A question of nationalities
It is one of the curious features of Bishkek’s cultural life that there are lots of things are going on – but it’s almost impossible to know about them before it’s too late. “Mouth-to-mouth” propaganda seems to be the most widely used channel of announcing events and often it’s only sometime after an event has happened that you learn about it … when other people tell you how interesting it was and how, fortunately, somebodyelse had heard about it … and had told them so that they had managed to catch it.
This was the reason that, last year, we launched a short (1 page), monthly, free newsletter in pdf format, containing announcements of up-coming cultural activities, (mainly in Bishkek), which we called “Bishkek Mandaniyat”, (Madaniyat in Kyrgyz means “culture”).
To be fair, there have been several similar initiatives over the years … someone in the US embassy used to send out information on a regular basis, but they’ve now gone to another diplomatic posting and the emails dried up; both the Swiss and the Germans send out updates about events that they sponsor; there is are magazines with “What’s On” columns and one one of the telephone “information services” distributes a weekly newsletter with information on a wide variety of events.
Recently, I have started receiving newsletters from The Bishkek Music Society with information about forthcoming concerts and performances in the Philharmonia, the Opera and Ballet Theater and similar venues. The society was established in 1999 with the objectives of:
- Promote the development of music, opera and ballet in Kyrgyzstan;
- Support the development of talented artists;
- Sponsor new productions and thus help to maintain the quality of performances;
- Create an international social place where people can meet and be entertained and
- Offer advantages for the members.
Now, you wouldn’t expect an organization like the Bishkek Music Society to be the centre of a dispute. However, I have to admit that I more than a little surprised when I received the invitation to their annual event to mark the opening of the new season. The invitation included information about “how to become a member”, including the fact that they have different categories of membership: International, Kyrgyz and Honorary.
As I told the representatives of the Society when they asked me at the reception if I would like to join … I don’t see anything wrong with having different categories of membership … but I was more than a little surprised by the particular categories that they had created and by the fact that “International” members were charged a fee twice as much as local members. To be fair, there was no definition given as to what was meant by the different titles – but it seemed clear that the first was for foreigners and the second for local citizens. In my opinion, however, there is something very wrong, if not racist, with charging people different rates based on their nationality.
I do not think one should be charged a different price simply on the basis of one’s passport.
Unfortunately it seems to happen here quite a bit … For example, there are hotels that have different rates for local citizens, for citizens of the countries of the CIS, (the republics of the former Soviet Union), and for those from “the distant abroad”, (basically, anyone else). If there is a choice, I don’t stay there. I don’t mind paying more for a better room or better service, but I don’t consider I should pay more than a another person for the same goods and services just because I have a different passport.
Indeed, I think that such differential pricing is not only bad practice and tantamount to racism, I think it is actually illegal … as The Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic contains a clause that states that:
“… No one shall be subject to any type of discrimination, violation of his rights and freedoms, on the grounds of ethnic origin, sex, race, nationality, language, religious belief, or other conditions or circumstances of a personal or social nature. …”
Now, things are rarely ever simple … and there are a some problems with relying on this clause.
For example: the term “nationality” does not necessarily mean here in Kyrgyzstan what we might take it to mean in the West. Although one definition of the term might refer to “the country, or state, to which a person belongs – either from birth or as a result of naturalization”, there is a wider sense in which the word can be used: “identifying the group of people, or the nation, who share a common origin or a common culture”. The first refers to a person’s citizenship whereas the second is their nationality. As is the case with many other former Soviet countries, Kyrgyz passports, still record not only a person’s citizenship, (for example: Kyrgyz Republic), but also their nationality, (such as: Kyrgyz, Russian, Uzbek, German, Tartar … and so forth) and it is claimed that Kyrgyzstan is a multicultural society with over eighty such “nationalities” represented in the population.
This situation is not unique to Kyrgyzstan … for example:
- It is a common situation throughout the former Soviet Union. Shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the newly established Soviet Union, faced a brutal civil war and in an attempt to win over the myriad of peoples that inhabited the vast territories it ruled, a commission was formed under Joseph Stalin to address what was called the “nationalities question”. It was part of his task to assimilate and unite the various nationalities into the new fledgling state. To a large extent it worked in that an uneasy peace was maintained throughout most o0f the Soviet period, although outbreaks of ethnic conflict did erupt from time to time.
- Britain is also a multicultural society with a kaleidoscope of nationalities represented. The school in which I taught in North London had a fair selection, many of which still clung to their ethnic origins, whether that was: Jewish; Indian; Pakistani; Sri Lankan, (either Sinhalese or Tamil); Cypriot, (either Turkish or Greek); or any other. Cultural loyalties and identity can be very strong and not necessarily tied to one’s citizenship. One British politician caused uproar in 1990 when he talked about the “Cricket Test” … arguing that whether people from ethnic minorities in Britain supported the England Cricket team (rather than the team from their country of origin) should be considered a “barometer” of whether they were truly British.
- The Americans faced a similar problem at the start of the Twentieth Century, leading Theodore Roosevelt to state in 1915: “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. … The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.” Although these labels, and others, continue in common parlance down to the present day, America has found that many, if not most, of her “sons” and “daughters” were truly “American-Americans” before any other type of American.
Now, the clause in the constitution refers to both “ethnic origin” and “nationality” independently, (which could be a tautology in that they could be referring to, basically, the same thing), whilst it doesn’t refer explicitly to “citizenship“. Having said that, however, I think that the clause – especially the catch-all phrasing in the last ten words of the sentence – makes it clear that no-one should be subject to any kind of discrimination based on some form of stereotype.
As I said, I have no problems with the Society having different categories of membership … but I don’t think those categories should be based on characteristics such as “nationality”. I suggested that they have a set membership fee for ordinary members and perhaps a “Family fee” for a couple – that should not be a problem … and maybe a “Corporate Membership” … and so on. For special groups such as pensioners, veterans, invalids, students, performers, teachers or people who live outside Bishkek … discounts or concessions can be offered …
I do understand, for example, that foreign visitors to Kyrgyzstan are often wealthier than their local counterparts, and many of the local people who would be interested to join the Society might well be on a low salary … so offer them a concessionary rate.
And if that wasn’t enough … I was completely thrown by the fact that the definition of “Honorary” members was obviously very different than I would have normally expected. To me, an Honorary membership is something that is normally conferred as “an honour”, perhaps in recognition of some distinguished service to the Society. An Honorary Membership would normally be free of membership fees … but in the Music Society, there is a fee … a larger fee than the usual subscription but it does carry with it additional benefits such as “honorary mentions” in the society’s listings.
So, did I join the Society? Well, yes, I did actually, (or else I wouldn’t be receiving the newsletters informing me of concerts!) I do think the Society is a good idea and I didn’t begrudge the money but, on a point of principle, I refused to join as an “International” member. I paid the extra money and became an “Honorary” member instead.
Anyone who is interested to receive a copy of Bishkek Madaniyat each month, (in either English or Russian, or both), can send a request to: . Also, anyone who knows of any forthcoming events which they think could be included, perhaps you could let us know, at the same address.
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