the Disillusioned kid: The Uzbek Revolution? Part 1.
| Email | Home | Linkage | Profile |

Sunday, May 15, 2005

The Uzbek Revolution? Part 1.

With exams looming, I still don't have much time to post. I couldn't not comment, however, on events in Uzbekistan, a country which has been an ongoing focus here for sometime.

According to reports peaceful protests gathered in the city of Andijan on Friday in an anti-government demonstration which may have numbered as many as 10,000. While in itself a positive response, the government response was much less so and saw troops open fire on demonstrators, killing as many as 500 according to a doctor in the town. Islam Karimov sought to blame the violence on the protesters who he accused (as is his wont with any dissent) on Islamic fundamentalists, hoping to frame the killing as a justifiable part of the west's "War on Terror". There were subsequent reports of violence between armed men and government forces in the nearby town of Tefektosh.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw responded to events by calling for democratic change in the Central Asian republic, asserting "there has been a clear abuse of human rights, a lack of democracy and a lack of openness." The country's foreign ministry were dismissive of Straw's remarks, suggesting that he did not have the whole story and that the shooting of protesters had never happened.

Meanwhile, the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan demonstrated just how spineless he is compared with his predecessor (the incorrigible Craig Murray) by calling on "all sides" to "show restraint" as if this was an even contest in which both sides were equally in the wrong. Imagine if Slobodan Milosevic had retained enough control over his armed forces to have them fire on protesters during the bloodless revolution that removed him from power. Would the British government have called on "all sides" to "show restraint" then? Of course not, it would have been universally deplored (quite rightly) and used as further evidence to justify the NATO bombing of Serbia.

Lenin points to the contrast between the way this uprising, against a friendly regime, and the rose, orange, chesnut and ash "revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon and Kyrgzstan have been greeted by our social superiors. "This, " he notes, "is one revolution that won't be branded." He's right of course Uzbek resistance to the brutality of the Karimov regime doesn't fit into the neo-con scheme which serves as a reminder of how vacuous so much of the rhetoric about "freedom" really is.

No doubt more will follow as and when I have time.

Side Projects

Carnival of Anarchy
The Peace Pipe
UK Watch Blog

Acquaintances

Against the Current
Atopian.org
Culture hits and gendered bits
Daniel Randall
In The Water
Mike Wood
On The Barricades
Pizarro's Sword
Space Cat Rocket Ship
Surveillant Assemblage
TashCamUK FotoPage
The Naked Lunch
The Peace Pipe
The World of the Dynamite Lady

Strangers

Anarchoblogs
Antiwar.com Blog
Arte & Lingua
Barker in Valencia
Blairwatch
Bloggerheads
Blood & Treasure
Bombs and Shields
Boomablog
Born at the Crest of the Empire
Chase me ladies...
Chicken Yoghurt
Craig Murray
Dead Men Left
Direland
Disreputable Lazy Aliens
Empire Notes
Europhobia
Friends of Al Jazeera
Global Guerillas
Guerillas in the Midst
I Blame the Patriachy
Informed Comment
Insultadarity
Janine Booth
Lenin's Tomb
Life of Riley Blog
Media Watch Watch
Neil Shakespeare
NO2ID NewsBlog
One Hump or Two?
Otto's Random Thoughts
Perfect.co.uk
Pitch In For Uzbekistan
Registan.net
Run over by the truth
Solidarity With Iraqi Workers
Shut Up You Fat Whiner!
Sudan: Passion of the Present
Talk Politics
The Anthropik Network
The Daily (Maybe)
The Devil's Kitchen
The Disillusioned
The f-word
The Head Heeb
The Killing Train
The Revenge of Winston Smith
The Socialist Unity Blog
The Wicked Truth
Theory of Power
Things I Don't Have Time For
This (Fresh) Gringo
This Is My Truth
Thumping the Tub
Time The Dreaded Enemy
UK Watch Blog
UK Poli Blogs
underbrella
Under The Same Sun
Uzbekistan.neweurasia.net
What Fresh Hell Is This?
Where is Raed? (RIP)
Who Are You to Accuse Me?
Words and Rocks
Zeropointnine
Z-Net Blog

Neighbours

Asbo Community Space
Defy-ID
Eastside Climate Action
Faslane 365
Freecycle
Indymedia
No Borders
Nottingham Student Peace Movement
Refugee Forum
Stop the War
Sumac Centre
The Demo Project

Ivory Towers

Anarchist Studies Network
Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice
Postanarchism Clearinghouse

Miscellania

Anarchist FAQ
Antiwar.com
Chagos Discussion List
Chagos Support Forums
Electronic Intifada
Future of Iraq Portal
Index of Political Blogs
Indymedia UK
Infoshop
Iraq Occupation Focus
Pledgebank
Refuser Solidarity Network
SchNEWS
Socialist Unity Network
The New Standard
UK Chagos Support Association
UK Watch
Weekly Worker
Wikipedia
WriteToThem.com
Z-Net

The Progressive Blog Alliance

Register here to join the PBA.