Putin is seen as an overwhelming frontrunner, with approval rating hovers around 80 percent

By Damir Ahmed, IOL Correspondent

MOSCOW, March 11 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite a mischievous record at home and in neighboring Chechnya, Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most favorable for Muslims to vote for in coming Russian presidential elections.

Although five people are challenging Putin for the presidency, none has any chance of winning.

He is seen as an overwhelming frontrunner, with approval rating hovers around 80 percent and that of his nearest rival wallows in the single digits.

Ramil Bilav, the press secretary of the Russian Muftis Council, said that Muslims would cast their ballots in Putin’s favor.

“He has respected feelings of Muslims in all of their key ceremonies, and asked for an observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference,” Bilav said.

Islamic Party of Russia Leader Magomed Radzhabov said that Putin would gain be supported as the most competent candidate.

“His policies are appreciated by the party members,” said Asia Kapaeva, the spokeswoman of the party, which has 3.5 million members and representatives in 36 neighborhoods.

Moving to Kazan in Tataristan, head of Islamic organization in the city Nail Hazrat said that Putin helped improve the status of Muslims here via “very good policies”.

“He is the ideal person for Russians, including Muslims, to be at the helms,” said Zufar Hazret, the imam of Kul Sharif mosque, the oldest in the city.

An official in the Muslim affairs administration told IslamOnline.net that Putin enjoys a high popularity among the country’s 23 million Muslims.

In January 2003, Putin has issued a decree to appoint the head of Russian criminal police General Rashid Nour Aliiv Gomarovic, a Muslim, as the Russian acting Interior Minister up to the end of the current January, 2004.

The move is unprecedented since the establishment of the Russian Federation in 1991.

Different

Nevertheless, other Russian Muslims, mostly staying in central areas and Northern Caucus, could share a wave of criticism of Putin, given burgeoning aggressions in the Muslim republic of Chechnya and waves of targeting community leaders and mosques at home.

Russian police raided Friday, March 5, mosques in the Russian capital Moscow, detaining at least 18 people under the pretext of foiling “terrorist operations”.

The swoops were carried out by security personnel from the feared Ministry of Internal Affairs and Federal Security Services after Friday Prayers.

The head of Moscow’s Mosque League said that Russian Muslims will take their case to court, and hit out at Russian security forces for tarnishing the image of Muslims in the eyes of the Russian people.

Russian federal forces launched similar raids on February 27 and rounded up at least 84 people.

A number of mosques in Russia were burnt out by arsonists since the beginning of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan last year, sounding alarm bells over a potential sectarian violence in the East European country.

On Thursday, November 13, two mosques were set ablaze in western Russia, causing 130,000 rubles ($3,000) worth damage.

Muslims have also complained that the local authorities in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia have prevented the construction  of a mosque for the Muslims in the city which has no mosques.

Muslims have also scant political participation, with last parliamentary elections, held in December 2003, have resulted in electing only one Muslim representative.

Muslim leaders are also targeted in assassination attacks.

The former head of the Union of Russian Muslims, Nadirshakh Khachilayev, was assassinated  on August 11, 2003, in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, north of the Caucasus.

The shooting attack against Khachilayev came two days after Prominent Russian specialist in Islamic affairs Grigory Bondarevsky was found killed in his Moscow apartment.

Russian Muslims are also furious over the offensive against Chechnya, which witnessed severe military abuses against civilians.

According to an official Russian report carried by a German newspaper on April 19, 2003, the Russian military abuses in Chechnya leave more than 100 civilians killed, executed, abducted or tortured every month.

Protests

In a separate related development, dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Moscow on Wednesday to call for “a Russia without Putin”, some demanding a boycott to presidential election and others supporting liberal contender Irina Khakamada.

The central Pushkin square saw a mixed crowd, ranging from rights defense activists like Memorial to Communist militants to young members of the reformist Yabloko party, which also called for a boycott, said Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

Other slogans - which passers-by met with indifference - included “Stop the war in Chechnya”, “Reporters, your silence is support to the war”, and “Free (Mikhail) Khodorkovsky” -- former chief of the Yukos oil giant jailed last year.