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Response to Farrukh Salikhov's comments on little known dark forces in Tajikistan

By Alan Fogelquist, 10 August 1998

. . . I believe, Mr. Salikhov made a number of important observations about the Tajik situation.

There indeed appear to be a great number of little known armed gangs, bands of disoriented youths, "clans", "mafias," and various purely criminal groups operating in Tajikistan, which greatly complicate the social and political situation. It would be a great contribution if someone with detailed and or first hand knowledge about of this matter could write an informative article on some of the unknown dark forces in Tajikistan.

The world is crying for detailed facts about important but little known developments in Tajikistan. I have been enjoying many articles on little known aspects of the Tajik situation from such publications as the Central Asia Post and Asia Plus for over two years now, but even more needs to be done in the area of identifying the little known forces in Tajik society.

Someone should write an informative article identifying and describing some of the bands of disoriented youths, purely criminal gangs, and various "rogue elements" completely out of control of either the UTO or the Tajik government. We have little reliable and objective information about how these groups are undermining efforts to bring about peace and security toward the country.

I think Mr. Salikhov made an important point in one of his postings about how "power sharing" among leaders of various political and military formations is not the same thing as a functioning democratic society and does not necessarily represent genuine popular participation and a real role for intellectuals who are not beholden to any political faction.

Alan Fogelquist