“The kid had heart …”

April 5th, 2014 Sections: Life In Kyrgyzstan, News, Weekly_Postcards
Kurt Cobain, photographed by Mark Seliger, 1993.

Kurt Cobain, photographed by Mark Seliger, 1993.

There’s an interesting trend on social media to post photographs – some are beautiful, fascinating, evocative … but, unfortunately an awful lot of them are, (not to mince words), dross … snapshots that may be of interest to those who post them, their immediate family and friends – but because they have been posted on-line they become public property.

One of the more, (IMHO – “in my humble opinion“, or should that be IMAO – “in my arrogant opinion“), worthwhile tendencies is to publish old, historic photographs showing people and places from the past.

One of the things I have noticed is an preoccupation with stars from the past; the likes of: The Beatles, Queen, Michael Jackson, Jimmy Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder … and Kurt Cobain.

Now, I’ll be honest … the phenomena that was Kurt Cobain passed me by first time around; the front man and lead singer for the “supergroup” Nirvanna may have had a significant impact on the development of Rock music but I confess to knowing little or nothing about him and I have only really come to look into his story as result of seeing these photographs.

Music is a very personal thing … and I can understand why Nirvana “passed me by”; although Andy likes Rock music, I find some of it heavy and difficult to relate to … that’s presumably down to my age and upbringing, although I do know other people of my age who are aficionados of the genre.

Born in Aberdeen, (near Seattle, Washington – not Scotland), in 1967 Cobain seems to have led a troubled life … facing problems at school as an outsider, his parents split up when he was just seven and he had trouble accommodating to the new situation, arrested for spray painting graffiti on vehicles … and later had problems with drug addition, finally committing suicide by putting a gun into his mouth and pulling the trigger on 5th April, 1994, (although there are still people who think, despite the evidence of a suicide note, that he was killed by someone else).

Thus he became one of the pop icons who will be “forever 27″.

Despite this troubled life, or maybe because of it, he was extremely creative and is  remembered as one of the most iconic and greatest rock musicians of all time.  Interestingly, Bob Dylan – representative of a totally different musical genre said of Cobain; “the kid has heart”.

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In a way, it feels appropriate to open this week’s postcard with a retrospective look back … because there has been a lot of looking back at the events of history during the week.   Much of this retrospection has been focused on the troubled times leading up to the Revolution of 2010. 

There has been the trial of the servicemen who obeyed their orders and opened fire on the protesting crowds outside the White back in April 2010.  The relatives of those who fell on that day have demanding justice and it led to some unpleasant scenes as emotions were revived.

The Prime Minister at the that, Daniyar Usenov, who fled the country in the face of the riots has also been on trial for his part in the lead up to and during those events with the prosecutors asking the court to deliver a life sentence on him – although he is being tried in absentia and there is no indication that would actually end up in prison.

The possible involvement of the Bakiev regime in an attack (a shooting its said was an attempted contract killing) on a British businessman has also been under scrutiny.  It’s claimed that the President’s associated attempted a takeover of the ill Jeeroy Gold mine which at that time was under license to a British company.  The businessman represented the company here in Kyrgyzstan and campaigned to oppose the takeover efforts – apparently earning the enmity of those in power who decided to do something about it.  The shooting failed in that swift medical assistance saved his life.  The prosecution called once more for heavy prison sentences on the alleged perpetrators – about twenty years each.

Meanwhile, up in Naryn,  there has been a call for the “April Heroes” to be investigated … there is a suspicion that some of them are phoneys and calls for the compensation paid to them and their families to be recouped.

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Both of the previous revolutions started as protest meetings, and we’ve seen elsewhere in the world in recent years how such protest meetings have developed into mass movements which have threatened and even caused governments to fall.  It doesn’t always lead to revolution, however, as we saw last October – although it did result in a prison sentence for some of those who took part, and the loss of their mandates in the parliament.

We were supposed to have had another such Rally last month – on the 17th – but it got postponed until the 31st … and then postponed again, to an uncertain date when it was discovered that they hadn’t informed the authorities in time to make it a legal gathering.  The date has now been fixed – 10th April … so we are all asking ourselves what is likely to happen.

