MBA Education & Careers
Russia and Chechnya
R
ussia is the largest
country in the world.
This vast nation with a
land area of 1.7 crore sq.km.,
stretches across ten time zones.
It straddles two continents - Asia
and Europe. Once a part of the
former USSR, it has now, on its
own, emerged as a major
power in the world. It has the
second largest nuclear arsenal
in the world. After the USA,
Russia is the major
defence power. Of
late, its economy has
also bounced back
from the brink of
disaster especially
after the downward
spiral in the 1990s.
The main religions are
Orthodox Christianity,
and Islam. Muslims
are concentrated
along the Volga tatars
and the Bashkirs, and in the
North Caucasus.
Chechnya is a republic in
southern Russia. It is
surrounded on nearly all sides
by Russian territory but also
shares its border with Georgia,
a remote border high in the
mountains. Muslims constitute
a majority of its population.
Chechnya has huge oil and gas
reserves. Of late, Chechnya
has emerged as a thorn in the
body-politic of Russia. Since
1994-95, its devastating conflict
with Russia has dominated
headlines the world over.
Why is there a conflict between
Russia and Chechnya? What is
its origin? Who are the main
players in the conflict? What are
the major features of this
conflict?
The Chechens are largely a
Muslim ethnic group who have
lived for centuries in the
Caucasus region. They are a
group of mainly Sunni Muslims
who desire independence from
Russia. Most of the Chechen
fighters follow Wahabism, an
orthodox sect of Islam. These
militants want to establish a
separate Islamic state with a
constitution based on the
Muslim Sharia.
Bharat Jain
The conflict between Russia and
Chechnya is centuries-old.
Over the centuries, the
Chechens continued to resist
Russian imperialism. In 1810,
the Russians attempted to
conquer the Caucasia (now
called Chechnya) and were
successful only in the lowlands
because the Muslims were very
strong when it came to
mountain guerilla warfare. In
1858, the Russians
could finally overcome
the Muslim resistance
and the region was
incorporated into the
Russian empire.
In the years following
the October Revolution,
the Chechens were
promised a separate
homeland to be called
the Soviet Mountain Republic.
They were promised their own
constitution and system of rule.
But these promises were never
kept. These factors further
fuelled the feeling of deep
alienation among the
Chechens. During the Second
World War, the Chechens
sought the help of Germany,
Russias arch-rival. The
Germans, to advance their own
cause against the USSR in the
Caucasus, promised help in
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I N D I A A N D T H E W O R L D : ESSAYS O N IMPORTANT ISSUES
terms of arms and ammunition.
However, the Chechens did not
receive any material help from
the Germans. During the War,
Chechnya was attacked by both
the Red Army (USSRs army) and
the Germans. When the War
ended, Josef Stalin, the Soviet
strongman, accused the
Chechens of treason. A large
number of Chechens
were exiled to Siberia.
They were allowed to
return only in 1957
when the relatively
moderate Nikita
Khrushchev came to
power.
When the Soviet Union
disintegrated in 1991,
several constituent
republics declared
independence.
Chechnya, then under
Dzokhar Duduyev,
quickly declared
independence. Russias
top leadership including
then-President Boris
Yeltsin ignored
Chechnya during the
first tumultuous years in
the office. Between 1991 and
1994, armed terror groups
wrought havoc in Chechnya.
These armed terror groups
gained the upper hand
subverting Russian authority in
Chechnya. The open defiance
shook Moscow from its casual
indifference. In 1994, Russia
sent its army in a very poorly
planned bid to bring the
rebellious Chechens to heel,
and back into the Russian fold.
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The Chechens put up a strong
front and harrassed the ill-
prepared Russian army through
moutain guerilla warfare. A war
the Russians assumed to be a
cakewalk turned out to be a
humiliation with disastrous
consequences for the Russians.
Mounting Russian casualties
turned public anger against
The Chechen
terrorists want to
secede from Russia
and establish a
Sharia-based
Islamic state
in Chechnya
Moscow for its inept handling
of the crisis. The Russians
withdrew from Chechnya under
a 1996 peace agreement. The
agreement gave Chechnya
substantial autonomy but not
full independence. The
Chechen chief of staff, Aslam
Maskhadov, was elected
president in 1997. But
Maskhadov could not control
the various armed terror groups
operating on the Chechen
territory. These armed groups
indulged in large-scale looting
and kidnapping for ransom.
The bitter conflict with Russia
had devastated Chechnya.
Here, Russia lost an opportunity
to connect with the Chechens
when it failed to invest in
infrastructure development and
reconstruction.
In August 1999, rebel
Chechens fighters
crossed into Dagestan,
a neighbouring Russian
republic. Here, a
radical Islamic body
had given a call for the
setting up of an
independent Islamic
state in parts of
Dagestan
Chechnya. The rebel
and
Chechen militants lent
their support to this
cause. This time
around, Russia, under
Vladimir Putins prime
ministership, acted
swiftly. Within two
weeks, the rebellion
was crushed.
In September-October 1999, a
series of bomb blasts shook
Russia, which killed several
hundred people. Moscow
blamed Chechen militants for
the serial blasts. Now, Putin sent
the Russian army back to
Chechnya to crush the
separatist movement. This
second Russian campaign is yet
to conclude.
In 2000, Putin became the
President of Russia.
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I N D I A A N D T H E W O R L D : ESSAYS O N IMPORTANT ISSUES

