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Central Asia

Uzbekistan

Valentine Day is Baburs birthday

It is indeed ironic that a descendant of Taimur Laine and Genghis Khan should be

replacing St. Valentine in Feb 14 celebrations in Uzbekistan.

The decree is believed to have been inexistence for sometime. But it was enforced this year

by canceling the concert of Uzbekistans popular singer, Rayhn, which has come to beassociated with Valentine Day for the last several years in Tashkent. The cultural center

where the concert is always held hosted a programme of poetry this year, eulogizing

Muhammad Zahiruddin Babur, instead.

This was the authorities way of sending a signal to the populace. The move received amixed reception. A Tashkent resident, describing himself as an intellectual, said that it was

the right move to stop the concert. It is the birthday of our great ancestor, Babur. Whyshould we celebrate some artificial light weight event? It does not fit our mentality and our

history.

There were others, particularly,

Rayhns fans, who complained

bitterly about the cancellation ofthe show. It is laughable, said

Jasur Hamraev, for ten years

she has been giving concerts onFebruary 14 and this year it is

banned. You cannot impose

patriotic celebrations like that.

But most Uzbeks did not showmuch concern either way.

A college student said that Valentines Day had

become a new tradition celebrated amongst young people, in particular, with souvenirs,

cards and small presents exchanged between sweethearts. It is a shame that, instead goingto a concert, we will have to waste a couple of hours at some tedious event the university

will put on, said another student. Obviously, instructions had gone from the state

government information agency to educational institutions also to promote Babursbirthday celebrations on this day instead of the Valentine Day.

Within the Uzbekistani government, there are strong sections who believe that westerninfluences are damaging local culture and tradition. The state media has off late been taking

Traditional Valentine Day gifts. These will now

exchanged on Baburs birth anniversary.

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pot shots at foreign soap operas for being too explicit. Similar criticism had been leveled

against hard rock and rap music in an extensive campaign last year. A youth channel on

state TV had labeled the music Satanic, feeding on drug addition and immorality. Thegovernment had then set up a special censorship body to monitor rap music, register artists

and hold regular meetings to encourage the use of more wholesome lyrics.

On the relative merits of Saint Valentine and Muhammad Zahiruddin Babur, there is no

doubt that if the two were to vie for space on February 14, Babur would have a better

claim, at least in Uzbekistan. Babur is a historical fact while Valentine is just fiction. Thisfiction first came into existence through 14th century British poet Chaucer. However, even

if it is pure myth or fiction, Saint Valentines Day has come to represent love and affection.

Babur, on the other hand, was a descendent of Genghis Khan and Taimur Laine, two

ruthless conquerors of about the same period when Chaucer was inventing the myth ofValentine. In fact, it is doubtful if there is any clinching evidence that Babur was, indeed,

born on February 14. Similarly, about Saint Valentine, there is absolutely no evidence that

he had anything to do with February 14.

It would have been easily possible for the Uzbek authorities to celebrate Baburs birthday

on any other date in February or both events could have been celebrated on February 14. Infact, the independent Uzbek news website neus.net conducted its own informal survey and

found that most of those questioned were planning to celebrate Valentines Day as usual by

eating out or going to a club. The only thing was that some of them who were music loverswere missing Rayhns concert. But, the concert has not really been cancelled. It was only

postponed to 20th February instead of 14th.

It seems, however, that the intention is both to discourage Valentine Day celebrations andto promote and commemorate the greatest Uzbek in history, Muhammad Zahiruddin

Babur. The Uzbeks are happy celebrating Baburs birthday. What they are unable to

understand is the discouragement of Valentine Day in a country where the Presidents owndaughter, Gulnara Karimova, is so active promoting liberal arts and music.