In Tajikistan, hundreds of citizens suffer from portraits of Emomali Rahmon
Residents of one of the houses in the city of Khujand have been striving for more than a year to remove a huge banner with the image of the President of Tajikistan from the outside of their house. Residents complained to journalists of Radio “Liberty” that the banner does not let the sun into the apartment, in addition, under the exposure to sunlight, the banner emits unpleasant smell that make it impossible to sit in the apartment.
As it turned out, the banner was hung more than a year ago when Emomali Rahmon arrived in Khujand and attended the opening of the reconstructed building of the Youth Center, which is located next to the ill-fated residential building. The President has left, but the banner hangs to this day. According to residents, their numerous complaints to various authorities remained unanswered.
The representative of the administration of Sogd region, on condition of anonymity, informed ACCA that the decision on the fate of the banner is made personally by the chairman of the region, Rajabboy Ahmadzoda. “As far as I know, there was an order not to pay attention to people’s complaints, the banner will hang, because this is an image of the leader of the nation,” the official said.
This is not the first time that Khujand’s residents suffer from banners with the President’s image. 300 meters from this house, there is another residential building, which also has a huge banner with the image of Emomali Rahmon. At the same time, if the residents of the first house suffer a little more than a year, then the people of the second house have been suffering the banner since 2005. That year, before the parliamentary elections, the authorities hung a banner that hangs to this day. From time to time, the banner is changed to a new one, with fresh high-flown quotes of the President.
As ACCA learned, the residents of the second house also wrote complaints during the first years to remove the banner. In response to this, special services officers came to their home and threatened that the authorities would take their apartments if they did not stop complaining. Thus, for more than 15 years, residents of 18 apartments of this house do not see sunlight. It is noteworthy that the President’s quote on the first banner, translated into Russian, was: “The health of the nation is an invaluable wealth.”
Over the years, the banner with the image of the President has also affected the cost of apartments that he closes. So, those who want to sell their apartments, the windows of which are closed by the banner, can do this for less money than the residents of other apartments.
The tradition of hanging out banners with the image of the President is not new in Tajikistan. Thousands of porters of smiling Emomali Rahmon can be seen across the country on the streets and facades of buildings.
