Ingushetia: Protest Over Prigorodny Blocked

Ingush protesters claiming ownership of the contested Prigorodny district of North Ossetia were prevented from staging a demonstration earlier this week when police blocked a square near the town of Nazran, where the protest was scheduled to take place.

"The idea of holding a rally emerged after the Ingush parliament recently announced that they would not recognise official documents which state that [the Prigogodny district] historically belonged to the Ingush," a representative of the Akhki-Yurt public movement, who organised the rally, told IWPR.

The Ingush parliament is adamant that the territory will not be reclaimed by popular protest. Ingush president Murat Zyazikov told the Russian media, "The issue of the borders of the Ingush republic can be resolved only by legal means. The authorities will not allow rallies and other illegal actions."

Originally an Ingush territory, Stalin gave the Prigorodny district to North Ossetia in 1944. When the Ingush republic was created in 1992, borders with North Ossetia and Chechnya were not legally defined and violent clashes between Ossetian and Ingush forces broke out over possession of the territory. There were 500 deaths, and 800 people are still missing. It’s estimated that up to 70,000 Ingush were forced to flee the Prigorodny district.

Although there has not been any conflict between Ingush and Ossetians over the past decade or so, relations between the two communities have become tense since it was revealed that Ingush were among the hostage-takers in the Beslan school siege last year.

Speaking after police prevented their rally from going ahead on March 28, Akhki-Yurt’s leader, Boris Arsamakov, insisted Ingush claims on Prigorodny were beyond doubt, saying his party had legal proof that the territory should be returned.

Formal discussions about ownership of the region began in December last year, when the Ingush parliament adopted Kremlin-drafted local government legislation, which stated that Ingushetia should define the borders of its municipalities before March 31 this year.

Parliamentary deputies have suspended any decision on this issue, saying it could prejudice the resolution of the Prigorodny conflict.

"This issue is very delicate and it should be approached in a way that will not endanger the lives of the tens of thousands of Ingush who have returned to their homes and are now living in North Ossetia," said Ruslan Gagiyev, parliamentary deputy and member of the Yedinaya Rossiya (United Russia) party.

"The border problem with North Ossetia should of course be resolved but only through legal and civilised methods. This is why we have approached [Moscow] with a proposal to create a government commission that will make a decision in accordance with Russian legislation."

Because of the continuing land dispute, many of Prigorodny former residents have little hope of returning. In Chermen, which, like many other villages in the district, was badly scarred by the fighting in the early Nineties, less than a third of the Ingush who once lived there have gone back to their burnt out homes, according to Manas officials.

"Since the start of the conflict, [Moscow] and the local authorities have failed to resolve the problem of how to return forcibly displaced people to their previous homes," said Magomed Pliyev, deputy head of Ingushetia’s State Committee for the Affairs of Refugees and Forcibly Displaced People.

A representative of a local branch of a Russian party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IWPR, "More than 15,000 forcibly displaced people are now living in Ingushetia because the North Ossetian authorities do not consider it possible for them to live together with the Ossetians. Those who have returned to their homes have absolutely no rights – they do not have jobs or any guarantees of security. The problem of the borders with Ossetia has been brewing for years, as no one is occupied with resolving it."

Ingush residents of the Prigorodny district appear divided over the merits of trying to sort out the territorial dispute.

A Chermen resident told IWPR, "We are living on a time bomb here. Any provocation could lead to another tragedy like the one that took place in 1992. In the meantime, attempts to resolve the problem add fuel to the fire. [The protesters in Nazran] should stop reopening old wounds.”

A resident of the village of Kartsa Sultan disagreed, "Both the Ossetians and Ingush know that, historically, this land belonged to the Ingush. Our grandfathers and forefathers lived here. I think that attempts to hush up the problem will lead to no good. The issue should be resolved peacefully through agreements with the Ossetian side and mutual concessions."

Analysts believe that it will be some time before the issue is resolved. An Ingush public figure and politician, who preferred not to be named, told IWPR, "Neither the Ingush, Ossetians nor [Moscow] can propose a clear-cut mechanism for the political settlement of the conflict."

Malika Suleimanova is a correspondent for the Kavkazski Uzel website.