Conflict in Tsiyab-Ichichali settled without Kadyrov's intervention

A compromise figure has been appointed the Imam in the Dagestani village of Tsiyab-Ichichali, where residents had turned to Ramzan Kadyrov because of their contradictions with the Muftiate; the conflict has been settled, the head of the village has informed. The Ramzan Kadyrov's public reaction to the villagers' appeal will provoke a negative reaction in Dagestan, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the followers of the preacher Kunta-haji Kishiev from the village of Tsiyab-Ichichali in the Khasavyurt District asked the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, to interfere in their conflict with the Muftiate of Dagestan. They claimed that the Muftiate had appointed the Imam and deputy imam from another village without taking into account the villagers' opinion.

Now, the Imam is a native of the village of Tsiyab-Ichichali – this is a compromise figure that satisfies everyone, Vashalav Shagidov, the head of the village administration, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Shagidov, the villagers had turned to Ramzan Kadyrov because of their unawareness of the issue and unwillingness to take a different path to solve the problem. "There [in the issue of electing the Imam], it was nothing critical. It was not worth so much talk around it," he said.

An attempt to attract Ramzan Kadyrov to settling an intra-Dagestani conflict may give rise to anti-Chechen sentiments among some residents of Dagestan, Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and a member of the expert council of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, believes.

"Recently, there has been a lot of Ramzan Kadyrov around Dagestan; while this republic has always positioned itself as the largest and, in general, the major republic of the region. If the intervention occurs, it will actually mean Kadyrov's influence on Dagestan processes; and now, neither Dagestan nor the federal centre needs it. This is an additional irritant; and this will provoke not the best reaction," Mr Malashenko told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2020 at 01:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.