ENG: The paths of the colonialists are inscrutable

We publish material provided by our friends from the channel Toraman terdemas.

At first, they tried to Russify our people by force, taking away the name, history, faith, language, traditions and memory. Later, having not received the expected result, the empire adopted a smoother method of assimilation – “Mordvinization”. They tried and are still trying to unite us into “one bilingual ethnic group” together with the Erzyas (Ěrzät). And in order for the Mokshas (Mokšet) to quickly abandon their roots, a cultural genocide was organized for us, which continues to this day.

Take a look at these photos taken in November 2021 in a former school in the village of Dolgoveriasi (Dolgoveryasy) in the Krasnoslobodskyi district of the Republic of Mordovia. This is the fact of deliberately hostile, humiliating attitude of the local authorities and the federal center towards everything Mokshan, especially books and the native language. Mokshas, as well as their neighbours Erzyas and their unique heritage are at the critical threshold of extinction with all their originality, and the Russified Mordovians dutifully fulfill the will of the Moscow Kremlin. Literature in the Moksha language (Mokšeń käĺ), if not oppressed, then strenuously primitivized in order to discourage young people from remaining in close connection with their ancestors.

Let’s be extremely honest: according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as according to the Constitution of the Republic of Mordovia, any moksha is not required to know Russian and communicate in it, but it is vital for him to know, use and develop his native speech. President Vladimir Putin, visiting Saran Osh many times, spoke about the greatness of multinational Russia and the need for its unity and the danger of ethnic separatism. But in fact, he promoted centralized imperialism in the worst possible way, surpassing the tsarist regime and Bolshevism, promising our people “mountains of gold” in return for giving up their national identity. This can no longer continue, we must defend our legitimate right to preserve our ethnic group and its language, which is dying under the conditions of the current colonial system.

RF, Putin, moksha, erzya, genocide, language, empire