One of the organizers actually said that they had decided not to stage any more rallies – but a decision of the court to ban in front of the White House was a provocation, so they’ve decided to go ahead after all.  One of the other organizers says he doesn’t expect just 10,000 people to turn up, (a reference to some of the estimates of the crowds in 2005 and 2010) … but a million.

A million?! – that would be pretty impressive for a country of just over hive million people … almost as startling as the number of mobile phones in the country.  I wonder if this represents wishful thinking … will he will be vindicated and it will be like the Million man march on Washington … or will it end up like the “million mums” group on facebook, whose membership falls well below that mark! … a “million” in name only.   Personally, I think a million is not just a seemingly impossible target – it’s really overkill; a rally of 10,000 would be more than enough to send a signal to the government that these politicians really do have a support base and deserve to be heard … of course, however, anything significantly less than that will raise questions about just how much support they really do have.

Actually, I sincerely hope he is wrong – if only because the place designated for rallies to take place instead is in Gorky Park … not only is on my route to the hotel every day … it’s also far too small … probably far too small for 10,000 yet alone a million.

Whatever, the organizers say, it will be a peaceful assembly … but they are ready for “provocations” from the authorities.

As it happens, people here are used to protests … last year there over 600 of them – almost two a day and we had protests against protests.

Although the rallies and protests over what has probably been the main bone of contention – the Kumtor Gold Mine in the Issyk Kul region in the North East of the country – seemed to have come to a halt with promises that the villagers won’t do anything else illegal, problems have been brewing up over another Gold mine – this time in Talas in the North West of the country.  There have also similar protests over another mining enterprise down in the South West.  The Talas protests have been particularly notable because that’s where the 2010 troubles began – although people from Naryn point out that they were the first to hold rallies calling on the Bakiev’s to go.

The Talas protests are also important because they started to turn nasty … starting from something like 100 protesters, the numbers grew shortly after the police tried to “persuade” people to go home – which resulted in stones being thrown – which was answered by shots being fired in the air, the use of rubber bullets (and possibly stun grenades – although the Ministry of the Interior deny this) … to a thousand.  The protesters resorted to the favourite tactic of blocking the road – the main road (if not the only road) through the valley – but the authorities later said that it was all clear.

They also said that 19 police had been injured although not a hair on the protesters was harmed … however, graphic video and pictures soon appeared on the internet which suggested that this may have been an exaggeration – or wishful thinking – including bruises on people it is said were hit by plastic bullets.

That surprised me quite a bit – the fact that weapons were used, (even if they were “non lethal” weapons – that phrase is taken from a news report) … given the experience of Aksu in 2004, and the 2010 revolution – especially the prosecution of those soldiers that I mentioned earlier …

There are some very funny things about this rally – some people are saying that although a Kazakh firm has a license to work the mine – nothing has yet been done … the firm, however, has decided to suspend its work … “we don’t want to provide the cause of an opposition rally”, one of their spokesman is supposed to have said.

The new Prime Minister has laid the blame for the escalations at the feet of the local government, the company and the Geological Agency … for not having done enough work involving the local population in preparatory work.  There has also been a fair amount of speculation that, far from being a spontaneous event, it was planned well in advance and organized by someone with many of the protesters are a “rent a mob” … not necessarily activists in pursuit of a cause but people people who have been paid to turn up.  In the past there have been quite a few stories about this particular phenomenon suggesting that it might well be a characteristic of the Kyrgyz protest movement.

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All of this turmoil and talk of “million oppositionists” has all come as a bit of a surprise because everything seemed to quieten down with the dismissal of the government and the negotiations to form a new one.  Although some of the deputies of the Ata Jurt party, the largest in the parliament – but with insufficient members and unable to garner support from other parties in order to form a government, had indicated that they might have been willing to join a new coalition – that idea was quickly stamped on with  the threat that of the party’s deputies joining or supporting whatever coalition emerged from the discussions would be expelled from the party.

