Alisher Qodirov, the deputy speaker of the legislative chamber of Uzbekistan’s Parliament (Oliy Majlis) and leader of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, has proposed an initiative to ban the promotion of Soviet ideology and symbols in the country.
The idea emerged after the high-profile case of a Samarkand pensioner who expressed a desire to restore the Soviet Union, for which he was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom under an article on encroachment on Uzbekistan’s constitutional order.
Qodirov supported the court’s decision, noting that he considered Soviet ideology harmful and hostile to national values. In his statement, he emphasized that the Soviet regime had harmed not only Uzbekistan but the whole world, undermining the cultural and spiritual foundations of the people. He recalled the discrimination suffered by the Uzbek people during the Soviet period and emphasized the need to analyze this period. He stands firmly against its justification and promotion.
“The Uzbek people were discriminated against and humiliated by the Soviet authorities and are still healing the wounds of the past. The Soviet ideology, which rejected nations, values, and faith, harmed not only our people but also the entire humanity, and these phenomena continue to be a misfortune,” Qodirov said.
The politician also called the promotion of Soviet ideas a crime against the constitutional order and a betrayal of the people and ancestors who were victims of the regime.
Qodirov has repeatedly spoken out against symbols relating to the USSR. In May 2021, he called the raising of the red flag at a concert in Tashkent a provocation and an insult to the people, explaining that the symbol of the Soviet occupier state was soaked in the blood of Uzbek intellectuals who had been repressed by the regime.