A solemn ceremony celebrating the 28th anniversary of National Unity Day took place in the administrative center of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, attended by the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
National Unity Day has been celebrated as a state holiday in Tajikistan annually since 1998, one year after the General Agreement on Establishing Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan was signed on June 27, 1997, in Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation, between Rahmon’s government and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) with the participation of the President of Russia, a representative of the UN Secretary-General, the OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and foreign ministers from observer countries.
This agreement, signed by Emomali Rahmon — the President of the country, the late Said Abdullo Nuri — the leader of the UTO, and the now-late Gerdt Dietrich Merrem — the special representative of the UN Secretary-General, ended a five-year civil war in Tajikistan and opened the way to peace and accord in the country.
The significance of this agreement for the people and state of Tajikistan was so vital that the President of Tajikistan referred to it as a document equal in importance to the Declaration of Independence. It is thanks to this fateful document that National Unity Day was recognized as a state holiday. For several years after that, until the completion of the National Reconciliation Commission’s activities, the holiday was celebrated jointly with the participation of Emomali Rahmon and the head of this Commission, the late Said Abdullo Nuri.
The National Reconciliation Commission was a complex body formed from representatives of the government and the opposition based on the Peace Agreement, tasked with ensuring the implementation of all points and decisions of the peace agreement.
However, after the Commission’s activities ended in 2000, Emomali Rahmon, as the leader of one side of the peace agreement, refused to celebrate this holiday jointly and to invite representatives of the other side. Gradually, a rhetoric was formed that peace and unity became solely his personal achievement, and he presented them as the result of his own efforts. He pretended that the other side had never existed at all.
That is why the holiday “National Unity Day” gradually began to lose its former popularity and solemnity.
In 1999, by the decision of the Majlisi Oli (the country’s parliament), peace and unity were recognized as a unique achievement of Rahmon, and he was awarded the title of “Hero of Tajikistan.” Years later, after the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) — the main force and a large part of the UTO — was banned in 2015 and recognized as a terrorist organization, Rahmon officially proclaimed himself the “Founder of Peace and National Unity.”
Of course, by that time, a significant part of the terms and provisions of the peace agreement had not been observed and were effectively abolished, and he gradually changed the political situation in the country to his advantage.
It is worth recalling two key issues that played a major role in the process of establishing national unity and implementing the Peace Agreement and directly concerned the future creation of the state. Emomali Rahmon interpreted them to his advantage, replacing the policy of reconciliation and dialogue with authoritarianism and force. In doing so, he sent a clear signal to the other side of the peace: he was no longer willing to resolve issues with them peacefully.
The other side of the peace, which by that time was effectively represented only by the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), had no choice but to submit, although the two key issues — the establishment of a presidential term in the Constitution and granting constitutional status to a religious party — were adopted after heated and tense debates during the work of the National Reconciliation Commission.
However, in 2003, Emomali Rahmon made unnecessary amendments to the Constitution, eliminating precisely those articles and provisions on which both sides — participants in the civil war and the peace process — had reached an agreement. He abolished the presidential term limit and the age limit for presidential candidates, which was 65 years, making them personally beneficial to himself: the term was extended to two seven-year terms, and the age ceiling disappeared.
Thus, Rahmon effectively rejected and declared the General Agreement on Peace and National Accord illegitimate, and the Day of National Unity gradually turned into a demonstration of Rahmon’s personal power and rule.
Having reached this stage, Rahmon began to publicly humiliate, criticize, and weaken the other side of the peace in every way. In 2006, he organized the celebration of the Day of National Unity in the Rasht district and invited the late Said Abdullo Nuri and respected Khoji Akbar Turajonzoda — representatives of the other side. However, they were designated among the spectators, while Rahmon himself sat alone on the podium.
In this region, which was considered an area of influence for the opposition and especially the IRPT — the main force from the other side of the peace, Rahmon deliberately demonstrated the weakness, powerlessness, and insignificance of the other side in the eyes of the people, while emphasizing his own strength and dominance.
Rahmon not only showed but effectively stated that talks of peace and reconciliation were outdated and had become a thing of the past. From that moment on, any mention of peace and unity was reduced solely to his name and the policies of his state.
This is exactly what happened. The name and activities of the other side were not only forgotten but also declared banned. Thus, the holiday of national unity changed its form and content, turning into a celebration of Rahmon, his power, and his policies, although, as is known, no peace is one-sided — it necessarily involves two sides.
The Unity Holiday has been celebrated solely for one person, while the other side has been completely forgotten. In the following years, the festive celebrations took place as if only the victorious side was present at the holiday.
But despite all this denial and oblivion, Rahmon’s policy towards the other side has become increasingly harsh and aggressive each year.
Since the fall of 2015, when the activities of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) were banned and the party was declared a terrorist organization, Rahmon has accused it — the other side — of unleashing a civil war with particular fury and anger at every public appearance. He has constantly emphasized that he did not sign a peace agreement with the IRPT.
As a result, in May 2016, when the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan had already been removed from the political arena, the Constitution was once again put to a referendum. This time, Article 28, which allowed for the existence of political parties of a religious nature, was excluded, while the clause regarding presidential terms was amended so that Emomali Rahmon could remain in power indefinitely.
Thus, the Day of National Unity has turned into a demonstration of fear, and true unity and real national consensus have been completely destroyed.
And now Rahmon has gone to Khorog and held a solemn ceremony for the Day of National Unity there. The residents of the city greet him with songs and dances — the very same person under whose direct orders, three years ago at this time, dozens of their loved ones were “neutralized,” while they themselves were in mourning, crying and weeping for the dead.
Now you tell me: what has Rahmon brought to Khorog, unity or fear?
