Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia

Brother of Karkalpak Activist Detained for Petty Hooliganism

Zholdasbay Sagidullayev allegedly approached a district police department building and repeatedly shouted, “Alga, Karakalpakstan!” 

Last week, the brother of Aman Sagidullayev, the leader of the banned Alga Karakalpakstan party, was detained for seven days on a petty hooliganism charge. The incident underscores the continued sensitivities in Uzbekistan when it comes to Karakalpakstan and any whiff of agitation.

According to the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, citing unofficial reports, Zholdasbay Sagidullayev – Aman’s older brother – approached a district police department building in Karauzyak, a small town in Karakalpakstan, and repeatedly shouted, “Alga, Karakalpakstan!” 

“Alga” means “forward” in several Turkic languages, including Karakalpak, Kazakh, and Uzbek, where it is often used in political party names and chants. 

Karakalpakstan as an autonomous region associated with Uzbekistan. The Uzbek Constitution grants the region special rights, namely the ability to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum. This has been a point of contention for decades, as no referendum has never been held and numerous activists have been detained after advocating for such a vote. 

Aman Sagidullayev fled Karakalpakstan in 2012 for Kyrgyzstan and eventually even farther abroad. His movement’s demand for a referendum on independence in Karakalpakstan has long been viewed by Tashkent as separatism.

Sensitivity to this issue flared up in the summer of 2022, when the Uzbek government shared a draft of its intended constitutional revisions. The draft deleted the provisions guaranteeing Karakalpakstan the right to secede; it triggered large protests and a crackdown in the regional capital, Nukus. 

The Uzbek government quickly walked back the draft, ultimately preserving the clauses related to Karakalpakstan, but arrested activists who had drawn attention to the issue. Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, a Karakalpak lawyer and journalist, had urged fellow Karakalpaks to vote........

© The Diplomat