me witnesses all federal mass-media;
b) to oblige the RF Government immediately to make changes in school programs in the History of RF and RT with explanations that till 1920 there did not exist a Tatar people but there was a Volga – Bolgar people , who was forcibly turned into Tatars by Bolsheviks and Lenin in 1920;
c) to oblige every respondent to pay me two million dollars of USA as a compensation for the moral inflection ( physical and moral sufferings ) which was done to me by violating my non - material values and personal non-material rights, and by the spreading witnesses which discredited my honor, dignity and a business reputation; oblige them to compensate the damage done to me by damaging my health.
History of TASSR. Under the edit. Of Dr. hist. Se. M. K. References are enclosed:
1. Mukharimoff, Kazan , Tatknigoisdat, 1973.
2. History of Kazan. Book I, Kazan Tatknigoizdat, 1988.
3. History of Kazan. Book II , Kazan Tatknigoizdat ., 1992
4. A. Kh. Khalikoff. “Who are we- Bulgars or Tatars?” Kazan: isdatelstvo “Kazan”, 1992.
5. S. Kh. Alisheff “Kazan and Moscow : international relations in XV –XVI century. “- Kazan : Tatknigoizdat, 1995
6. Jornal “Echo of centuries “, Kazan, May ,1995.
7. Jornal, ¹10,1994.
8. A.G. Karimullin “ Tatars: ethnos and ethonomik”, Kazan,1989.
9. F.G.- Kh. Nurutdinoff “Motherland Text-book”, Kazan,1989.
10. A Copy of the Suprime Court RF decision on my case about changing the record “nationality” in my passport.
11. A Copy of the newspaper “Ëüìåò” with W.W. Zyrinovski saying about his intention to send Tatars to Mongolia.
12. A Copy of an order, Witnessing of existing in 1919 military troops of Volga Bolgar, that is the Volga Bolgars themselves.
13. A Copy the Goscomstat reply about the fact that during 1989 registration 186 men in RT called themselves Bulgars.
14. A Copy of the newspaper “Kasan Viedomosti” with Shocking “ Figures witnessing that the” name Tatar has a discriminating meaning.
15. A copy of advertisement in 1918 about declaration of Republic Idel- Urals”.
16. A Copy of the certifacate of VTEK about my being an invalid.
17. Abstracts from the books by F.L. Grimberg and V.M. Kanduba, P.M. Solin, witnessing that the Tatar people and the Tatar State never existed and the word “Tatar” is an insulting name.
18. An exemplary map of the Republic Idel-Urals”.
19. A Copy of the booklet about Bolgar-City.
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