If Moscow had won the competition to host the Olympic Games in 2012 it would have been terrible. Fortunately, everything turned out all right. London has become the winner.

No doubt, the primary events occurred in London last week. I find London the warmest city after my home city Bukhara. After September 11, 2001 when New York Twin Towers were attacked and the rules of decorum were not observed any more only in London the security measures were implemented in a proper way. I mean that London was free of passport control, and the suspected people were not troubled by the security officials. I wonder whether London smarted for its tolerance.

A cartoon film comes back to me. A man creates himself, his house, his girlfriend, his cow, hens, the sun and the earth out of a wire. Then it occurs to him that the picture is wrong and he builds a high and solid fence. He lacks the wire and the sun, his hens, his cow, his girlfriend and his house disappear. There is only a manikin circled by the barbed-wire fence.

It is a sad story about replacing freedom and life with security measures. But it is not the point. It seems to me that the struggle of Moscow for conducting the Olympic Games in 2012 is a more indicative event.

Firstly, people were gathered on the Vasilievskiy Spusk (the part of the Red Square in Moscow) that is indecent and blackguard fact. The people stayed on the Square even when it was clear that Moscow lost in the first round. If the Prosecutor General worked in Russia he would have immediately opened a criminal case in respect of non-purpose use of human beings.

I should remember that previously people were gathered on the Vasilievskiy Spusk to support the law on monetization of the benefits. Before that people had been gathered to support the authorities’ policy after the seizure of school in Beslan by terrorists. This ‘guided democracy’ looks negatively. Government’s attempts to guide people’s opinions are senseless. We remember how several people organized a demonstration against bringing the Warsaw Pact troops to Czechoslovakia. Now, unfortunately, those people are no more and Czechoslovakia ceased to exist, but this DEED lives and will live.

Secondly, it was clear that the Moscow authorities could take part in the competition to host the Olympic Games only in order to acquire experience. For example, participation of Russia in the Football World Championship is preparation for the next Championship rather than struggle for victory.

So, Moscow’s participation in the competition could be considered only as a way of gaining experience and collecting money for those who participated in the preparations. Then, why was it necessary to gather people on the Vasilievskiy Spusk?

Thirdly, I wonder how the city living as if during a war can ensure security of the Olympic Games. The Moscow Mayor’s Office asserts entitlement to keep registration procedure in Moscow (that is an outrage of the Constitution) in connection with the war in the Caucasus region and the fact that the Chechens represent danger to the Moscowers. I should remember that the criminal proceeding was initiated against the official of the Ministry of Interior Affairs Mr. Artamonov since he had failed to arrest the Chechens without the legal causes according to his job instruction.

Then, did the struggle for conducting the Olympic Games make sense? It made sense but we would like to know how much the taxpayers paid for participating in this contest.

That is more I resent our officials’ speaking English at the contest. When we spend a lot of resources to protect the Russian state language from the foreign influence and when we forbid the administrative units of the Russian Federation to use the Latin alphabet, our English speaking officials are not welcomed with enthusiasm.

Akram Murtazaev is a laureate of The Russian Journalist Award “Zolotoye Pero” ("The Golden Pen").

The article is written specially for "Eurasian Home".

July 12, 2005