Dagestani farmer ends his hunger strike after authorities’ promises to lease land

Farmer Zakarya Nabiev said that he was preparing to continue his hunger strike until the authorities of the Shamil District fulfilled their promise to conclude a lease agreement with him. However, on December 3, the famer had to end his protest action due to the need to graze goats far in the mountains.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on November 30, Zakarya Nabiev, a resident of the village of Khodota, held a picket in the centre of Makhachkala, at which he complained that the local authorities were preventing him from agriculture works. The farmer demanded a meeting with the leader of Dagestan and announced the start of his hunger strike.

Zakarya Nabiev told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that on December 2, he was received by the head of the Shamil District, but did not stop the hunger strike. “From the very beginning I decided to continue my hunger strike for at least one week. After the meeting with the head of the Shamil District, I did not stop the hunger strike, as earlier, they had already promised me to solve my problems. But all promises remained promises. So I wanted to be given some kind of guarantee,” Zakarya Nabiev told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

However, the farmer had to end his hunger strike much earlier than expected, on December 3. “I went to the mountains to graze my goats. It is about three to four kilometres from our village. At lunchtime, I returned to the village to perform a collective Friday prayer and then went back to the goats. It turned out that I made 12 kilometres a day. Taking into account the hunger strike, it is very difficult to go on such distances at my age, and it is dangerous to health. Therefore, I decided to end my hunger strike,” Zakarya Nabiev explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 6, 2021 at 06:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.