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Uzbekistan
The 1980s
During the decade following the death of Rashidov, Moscow attempted
to regain the central control over Uzbekistan that had weakened
in the previous decade. In 1986 it was announced that almost the
entire party and government leadership of the republic had conspired
in falsifying cotton production figures. Eventually, Rashidov
himself was also implicated (posthumously) together with Yuriy
Churbanov, Brezhnev's son-in-law. A massive purge of the Uzbek
leadership was carried out, and corruption trials were conducted
by prosecutors brought in from Moscow. In the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan
became synonymous with corruption. The Uzbeks themselves felt
that the central government had singled them out unfairly; in
the 1980s, this resentment led to a strengthening of Uzbek nationalism.
Moscow's policies in Uzbekistan, such as the strong emphasis on
cotton and attempts to uproot Islamic tradition, then came under
increasing criticism in Tashkent.
In 1989 ethnic animosities came to a head in the Fergana Valley,
where local Meskhetian Turks were assaulted by Uzbeks, and in
the Kyrgyz city of Osh, where Uzbek and Kyrgyz youth clashed.
Moscow's response to this violence was a reduction of the purges
and the appointment of Islam Karimov as first secretary of the
Communist Party of Uzbekistan. The appointment of Karimov, who
was not a member of the local party elite, signified that Moscow
wanted to lessen tensions by appointing an outsider who had not
been involved in the purges.
Resentment among Uzbeks continued to smolder, however, in the
liberalized atmosphere of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev's
policies of perestroika (see Glossary) and glasnost
(see Glossary). With the emergence of new opportunities to express
dissent, Uzbeks expressed their grievances over the cotton scandal,
the purges, and other long-unspoken resentments. These included
the environmental situation in the republic, recently exposed
as a catastrophe as a result of the long emphasis on heavy industry
and a relentless pursuit of cotton (see Environmental Problems,
this ch.). Other grievances included discrimination and persecution
experienced by Uzbek recruits in the Soviet army and the lack
of investment in industrial development in the republic to provide
jobs for the ever-increasing population.
By the late 1980s, some dissenting intellectuals had formed political
organizations to express their grievances. The most important
of these, Birlik (Unity), initially advocated the diversification
of agriculture, a program to salvage the desiccated Aral Sea,
and the declaration of the Uzbek language as the state language
of the republic. Those issues were chosen partly because they
were real concerns and partly because they were a safe way of
expressing broader disaffection with the Uzbek government. In
their public debate with Birlik, the government and party never
lost the upper hand. As became especially clear after the accession
of Karimov as party chief, most Uzbeks, especially those outside
the cities, still supported the communist party and the government.
Birlik's intellectual leaders never were able to make their appeal
to a broad segment of the population (see Opposition Parties,
this ch.).
Data as of March 1996
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