Rupen Savoulian: criticism of the policy in Chechnya

While I admire Pravda for its coverage of world events, which is a refreshing challenge to the highly monopolised, American-dominated media in Australia, I must voice my disagreement against the Russian government's policy in Chechnya.

Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the State Duma, denounced the terrorist bombing in Grozny on May 9 as an affront to humanity and civilisation. Gryzlov is a member of a regime that has implemented economic and social policies since 1990-91 that has resulted in a social and humanitarian catastrophe for Russia and the former Soviet republics.
 
The current social and humanitarian catastrophe engulfing Russia and the former Soviet states is the  worst form of terrorism against the majority of  people in the ex-Soviet states. Science and education have plummeted; health services have deteriorated; ethnic conflict has exploded, and this is the social result of more than ten years of capitalist economic "reform".
 
Why does not the Russian government change economic direction to reverse this appalling social collapse?

Maybe then, religious fundamentalist groups would not find recruits to fill their ranks from a despairing society.
 
Philosophies of religious fundamentalism and visions of apocalyptic doom find fertile ground in a society that is facing social and economic breakdown.
 
Terrorism is the only method left for a people despairing of their plight and with no hope in the future. You cannot eliminate terrorism by adopting terroristic methods, a lesson the current Australian government has forgotten.
 
 Rupen Savoulian
 Constant Pravda reader
 Sydney NSW, Australia