In Chechnya, schoolchildren write letters to militants urging to lay down their arms

Chechnya has launched the republic's action "Call of Soul", which plans to collect at schools letters of pupils urging members of the armed underground to return to civilian life. The action was organized by the Committee on Youth Affairs of the republic's government.

"On March 22, our country launched the large-scale action called" Call of Soul". As part of the action, the schools of the republic will collect letters of first-seventh-form pupils urging members of the armed underground to return to civilian life. Collection of letters with appeals will be conducted by all schools of the republic, and the letters will include appeals written by children of perished law enforcement agents and members of illegal armed formations (IAF), which will be then delivered by helicopter to the mountain areas of Chechnya and scattered over the forests, where militants are hiding," states the Committee on Youth Affairs.

According to a staff member of the Committee, on March 22, the first appeals to the militants were collected at the republic's lyceum No. 1 named after President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev in the city of Grozny. "The best letters of appeal written by children to members of IAFs will be read on the air of the local TV Channels and will be published in the newspapers. Completion of the action "Call of Soul" is scheduled for this April," says the source.

Commenting on the conduct of the action held by the republic's authorities to return militants to civilian life, the head of a local NGO, who preferred to remain anonymous, stated that he did not believe that the action would succeed.

"It is more of a PR campaign to our local officials and not a real action, aimed at returning militants to civilian life. People, who at present with in arms oppose the government, think completely different categories and concepts, what we do. They say that they fight for the faith and they are willing to give their lives in Allah's way. And children's letters, statements and appeals of their parents and everything else are unlikely to cause them to change their beliefs," says the public figure.