As it happens, a new majority was formed and, surprise surprise, it consists of the same members as before – including those who had voted to bring down the previous government by leaving the previous coalition.  The Prime Minister, who was their main bone of contention, had resigned and so they saw no impediment to rejoin … although there are some changes from the previous arrangement – the name of the coalition has changed and there are a few new Ministers – and, of course, a few casualties as a result of the resulting reshuffle.

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It’s not just the Kyrgyz that have been having a reshuffle … we were all stunned during the week by the  unexpected news (at least totally unexpected to most of us) that the Kazakh Prime Minister had resigned.  I’m not sure about everyone else, but the thing that struck me is that normally it’s Kyrgyzstan that seems to follow the lead of others – not the other way around – be it putting up fences around government buildings; trying to introduce new laws – on controlling the activities of non-governmental organizations, on tourism, on prohibiting “gay propaganda”, (Kurt Cobain would not have been amused), and so on.  Of course, what happened in Astana wasn’t really modeled on what was happening in Bishkek … it seems to have either resulted in rapid decisive measures … or, perhaps, was well anticipated by a better informed authorities or even, dare I possibly suggest, orchestrated.  Within hours, consultations were held and a new government wheeled out .. and a promoted post for the President’s daughter in the parliament.

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It’s not all been been troubled times however … and before I run out of time and space, as usual, let me try and give a few other snippets from the news:

In what appears to be something to “Turkeys voting for Christmas”, the President of the Bishkek Taxi Drivers Association has called for taxis to be licensed … actually, although I am not normally fond of licensing as a measure, I can see some logic in this.

A similar thought  about Turkeys and Christmas crossed my mind when I read the news that the Ministry of Finance Tax wanted to ban requests for “voluntary advance payments” of taxes in order to meet their planned targets each month.  Each tax office has a plan which they have to fulfill and inspectors risk losing their jobs if they fail to meet them.  As a result, towards the end of each month, the tax offices ring round companies in their district asking if it is possible to pay a little extra early as an advance payment of what is due to be paid next month.  There’s no real threat and its not a call for extra money … just a request to pay some a little earlier than is actually required according to the legislation.  We used to get such calls regularly – one month the request was to help fill the plan for Sales Tax, the next month it may be to help fill the plan for VAT – yes, we have both.  I always used to complain that this was a self defeating practice because, of course, it meant that next month they would get less for that tax and fall even further behind their targets.  For several years, however, we haven’t received these phone calls … and I thought that the practice was dying out … but apparently not.   

 

There’s been yet more debate about the possibility of entering the Customs Union – with the new Prime Minister reflecting what both the President and outgoing Prime Minister have said before … that the decision will rest with parliament.  Some of the deputies seem to have grasped the point and called for Public Hearings to be held to help explore the possible implications of such making such a move – or not – and helping to asses the public opinion on the subject.  I am almost expecting a call for another referendum on the subject.

One of the things that may have helped to create this call was the news that a recent survey reported that more than half the respondents who took part would be willing to give up sovereignty in order to get a “better life” – a figure that was boosted even higher when those who would not “rule out” such an approach were considered … only just over a third were categorically opposed to the idea.

Another survey revealed that a third of all families that were asked said that they have relatives working abroad.

Most of those, of course will be in Russia and Kazakhstan … but there are also people further abroad.  I’m not sure how many would be in Tajikistan – but they will have been facing very difficult times in recent weeks as the border was basically closed after the incidents a few weeks ago with the incident over the road that is being built as a by pass around one of the Tajik enclaves in the Batken oblast.  This week, however, the border was opened once again …

One of the main concerns about that border is the amount of narcotics that is said to cross the border on its journey from Afghanistan to Russia, Europe and beyond.  Press reports often say things like “most” Afghan grown heroin passes through the Ferghana valley – so it was interesting to see the report that actually said something like 14% of the crop is smuggled thought Kyrgyzstan … but quite how they arrive at this figure – I don’t know.

A court case has brought a little relief to the Jehovah’s Witnesses … who refuse to undertake compulsory military service on religious grounds.  A number of believers had criminal convictions quashed removing one particular hurdle that they face … but there are still a lot of questions about how such conacientious objectors should be treated.