In October 2002, Chechen
militants seized a Moscow
theatre where they held about
800 people hostage. About
125 people including the
hostage-takers, were killed
when the Russian forces
stormed the theatre.
In March 2003, Moscow hailed
a controversial referendum in
Chechnya which approved a
new constitution giving
Chechnya more autonomy but
stipulating that it remained
firmly a part of Russia.
In May 2004, the Moscow-
backed president of Chechnya,
Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in
a bomb blast in Grozny, capital
of Chechnya. He was
succeeded by Alu Alkhanov,
who enjoys the support of
Moscow.
In August 2004, two passenger
aircrafts crashed within minutes
of each other after take-off from
Moscow killing all 90 people on
board. Moscows suspicion of a
terrorist attack was confirmed
when a militant Islamic group
claimed responsibility for the
twin attacks.
In September 2004, Chechen
separatists lay siege to a school
in Beslan taking about 900
people hostage including many
school children. About 330
people were killed, many of
them school children, when the
three-day siege ended in a
bloodbath. The hostage -takers
were demanding the withdrawal
of Russian forces from Chechnya
and release of Chechen fighters
from Russian prisons.
Chechnyas fighters are funded
by a host of sources including
Islamic charities. Chechnyas
long and very violent guerilla
terror campaign against the
Russian state has attracted a
fair number of Islamist militants
from outside Chechnya. Some
of these are Arab fighters who
are feared to have links to
al-Qaeda.
Russia has presented its war
against Chechnyan separatism
as part of the global war
against international terrorism.
Russia has ruled out
negotiations with the Chechen
terrorists. Russia insists that its
hardline policies in Chechnya
are working and that peace is
returning to the war-torn
republic. It remains to be seen
whether or not Russias moves
in Chechnya will lead to a
resolution to this most
intractable conflict.

Do you know?
Which amendment is nicknamed the Mini-Constitution?
The Forty-second Amendment was carried out in 1976. (The Indira Gandhi government
was at the Centre, and Emergency had been imposed by her in India.) Nicknamed the Mini
Constitution (for its far-reaching changes), it was the most comprehensive amendment
carried out so far and made fundamental changes in the Constitutional structure. It
incorporated the words Socialist, Secular, and Integrity in the Preamble; asserted the
primacy of Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights; incorporated Fundamental Duties
of the citizens in the Constitution; asserted Parliaments supremacy regarding amendment
of the Constitution; authorised the Supreme Court to transfer certain cases from one High
Court to another High Court; provided administrative tribunals for speedy justice, empowered
the Central Government to send armed or police force to the States to deal with grave law
and order situations; authorised the President to make proclamation of Emergency either in
respect of any part of the country or to the whole of India; made it obligatory for the
President to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

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