Volgograd’s Muslim community, including Diaspora from Dagestan in the North Caucasus, have not faced any backlash following the December 29 and 30 suicide bombings, local community leaders have said.
Abdullah Hadji, the head of the Volgograd Oblast Muslims Union said that there had not been any complaints from local Muslims after the bomb attacks. Rumors about locals beating up Muslims turned out to be untrue, he told Kavkazskii Uzel.
However, Hadji did admit that the Muslims Union had advised Muslim women wearing the hijab to avoid traveling on public transport.
The Muslim Union issued the following statement to local Muslims: “Please note that due to the ongoing anti-terror operations in our region operation, when you go out on the streets, carry documents proving your identity. Women are requested, but in accordance with Sharia, not to stand out from the surrounding crowd.”
After the terrorist attacks, the Muslims Union issued a call for Muslims to step forward and donate blood.
The leader of the local Dagestani diaspora organization, Kurban Kurbanov, said that there had been no discrimination against the community after the attacks, and that local Dagestanis had joined community efforts to help in the aftermath.
“On December 31, we visited the Volgograd Hospital with representatives of other communities and gave victims gifts of fruit, drinks, and candy. We left the chief doctor our cellphone numbers and said, if need be, call us. All Dagestanis living in Volgograd, donated blood for the victims within three days…”.
MOSQUES UNDER GUARD
Local Islamic leaders said that mosques in the Volgograd district are now under guard after the attacks.
The head of the regional Islamic organization, Ilias Biktimirov, said the terror attacks were a “shared grief”.
“Apparently, someone wants to embroil Muslims and Christians. In this land, Muslims and Christians have lived together for centuries, they also defended their homeland, despite the repression,” he said.
(Featured image: Volgograd Mosque)
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