On September 10, 2019, the Udmurt scientist Albert Razin committed an act of self-immolation in the square in front of the State Council of the Udmurt Republic. He came to the State Council with a poster with a quote from the Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov: “And if tomorrow my language disappears, then I am ready to die today.”
79-year-old Albert Razin was an Honored Scientist of Udmurtia, director of the Institute of Man of the Udmurt State University and the leader of the Udmurt movement for the preservation of the language, the high priest of the traditional beliefs of the Udmurts.
4 years have passed since Albert Razin’s feat. Like Danko, he raised a torch, and this torch flared up. His ideas of preserving peoples and preserving languages more than ever need the support of civil society.
Every nation is alive as long as it has passionaries. Albert Razin was and remains such a passionary and national hero of the Udmurt people. He is a hero not only of the Udmurt people, but also of the Tatar, and Bashkir, and Buryat, and Oirat-Kalmyk, and Erzya, and Moksha, and Mari, and Karelian – all peoples enslaved by Russia.
We invite national organizations and activists to hold meetings, rallies, pickets, and flash mobs on Albert Razin Memorial Day dedicated to the topic of preserving native languages.
Albert Razin burned himself for the sake of the future of all peoples living in the territory of present-day Russia, who are being devoured by the merciless dragon of assimilation and Russification. We call on fighters for the preservation of the national languages of the occupied peoples of all republics of the Russian Federation and other states, scientists, and all concerned people to take an active part in the celebration of Albert Razin Memorial Day.
We believe in the future of the Udmurt people – the people who gave the world such a person as Albert Alekseevich Razin cannot disappear.
Sincerely,
Rafis Kashapov – Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile;
Farit Zakiev – Chairman of the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC);
Aida Abdrakhmanova – deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile on national and religious issues;
Nafis Kashapov – Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile for sports;
Rais Mukhutdinov – Ambassador of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile to the Republic of Turkey;
Nurlan Saltaev – Representative of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
Dmitry Kuznetsov – Representative of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile in the Republic of Finland;
We support:
Irek Garif – head of the Australian Tatar Society “Turan”, Adelaide, Australia;
Kamil Sukaev – representative of the Free Idel-Ural movement, USA, New York;
Edige Bekmurzaev – public figure Free “Nogay El”, Türkiye;
Sergey Kryukov – publicist and social activist, France.
Правительство Независимого Татарстана
