by B. R. GOWANI
The punk group Pussy Riot, performing in a prayer form against the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, on February 21 in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral. The group is also critical of the Church Patriarch Krill Gundyaev. PHOTO/Pussy Riot Live Journal
Putin’s hold on power
Vladimir Putin, the former KGB (Russian security agency) strong man, has held Russia’s top post since 1999. From 1999 to 2000, he was the prime minister. The following eight years he was the president. Finally, from 2008 to 2012, he was again the premier. In May of this year, he again took over as the Russian president. In reality, the executive power is split between the prime minister and president, although the Russian Constitution does not provide for any such arrangement.
Another glaring and overt audacity noted is that in Russia a person cannot run for presidency for a third consecutive term. However, apparently, where there is a partner there is a way around that. In 2008, Putin’s friend and his 2000 election campaign manager Dmitry Medvedev’s name was strongly recommended by Putin, and his United Party, for the next president of Russia. (Three other parties also supported Medvedev’s name.) As expected, Medvedev ran and won the election. President Medvedev then appointed Putin as his prime minister. In September 2011, President Medvedev informed the Russian public of the impending role-swap. Jean Radvanyi points out:
“Those most attached to democratic values, which every Russian leader since Boris Yeltsin has claimed to champion, were horrified at the cynicism with which the “tandem” announced their role-swap: incumbent president Dmitri Medvedev presented his predecessor and prime minister’s candidacy on 24 September 2011; Putin returned the favour by promising to make Medvedev premier when he was elected.”
Putin won the election comfortably and honored his promise. Medvedev is now his prime minister. Aleksander Buzgalin reminds us that nothing has changed:
“On the whole, the government has thus been constructed according to the principle spelt out in a classic comedy by the character Famusov, making use of people who are close-mouthed, industrious insiders.”
Pussy Riot
There has been opposition against Putin in the form of pre- and post-election protests by many courageous groups of people.
One such group is the Pussy Riot, and is made up of ten women (but is open to new members). The group puts up impromptu protest performances. Their performance on February 21 in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral was the last one, as since March 16 of this year, three of the group members, Maria Alyokhina (Masha, 24), Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (Nadia, 22), and Yekaterina Samutsevich (Katya, 29) have been serving time in jail. They have not been permitted to see anyone, including their children. Their lawyers have claimed that they have been mistreated in custody. Two of the members are at large. Their trial began on July 30, and each of the three of them faces a seven year sentence.
Their crime was to criticize the Patriarch Krill Gundyaev and Putin. The group has extended their apology to the believers whose feelings were offended, but they do not see anything wrong (very rightly) in their criticism of Gundyaev and Putin.
Talking to Vibes, Garadzha explained the meaning of their group’s name:
“A female sex organ, which is supposed to be receiving and shapeless, suddenly starts a radical rebellion against the cultural order, which tries to constantly define it and show its appropriate place. Sexists have certain ideas about how a woman should behave, and Putin, by the way, also has a couple [of] thoughts on how Russians should live. Fighting against all that—that’s Pussy Riot.”
Putin does not seem to have high regard for women. The following election campaign ad slogans illustrate that:
The first ad targeted the “virgin” voters by urging them to love him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Noo0lzJILaM&feature=player_embedded
(See The Week for English translation.)
The next ad wants Russian girls to tear off their clothes for Putin.
(See The Week for details.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1Easr8WTwxs
In the above-mentioned interview, another member clarifies further:
Kot: You shouldn’t have answered that question, Garadzha, because usually we don’t. When cops and FSB agents interrogate us and ask, “What the hell do these English letters on your banner stand for” (we put out a banner during some of our illegal performances and hardly any of these jerks speak any foreign language)—then we usually say something like “Oh well, Mr. Secret Policeman, it’s nothing special, those words just stand for “Pussycat rebellion.” But, of course that’s a brutal lie. In Russia you should never tell the truth to a cop or to any agent of the Putinist regime.
Putin should release
As a Person the Year 2007 of the Time magazine, when asked about his belief in God, Putin replied: I believe in certain things, but, being a public figure, to give out my belief would be tantamount to “self-advertising or a political striptease.”
Such show of being a humble fellow! In the past also, as the chief of the KGB, he never went out and publicized what good deeds he executed at the KGB. To the present, he has not said anything about the group or his actions there.
Putin is the most powerful man in Russia and has nothing to fear from Pussy Riots or any other such group. The Russian Orthodox Church stands with him. Patriarch Gundyaev strongly supports Putin; he called the 2000s as a “miracle of God“. About Putin he said, “You personally played a massive role in correcting this crooked twist of our history.” That is, the pre-2000 period which he compared to the 1941 Nazi invasion of Russia. Therefore, of course, for Gundyaev, what Pussy Riot did in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral Church was blasphemy.
Putin and Gundyaev are anti-Western, especially anti-US, which is understandable due to the hypocrite US lecturing about human rights and democracy. It is presidential election season in the US. The Republican candidate, called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.” A preposterous claim, but then not much can be expected from the mentally bankrupt Mitt Romney.
Nevertheless, these kinds of idiocies are seized by Russians like Putin and Gundyaev to create fear among their populace and are then used against legitimate critics and criticisms.
It is absolutely foolish of Putin to make Pussy Riot into an example to deter others who oppose his rule. This is going to backfire because more and more people will come out in support of the group. He also risks alienating women. This elected dictator should save his face by releasing the three members immediately.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com