Experts: scandal with Albina Ildarova's participation in beauty contest distracts Dagestani residents from their real problems

The Dagestan's image is being hurt not by the participation of Albina Ildarova, a native of the republic, in the beauty contest of "Miss Russia-2016", but by corruption and lawlessness of law enforcers. This opinion was expressed by experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Users of social networks have criticized 21-year-old Albina Ildarova for her participation in a photo shooting in a swimsuit.

The region faces a lot of more important issues, states Gadjimurad Sagitov, the editor-in-chief of the Dagestani newspaper "Novoye Delo".

"People should better pay attention to high level of corruption and bureaucratic chaos in the republic and on improper behaviour of law enforcers," Gadjimurad Sagitov has said.

The journalist believes that to take part in a photo shooting in swimsuits or not is a "personal question, a question of family and upbringing," and it is in no way a public problem.

The scandal around Albina Ildarova is artificially inflated, and it has distracted residents of Dagestan from the real problems. This opinion is shared by Akhmet Yarlykapov, Senior Researcher t the Centre for Ethno-Political Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

According to Akhmet Yarlykapov, the criticism voiced against Albina Ildarova has shown that the republic "faces problems of moral terms," since the population includes "ultra-secular and orthodox people."

The journalists earlier interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted that the criticism voiced against beauty contest participants from Northern Caucasus reveals contradictory ethical standards accepted in the society.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.