Kabardino-Balkaria: idea of Muslim districts in Russian cities rejected

The proposal of Nafigulla Ashirov, co-chairman of the Board of Muftis of Russia, to make separate Muslim districts in Russian megalopolises was ambiguously treated by people in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Anas Pshikhachov, Chairman of the Spiritual Department of Moslems of Kabardino-Balkaria, believes that this novelty will only aggravate the situation. "I can't support this idea, because it turns out that Moslems will live separately from the rest of the society, as is a state inside the state," Mr Pshikhachov said, emphasizing that "the Russian people should keep together and united."

"At the same time," the Mufti of Kabardino-Balkaria has noted, "I'm highly concerned with what happens in Russian cities, when non-Russians are assassinated."

Valery Khatazhukov, leader of the Kabardino-Balkarian Public Human Rights centre, thinks that Nafigulla Ashirov's idea was just to attract the authorities' attention to the acuteness of the situation.

We remind you that according to mass media, a Moslem girl-student dressed in hijab was attacked by Moscow skinheads.

Nafigulla Ashirov has visited her at hospital, and then announced his idea of isolating separate houses or even districts in Moscow for Moslems.