12:20, 8 March 2016

Residents of Nalchik pay tribute to memory of repressed Balkars

The memorial to victims of political repression in Nalchik. Photo: http://nalchik360.ru/?id=15

In Nalchik, the Memorial complex to victims of political repression has become a centre of the mourning events held in memory of the events which took place 72 years ago.

Members of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Kabardino-Balkaria pronounced the mourning prayer (dua) in memory of the Balkars who fell victim to the forced deportation in 1944. Then, members of the government, MPs of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), and public activists laid flowers to the tomb of Kyazim Mechiev, a Balkar enlightener.

Not far from the Memorial, members of the youth NGO "Elbrusoid" offered the participants of the mourning rally hot tea, coffee, and lakumas (doughnuts).

The mass deportation of the Balkar people occurred on March 8, 1944. At least 37,713 Balkars were sent in 14 echelons to the places of settlement in Central Asia. In 1957, the Balkars were allowed to return home.

Several thousand people gathered to pay tribute to the memory of the Balkars who fell victim to the deportation, the RIA "Kabardino-Balkaria" reports with reference to Mukhadin Kumakhov, Kabardino-Balkarian Minister of Culture.

Yuri Kokov, the leader of Kabardino-Balkaria, called the deportation of the Balkar people in Central Asia and Kazakhstan in 1944 "a monstrous crime of the regime."

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