An Orthodox cross on the grave of a resident of Naberezhnye Chelny was cut down at a cemetery in the regional center of Aktanysh. The relatives of the deceased believe that the grave was desecrated by local residents, while officially the cemetery is not Muslim. At the same time, the officials tried to persuade the relatives not to put up the cross again, so as not to “anger the Muslims”. The Russian Orthodox Church called on law enforcement officers to investigate the situation. The sister-in-law of the deceased, in a conversation with, named three possible reasons for the incident. In Tatarstan, a scandal unfolded over the cut down Orthodox cross on the grave of a man who died in September. According to Vechernyaya Kazan, Viktor Smirnov's relatives place the blame on "radical rural Muslims."

"Even the local precinct officer, to whom we wrote a statement about vandalism, offered to reburial Viktor in another place!" - the sister-in-law of the deceased Irina Gregorzhevskaya told reporters.

Officially, the cemetery in the Aktanysh hay, where Viktor was buried, is not a confessional Muslim, but a public one. Smirnov died in September, some time after the hard-borne COVID-19, the cause of death was heart failure.

“He said he wants to be buried in Aktanysh. This is our homeland with my sister, Victor himself also lived there for some time, he was even registered there and loved this place very much, ”Gregorzhevskaya said.

When Viktor's relatives began to find out whether it was possible to bury him there, the keeper of local cemeteries Ildus Khusainov said that he did not recommend putting a cross on the grave, "as local Muslims can demolish it." He also added that Mullah Ruslan Hazrat does not allow Orthodox crosses to be placed on graves.

“We were surprised at such demands, but nevertheless we put up a wooden cross, knowing that we were acting legally,” added the deceased's sister-in-law.

Some time after the funeral, Viktor Smirnov's relatives came to the cemetery again and saw that the cross had been cut down. They contacted the police and the district administration, and also wrote to local publics on social networks with a call to pay attention to the incident.

“Many comments were offensive and inciting ethnic hatred. There were, of course, words of support, but not enough. I recorded all the radical statements and wrote a statement to the police, ”added Gregorzhevskaya.

"This is a purely Tatar region"

At a meeting with Smirnov's family, local officials "tried to persuade them in every possible way not to return the cross to the grave." According to Irina Gregorzhevskaya, deputy head of the Aktanysh region Raikhan Galimyanova, chairman of the executive committee Ilnur Khuzin and imam-mukhtasib Ruslan-khazrat Murtazin said that Aktanysh is “a purely Tatar region, that they are doing their best to preserve the Tatar language and the existing“ national purity ”.

The Aktanysh district administration confirmed to journalists that they had advised the relatives of the deceased not to install an Orthodox cross on the grave.

“The keeper of the cemetery orally explained about the undesirability of installing the cross, arguing that predominantly Muslims live on the territory of the region, and that mostly Muslims are buried in the cemetery. In September, relatives installed a wooden cross (without a slab) over the grave. A few days later, unidentified persons sawed down the cross, ”the local authorities said in a statement.

The deputy head of the district Raikhan Galimyanova, in turn, told the Podyem newspaper that they had never had such incidents in Aktanysh.

“We have never had such obstacles and obstacles either. An investigation is underway, and we really want to find this person. After sawing off the cross, I asked them not to install it this year. I was afraid that this person had not yet been found, so that this would not happen again and the family would not be injured. That was the only thing I had in mind, ”the official said.

In addition, Aktanysh officials intend to "conduct explanatory work at citizens' gatherings in late January - early February."

"The cross was an eyesore"

In a conversation with Irina Gregorzhevskaya, she named three possible reasons for the incident.

“Firstly, a place for the grave was allocated at the edge of the cemetery next to the roadway. At the same time, no trees have been planted around the perimeter of the cemetery - there is no so-called moral line, although it is provided for in the document. The cross on the grave of Viktor "was an eyesore" to the whole village from the roadway. At the same time, some of the other Orthodox graves with crosses on the monuments are located in another corner of the cemetery, far from the roadway. And we could well have been allocated a place there. We put up a wooden cross, because the grave ground did not settle. The plan was to erect a tombstone in 2022, ”she said.

Secondly, the local mullah complained that the population of Aktanysh made claims to him about the cross on the grave of Viktor. The [deputy head of the district] said this, referring to some local aksakals, whose opinion is important for the administration to take into account. It turns out that this intolerance also comes from the local population, says the woman.Thirdly, there are no confessional zones in the cemetery, which should be equipped in accordance with the federal law "On burial and funeral business."

“The population believes that the cemetery is Muslim and Tatar, and there is no place for Russians and Orthodox. And according to the document, it is public, but people do not even know what this status implies. This massive misconception is fueled by the lack of information on the status of cemeteries from local authorities. And against the background of the ignorance of the population, apparently, radical manifestations begin to emerge, "Gregorzhevskaya added.

The administration does not care

A relative of the deceased added that the administration of the Aktanysh region showed no interest in resolving this situation.

“After the cross was cut down, no one contacted us. I myself went to the administration. Rather, the goal was to make promises and chat just to calm us down.

Raikhan [Galimyanova] promised to inform the population about the status of the cemeteries. This was important to us, because the population accused our family that we did not respect their traditions, that we, in their words, “brought an Orthodox Russian to the Muslim Tatar cemetery, spitting on their national and religious feelings”. We believe that we had every right to rehabilitate our family, ”said Gregorzhevskaya.

In addition, a district policeman came to them in October. “He repeatedly asked whether Rimma (Smirnov's widow) would take the statement to the police, and insistently recommended that we reburial Viktor at the expense of the administration,” the sister-in-law added.

A smaller cross

The relatives consider the question of reburial to be ridiculous. “We think this is some kind of wildness. Moreover, we have no legal basis for this. And how can one be reburied without violating the will of the deceased, the execution of which is guaranteed, among other things, by law? To avoid manifestations of discontent, we are doing everything that depends on us, including to prevent similar conflicts in the future, ”Gregorzhevskaya said.

She also said that the cross on the grave was restored - in a smaller size so that it would not be visible from the road.

The Russian Orthodox Church demands to comply with the law

The situation has already been commented on in the Russian Orthodox Church - the head of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media Vladimir Legoyda said that law enforcement agencies must understand what is happening.

“I believe that it is necessary to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the incident on the part of law enforcement agencies and to properly ensure the right to burial, including the installation of a grave cross,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

After publications in the media, the relatives of Viktor Smirnov phoned the deputy prosecutor of the Aktanysh region Ruslan Zagrutdinov, he said that the criminal case had been reopened. The prosecutor's office took control of the investigation.

According to data from open sources, the Aktanysh region "is characterized by the lowest proportion of the Russian population in the Republic of Tatarstan (0.65%) and, accordingly, a high proportion of Tatars."

bbabo.Net