“Shodi Shabdolov was completely against tolling the Dushanbe-Chanok road. He didn’t change his mind until the end.” Journalist Avaz Yuldoshev started his memorial about Shodi Shabdolov, the former chairman of the Communist Party and former member of the Tajik Parliament, who died on October 20 of this year, with these sentences.
He, who has been reporting from the parliament for many years, said on October 23, “Shabdolov raised important issues, although not all of them were accepted or supported by the government.”
“He was a supporter of the reconstruction of the energy system of Tajikistan. Unfortunately, the government did not support it. He said that the government should not interfere in the pricing of electricity. He was an honest person. At the time of need, the Hizb also supported the prohibition of the Islamic Renaissance, although its individual representatives in the 90s with “Death to the Communists” chanted, Avaz Yuldoshev continued.
What was the disagreement about?
Shodi Shabdolov was a member of the Majlisi of Representatives for four terms. In the 2015 elections, the Communist Party was deprived of the right to have a representative in the parliament after receiving only two percent of the votes. The same situation later created differences within the party.
In July 2016, he resigned from the leadership of the party after an intra-party dispute. This meant the end of the political activities of this veteran communist. From that year until his death, he remained behind the scenes and chose to remain silent. He was the head of the Communist Party of Tajikistan for almost 25 years.
Some analysts consider Shabdolov’s pressure “to avoid losing the party leadership” as one of his shortcomings. Nurali Davlatov, Tajik journalist and historian, said, “the party did not want to find another leader. The disagreement with Ismail Talbakov, one of the prominent figures of the party, arose when Talbakov claimed that he would become the head of the party. I think it would be good. he would have retired or resigned, taking into account his age.”
Regarding how Shabdolov became the head of the Communist Party of Tajikistan in the nineties, Nurali Davlatov raised two hypotheses: “He was one of the secretaries of the Communist Party in the field of industry and transport. When Makhkamov and Aslonov were dismissed, I don’t know whether because of his position or because someone else didn’t want to take over the leadership, at the end of September 1991, he was elected the chairman of the party at the extraordinary plenum.”
Rally, “Freedom” and “Martyrs”
The development of the beginning of the 90s of the last century in Tajikistan was like the spring weather, which changed color very quickly. The positions of Shadi Shabdolov were not left out even in the rapidly changing developments.
“In 1991-1992, he changed his position once or twice. For example, when they tried to remove Navjuvanov from his position, Shodi Shabdolov took a position against Safarali Kenjaev. In the rallies that started in 1992, he supported the communist government of Rahmon Nabiev,” explained Nurali Davlatov.
However, Subhan Safialloev, the former head of the office of the Communist Party in Dushanbe, says that Shodi Shabdolov was always firm in his positions. This is why, according to him, “the communist party in Tajikistan is mostly known by the name of Shabdolov”.
“In truth, both statehood and politics depend primarily on personality. Shadi Davlatovich was a pure and chaste person. When a person takes the lead in a battle, people judge him. When he assumed the leadership of the party in 1991, all the people respected him,” he added.
In 1992, there was a rumor that Shodi Shabdolov went to Khatlon region and invited the youth of the region to fight against the opposition.
Journalist and historian Nurali Davlatov says: “In 1992, when there was a demonstration in Shahidon Square and 17 deputies were taken hostage, there was a rumor that Shadi Shabdolov and Nazrullo Dostov, the vice president of Rahmon Nabiev, allegedly went to Kulob. According to this rumor, they allegedly called on people to organize a rally against the opposition, in front of “Shahidan” square. It was just a rumor. As far as I know, Shabdolov actually went to Kulob, but I don’t know if he invited people to take a stand in front of Shahidan Square and come to Dushanbe or not.”
Unlike many communists who changed their views in public after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Shodi Shabdolov remained loyal to the Marxist-Leninist ideas until the end and described many of the Soviet services for Tajikistan.
His friends say that he planned to publish a book about the centenary of the October Revolution and get his younger son married, but he didn’t get the chance. He died due to illness at the age of 80. He spent the last days of his life in his hometown, the city of Khorug, Badakhshan Mountain Autonomous Region.
Source : Радио Озоди