The dispute about the borders between Chechnya and Ingushetia, which has been going on for more than 30 years, erupted into a public dispute between politicians and public figures. The Chechen authorities offered the Ingush side to settle the land dispute in a Sharia court, reacting harshly to an appeal from the Teip Council of Ingushetia.
The Speaker of the Chechen Parliament Magomed Daudov recorded a 24-minute video message to the Teip Council of the Ingush people. The speaker of the legislature harshly reprimanded the Ingush elders and called the public organization an «office» engaged in provocations. «Lorde» was outraged by a speech by the council’s acting chairman Murad Doskiyev, who said that Kadyrov’s behaviour was not befitting of a Muslim and a man.
«I was sent the link to the speech and wondered what was another provocation by the «office» of the Teip Council in Ingushetia. I would like to point out that this is not a reference to the Ingush people, this is an address to the Teip Council and to some individuals. If you listened carefully to our chapter, he said in his speech, «People who talk are not the masters of their trousers, and therefore I will make a banner out of them.» It’s easy to talk… Ramzan Kadyrov said that if anyone claimed a metre of Chechen land, he would make (from his trousers) a banner and let him go. I say again, let’s do it! Whoever doubts our words, tell us when and what time you will cross the border and say that this is your land. If we don’t do what we promised, then my words are empty,» Daudov said.
The speaker of the Chechen Parliament quoted Ramzan Kadyrov at least 10 times during a retreat in the Galanchozhsky district, where the head of Chechnya threatened to make a banner out of the trousers of «chatterboxes» who talk about an alienated territory and make them flee. Daudov said that there was not a single person in the Ingush Teyp Council who «discusses Chechens» that they would shake hands with.
«Not one of the elders present stood up and said indignantly: ‘What kind of statements are you making? These are our brothers Chechens, with one faith and one language». They sit down and discuss what Mukhazhir [Mukhazhir Nalgiev is an elder of the Nalgiev family and an active participant in protests against the illegal border agreement in 2018] said, so-and-so… what did he say! What did he say about the Chechen people?! Where in Chechnya have you seen historians or social activists sitting around discussing the Ingush people? Who did you see? Why aren’t you ashamed? You people are of advanced age! You sit around and provoke the nations. You have to lead by example and say that there should be peace and harmony between nations. […] Instead of saying, no, they won’t make [a banner out of their pants], you start making statements saying that you are being threatened,» Daudov said.
A real Muslim, an Ingush, would not say a single bad word about his Chechen brother, just as Chechens do about Ingush people, he added. Daudov said that the Ingush Teip Council makes statements whenever they want. The speaker of the Chechen Parliament shamed representatives of public organizations who had spread panic over works near the Fortanga river bed.
«We worked on our side. Let’s say on our own shore. We were carrying out bank-protecting works on our territory, because we […] five or six meters […] you came upon, gathering the Rosgvardiya in Dattya. […] I keep repeating that I’m not saying anything against the Ingush. The Ingush and Chechens are connected by kinship ties. As our head says, it’s a «bunch» of people who are causing the turmoil. We said this three years ago, that this is a «bunch» that is trying to come to power and sow discord among the peoples. They held a meeting at the parliamentary level, raising the issue that 12 and a half hectares of land in the Erzy Reserve are allocated to Chechnya. I turn to the council. You speak of such notions as honour and dignity, you do not regard the Chechens as your brothers,» he said.
The chairman of the Chechen Parliament hinted that the initiative to establish borders between Ingushetia and Chechnya belonged to the former leadership of Ingushetia and wondered why Ingush people did not lay claim to it. «Your former head Yunus-Bek Evkurov said that he wanted to sign an agreement in Magas. Ramzan Akhmatovich (Kadyrov) went there, signed the document in the government and left. What do you want? Do you have any pretensions? Everyone who signed the agreement is alive, Yunus-Bek, Zelimkhan Yevloyev and Magomed Yandiyev. If you have any complaints, present them to us, leave us alone,» the speaker of the Chechen Parliament expressed indignation.
Daudov asked the leadership of Ingushetia to gather public figures, historians and other activists of the republic at one table in turn. «From our side not a single public figure, politician, academician, no one touches the subject of the Ingush and the borders, because our head has forbidden them to do so. You can see that this topic is only discussed by Chechens from Europe. We’re trying to consolidate society,» he said.
