Lessons Should be Learned from Village Clash

A conflict between Chechens and Kazaks has highlighted underlying tension among ethnic groups, which NBCentralAsia analysts say should serve as a wake-up call to the authorities to focus on preventive measures.



On March 18, a brawl between a Kazak and a Chechen in a billiards hall in the village of Malovodnoe, in the Enbekshikazak district of southern Kazakstan, blew up into a violent two-day clash involving around 200 people, which left five people dead at the latest count.



The authorities have played down the importance of the ethnic factor in the incident, but NBCentralAsia observers say that since the violence calmed down, the rift between different ethic groups in the area has become more obvious.



Political scientist Maksim Kaznacheev suggests that the local authorities and the police could be partly to blame for allowing the situation to get out of control, and their role should be examined to prevent similar errors happening again.



“In Kazakstan, it is impossible to gather a crowd, whip up nationalist sentiment and direct it against ‘outsiders’ unless there is complicity on the part of the security forces, local authorities and individuals in central government with a vested interest in this,” he said.



To help defuse tension in the long term, NBCentralAsia analyst Eduard Poletaev thinks the government should work with unofficial community leaders in places where Chechens and Kazaks live in close proximity.



Involving people from ethnic minorities in government would help dispel the myth that ethnic Kazaks enjoy privileged status, he said.



“There needs to be a special focus on the social environment in the Enbekshikazak district, and more collaboration with elders and community leaders should be reinforced. Ethnically homogenous settlements should be discouraged and the government should avoid making empty promises when talking about the Kazakstan model of ethnic harmony,” said Poletaev.



He also recommended conducting a systematic conflict analysis of incidents like this where clashes assume an ethnic character.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)