World Bashkir Congress executive committee approved appeal to participants of the meeting of the State Council Presidium in Ufa

On the eve of the Russian State Council Presidium gathering in Ufa the World Bashkir Kurultay (Congress) executive committee approved the open appeal to the President RF Dmitry Medvedev and to all participants of the forthcoming gathering, which contained the proposals to be included into the list of the final gathering’s resolutions.

“It looks quite symbolically that the gathering, devoted to the problems of international and interreligious relations, is held in the capital of our Republic, in the centre of Russia” – said in the appeal – “The positive experience on formation of harmonious international and interreligious relations in such national republics as Bashkortostan can be and has to be demanded on the scales of the whole country”.

Striving for making its own contribution to solution of the urgent national and international problems the World Bashkir Congress executive committee outlined the position of this international Bashkir public organization on some actual problems in sphere of international relations.

1. The World Bashkir Congress executive committee firmly upholds the basic constitutional principles of Russian state’s federative structure and preservation of the national republics in its staff in accordance with the principles of equal rights and self-determination of nations in Russian Federation. Consolidation of the national republics’ constitutional status in the staff of Russia is considered the principal condition for preservation and development of the sovereignty and integrity of most multinational Russian Federation.

2. Well-balanced and wise informational state policy, aimed at formation of the positive image of the nations, inhabiting modern Russia, conducted through both federal and regional mass-media, is considered a solid foundation of the civil peace in our society. The bosses of the media structures mustn’t ignore the positions of the national-cultural communities on the problems of mass-media content. Not everything is measured by the rates and profitability and by the market categories in a whole in sphere of international relations – international relations have other criteria. The regions should pay special attention to broadcasting in native languages, allocating enough air time for that. For example the Bashkir satellite TV should remain the translator of the national culture. The World Bashkir Congress executive committee suggests the all-Russian TV-channel and the radio station, which would cover history, culture and social-political life of the nations in Russian Federation, should be established.

3. The World Bashkir Congress executive committee suggests that the legislation in sphere of international relations should be toughened through introduction of special norms, assuming the inevitability of responsibility and severe punishment for kindling the international strife.

4. The World Bashkir Congress executive committee considers the problem on preservation and development of native languages has to be solved through the system of national education in Russia. In the conditions, when the notion “regional component” is removed from the Russian law “Education”, the main burden of execution of the state function on preservation, development and teaching the native languages is laid on the federal education bodies. At the same time the policy of Russian Ministry of education and science doesn’t take the national and cultural needs of the multinational population of the country into account in full measure (the volumes of the class time, allocated for teaching the native languages, history and culture of the aboriginal nations, offered by the basic curriculums within the frames of the federal education standards are not enough for their complete mastering by the pupils).

5. The aggressive statements in Russian mass-media against Islam, recently becoming very frequent, cause serious anxiety among Muslim community of the Republic. The groundless accusations of whoever it might be in religious extremism are inadmissible in the multinational country.

6. The World Bashkir Congress executive committee notes close connection of the land problem with the international relations in Bashkortostan. The overwhelming majority of Bashkirs represent rural population and the reforms in our villages in no circumstances have to lead to mass dispossession of lands and pauperization of our villagers. The value of the land for Bashkirs was never determined by its market cost. It is closely connected with the notion of the Motherland and this aspect has to be taken into account in case of any land reforms.

7. Formation of Russian patriotism and Russian civil identity should be supported by historically formed ethnic-national identity, like the British civil identity is based on the ethnic national identities – Englishman, Scotchman, Welshman, Irishman. The American experience of national construction is inapplicable in our country: Russian – Russian citizen, Bashkir-Russian citizen and not a “Russian citizen of Russian or Bashkir origin” – this is the type of rather complex identity, which doesn’t conflict either with the Soviet or with the post-Soviet experience.