One of the other issues close to my heart – the visa free regime that was introduce just about two years ago – has been in the news again … with both sides of the argument presenting their case for either abandoning the measure in favour of electronic visas, or saying that it has proved to be a good thing for the industry and the country as a whole and should be kept.  There is no doubt that there have been more tourists in the country since the decision was taken, (over a million more if you accept the official statistics – and I admit that I have my concerns about them),  - but it’s hard to say how effective it really is as not enough time has elapsed bearing in mind that Tourism is seasonal, cyclical and we have only really been through one such cycle.  Most foreign tour operators last year were making plans for new tours to be introduced this year  … or next … and then they need time to promote them and the general trend is that it takes between three to five years to establish a new tourism product in the market.  As a result, I think there’s a question about Kyrgyzstan’s reliability and integrity and the law introducing the regime was explicit in that it would operate until 2020 … so tour operators planning planning new routes would have time to develop them.  By abandoning the visa regime early they would be pulling the carpet from underneath them – wasting all the effort and investment that they have made … so they are less likely to accept any developments or reassurances in the future.  And it’s not just tour operators … it could affect any potential investors be it food processors or gold mines.  The most graphic argument I have heard, however, came from the Deputy Minister in charge of Tourism, (a marketing specialist),  who commented that adopting the policy without a marketing plan to blitz potential visitors with the attractions of the country was like “opening the door but not inviting people to come in … “so, of course, they walk on by. 

There’s a new tourist attraction here in Bishkek – but it seems to be aimed more at the local market – ie Kyrgyz citizens.   One of the city center parks, Oak Park, is famous – at least here – for its open air museum of sculptures … which is being augmentted by a series of statues of President and Prime Ministers … from Akiev to Atambaev and Razzakov to … well, I’m not sure if they will have one of Djoormat Otorbaev, the latest incumbent.  These statues are to be made of wax … I doubt that it will have the appeal of a Madam Tussaud’s but the main thing that interests me is how the wax effigies will survive the summer heat.

That brings me to the stories about Glaciers – in particular about retreating glaciers … whether as a result of global warming, pollution from gold mines or a feature of the use of water for the hydro electricity industry. Although this topic has been in the news quite a lot in the past, this week it took a new turn with experts suggesting that we are likely much more flooding of Kyrgyzstan’s valleys as a result of melting ice high in the mountains.

The question of water is never far from the news in one form or another … this week we were told that Kyrgyzstan has decided to stop exporting electricity to its neighbours in order to help preserve water stocks in the reservoirs … which are falling to dangerously low levels … repeating the situation which we experienced in 2008 which led to a series of rolling power cuts … a difficult time that contributed to the social upheaval that resulted in the events of 2010.

Spring is definitely in the air – the weather has improved, although we are still suffering the occasional chilly day … and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is still issuing “storm warnings”.  One of the normal signs that “Spring is the air” is the arrival of the stalls on the city center crossroads selling Maxim Shoro or Arahan, (a traditional refreshing drink made from grains), Chalap Shoro or Tan, (a sort of milk drink made from cheese), Kvass, (a Russian drink made from Black Rye Bread) and Iced Tea.  Actually, they are all a lot tastier and much more refreshing than those descriptions make them appear.

Spring is also the time for the annual Jazz Festival.  This year there is a treat in store.  Among the ten groups of artists appearing this year from  Austria, Germany, Japan, Tajikistan, the US, Uzbekistan and, of course,  Kyrgyzstan will be Eldar Jangirov, a Grammy award nominee  pianist who was born in Frunze, (as Bishkek used to be called), but emigrated with his family to Kansas City when he was ten and now lives in the States … where he is a popular jazz pianist – although he also plays a wide of music from different genres.  As well as the CDs he’s released, you can catch some of his work on you tube.

It may not be Rock in the style of Kurt Cobain … but “the kid has heart.” 

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where we also have specific pages for Celestial Mountains, the Silk Road Lodge, The Celestial Mountains Guesthouse in Naryn  and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki … and not forgetting ianbek), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialM

 

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