02 February 2016, 10:51
Closure of mosques can result in radicalization of young people, Makhachkala roundtable warns
Closure of mosques cannot be treated as a method to combat terrorism, and a conflict should be solved before its transition to the stage threatening bloodshed. This was announced by participants of a roundtable held in Makhachkala.
On January 31, a message arrived at the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot" reporting about an attempt to close a mosque in Khasavyurt. Local residents confirmed that in the evening on January 31, power agents gathered in the vicinity of the mosque. Later on the same day, eyewitnesses told that law enforcers had closed the mosque "Severnaya" by welding up its entrance door. According to authorities, the closure of the mosque was caused by the fact that it had been erected in the place allocated for construction of individual residential facilities. In the evening the mosque was reopened and the parishioners could administer their namaz (prayer) there.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 1, a "roundtable" on the problem of the closure of the mosque "Severnaya" (Northern) in Khasavyurt was held at the office of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft) in Makhachkala.
The problem of closure of Salafi mosques will concern each Dagestani native. This opinion was expressed during the roundtable by Nazhmudin Nazhmudinov, a representative of the Khasavyurt mosque "Severnaya".
According to him, the closure of the mosque should not be treated as a method to combat terrorism. "It's wrong short-sighted policy," Nazhmudin Nazhmudinov has noted.
He has also added that the imams of the mosques being closed were allotted a task to protect young people from radicalism.
Nazhmudin Nazhmudinov believes that in case of the authorities' failure to quickly resolve the conflict around the mosque "Severnaya" in Khasavyurt, the situation may get out of control.
According to Abakar Abakarov, a member of the supreme council of the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus, the closure of Salafi mosques in Dagestan may result in the radicalization of young people.
"The pressure on mosques in Russia was started not today. At present, Russia issued 15 decisions on the closure of mosques. And a lot of cities had only one mosque. When the mosque in Novy Urengoy was demolished, we kept silent, and no protests took place. Then, the mosque in Kotrov Street was closed, and then the mosque in Shamkhal, and now, the turn of Khasavyurt came. We cannot remain silent, and we should act together and defend our interests. Besides, everyone should also understand that when we close a Salafi mosque, we play into the hands of radical preachers. They will preach at apartments, and then six months or a year later, a completely uncontrollable situation may be formed here," said Abakar Abakarov.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Patimat Makhmudova Source: CK correspondent