Daudov criticized the report on the borders and territory of Ingushetia
Magomed Daudov also expressed his attitude towards the report of the nationwide Commission to review issues related to the definition of the territory and borders of Ingushetia, which was established in 2018. He hinted in passing that a similar report from the Chechen side might follow.
«There’s no need to write out 93 pages, two documents are enough. […] We talked to your opinion leader. They said that Merzhi and Tsecha-Akhke belong to the Ingush. They have laid it out correctly, but I will add on my own. I am not satisfied with only one thing. They said that the territories belonged to you in 1866, and there even earlier, in 1861, five years before 1866 these territories belonged to you. But the people who lived there wrote a collective appeal and went back to their republic […] When you started talking about the annals of 1851, I knew you were networking evil and weaving intrigue. I looked at how many pages in the report, I swear by Allah, I didn’t even finish reading it. […] Why didn’t you start from 1810?» questioned Daudov.
The speaker of the parliament summoned the public commission for settlement of issues related to the establishment of the border of Ingushetia to the Shariat, stressing the participation of the chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ingushetia Ayup Gagiyev.
«When it started, Ramzan Akhmatovich said, if they don’t want it according to the law, but according to Shariah, that’s how it will be. I was asked to convey that our side was ready to take part in it. I went straight out at night to Ingushetia, and I looked into the courtyard of the Ingush mufti to pass on the invitation. I was told he wasn’t at home […] No one accepted the summons to the Sharia court. I was at Barakhoyev Akhmed’s house in the village of Redant at night. I said: «If you want us to swear, we will swear in Shariah. And when we asked if he would take a mutual oath of the rightness of his words, he said that it was the people’s business, and he should not swear for the common cause. Now I’m calling you to Shariah,» Daudov said.
He asked to schedule any time, take all 30 people from the committee. «Be sure to call Gagiyev Ayup, he knows and boiled down to the situation. Here you have it short and clear,» he concluded.
Recall that a group of people close to Kadyrov, led by the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, Magomed Daudov, arrived in the Ingush village of Novy Redant late in the evening of October 24, 2018. Daudov came on instructions from Ramzan Kadyrov, who summoned the elder Akhmed Barakhoyev to a Sharia court because of his statement at a rally in Magas. «I informed him that Ramzan Kadyrov invites him (Barakhoyev) to the Sharia court tomorrow for the words he said to the head of Chechnya at the rally in response to his criticism of Akhmed Pogorov. Barakhoyev said that he did not retract his words, and that they were spoken in response to the Chechen leader’s harsh reaction. He would not give up the Sharia trial either, but he would not go to Grozny to see Ramzan. He’ll have to consider what he should do, and he’ll have to consult with his own people,» the report says. a message from the Telegram channel Glavkom RI.
Earlier, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov at a field meeting in the Galanchozhsky district threatened to take away from Ingushetia the land given to the republic by Dzhokhar Dudayev [former president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria] if the Ingush do not calm down. According to him, the agreement on setting the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya in 2018. — a fraternal favour. The elders called his performance rude and unreasonable. Relations between the Ingush and Chechen peoples have recently been put to the test, and under such circumstances any provocations are inadmissible, they said.
Kadyrov’s speech came three days after Ingush residents held a spontaneous assembly in the village of Galashki, demanding an end to the situation. This is how they reacted to the Fortanga riverbed being changed by Chechen road builders, without consulting the local authorities.
Fortanga had earlier published a report with the main provisions on the boundaries and territory of Ingushetia prepared by the Nationwide Commission on the Boundaries and Territory of the Republic formed by the World Congress of the Ingush People on October 30, 2018. And in July 2021 the Teyp Council sent a document to the leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia. In this work, cartographic materials and documents from the collections of the State Archive of the Republic of Ingushetia, from the Rosreestr and other state organizations and departments were used. According to the authors of the report, the document confirms that the territory of the Republic of Ingushetia transferred in 2018 under the agreement between the U-B. Yevkurov and R. Kadyrov of the Chechen Republic is an integral part of the Republic of Ingushetia.
