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Ingushia's Mufti Resigns To Protest Moscow’s Practices
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"The
situation in the republic during the last three years has not ever
been witnessed here all along three decades," Albugashuv
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By
Damir Ahmed, IOL Correspondent
MOSCOW,
July 8 (IslamOnline.net) – The mufti of Ingushia has declared his
resignation to protest against the Russian military practices,
including unjustified detentions of Muslim youth, in the Northern
Caucasus region.
Mohamed
Albugashuv also called on the Ingushian President Murat Dzaskhov to
quit for his involvement in these acts and his government’s failure
to bring security and stability during his term in office.
Albugashuv
said he would leave his post during a periodical meeting with imams of
mosques and heads of Islamic centers in Ingushia, the Russian TV
network NTV Channel said.
"I
refuse to be a mufti while Dzaskhov maintains his policy, which
divided the Ingushian Muslims into two parties pitting each
other," the Muslim scholar was quoted by the station as saying.
Albugashuv
said Russian special forces units had detained dozens of youths simply
for entering mosques for prayers or putting on beards.
"The
fate of those detainees is still unknown," the resigning mufti
said, noting that many Ingushian families fled to other provinces
"seeking peace and safety, which they didn't find in their
homeland".
"I
want to wash my hands of all of corruption and economic crises running
rife in the republic."
"The
situation in the republic during the last three years has not ever
been witnessed here all along three decades."
Dzaskhov
was elected to power in 2002. He had worked as the director of federal
security office in the Russian
province
of
Astrakhan
.
In
1992, Ingushia was separated from the breakaway
Chechnya
, which was later invaded by Russian forces.
So
Difficult
Albugashuv
has called upon the political leaders of Ingushia under Dzaskhov to
resign and make an apology to all citizens of the republic for events
that occurred during the last few years.
"The
current situation in Ingushia has become so difficult. Each day,
kidnapping operations by unknown criminals are on the rise. Corruption
and bribery have increased," the former mufti said in a statement
obtained by IslamOnline.net.
"The
bloody attacks of June 21 have exposed the governmental authorities.
We have been informed that the federal government fails to provide
security and peace," the statement added.
Chechen
fighters have launched a series of attacks on governmental premises,
police stations and border checkpoints along the republics of Ingushia
and
Dagestan
, leaving more than 90 people
dead and 93 others injured.
Resignation
Calls
According
to procedures required by the Russian Law, Albugashuv will travel to
Moscow
to tender his resignation to
the Russian Council of Muftis.
The
NTV said many participants at the periodical meeting were taken by his
decision, but they supported the call on the Ingushian president to
resign.
"Prominent
figures of the government have not resigned following such bloody
events, despite the crimes they perpetrated against civilians. They
have not even looked into the reasons behind such crimes," the
Muslim scholar said in the statement.
Earlier,
Ingushia witnessed a series of kidnapping operations by unknown armed
militias that several parties underlined they are Russians. Among the
kidnapped is the deputy general prosecutor who attempted to
investigate the abductions.
Albugashuv
was born in 1957 in
Kazakhstan
, one of the former
Soviet Union
republics. He studied
Shari'ah in a Saudi university, and became the mufti of Ingushia in
1997 and was re-elected in 2001.
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