M A I N   N E W S

Moscow Diary
Galaxy of 60 Heads of State
T.R. Ramachandran

MOSCOW has been turned into a veritable fortress for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the patriotic war. There are a galaxy of nearly 60 Heads of State and Government for the celebrations being overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself who has set a hectic pace for himself. It is a riot of colour and the city of 17 million people is virtually under seige by the security forces. Considering the road blocks at the city centre near the majestic Kremlin, Moscowvites have been advised to move to the countryside to avoid inconvenience and problems because of the restrictions.

There is also the murmur doing the rounds that the war veterans have been kept out of the celebrations. Interestingly, the main newspapers have closed their shutters. Some of them have taken a fortnight's sabbatical thanks to the celebrations.

Special welcome message

In a special welcome message to the organisers, participants and guests of the celebrations, President Vladimir Putin recalled with pain that 27 million people is an incredibly painful and high price to pay for defeating fascism. Of these 20 million were ordinary people who took up arms to save Moscow. "On these days, we commemorate all those in Russia and other countries who sacrified their lives for vicitory. We are also trying to think of ways to preclude a repetition of such a tragedy. We must remember WWII's main historical lesson: only by joining forces can the world community stand up to violence and evil," Mr Putin observed, thanking the huge assemblage in "sharing with us the joy of victory and reconciliation."

Refurbishing image

Is Mr Putin losing his hold politically in the Russian Federation? That is the question doing the rounds. Some analysts here and in the West believe that the Russian President is desperately trying to perk up and refurbish his image. Russian citizens meanwhile are expected to show fealty to the state even if the price of defiance is no longer hard labour in the Gulag or death. And the President himself is above criticism in the slavishly pro-Kremlin media. Despite Moscow's campaign to instill respect in the rest of the world, it is winning no new friends, a failure that only feeds its suspicions and insecurities about itself.

Start of new tyranny

The high power celebrations in Moscow is not without its ironies. The Presidents of Lithuania and Estonia have turned down Mr Putin's invitation to the Victory in Europe Day commemorations in Moscow celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany. They and many of their compatriots consider the end of the war in Europe as the start of a new tyranny as the then Soviet Union was to govern them. US President George Bush who made a stopover in Latvia en route to Moscow reminded Mr Putin about the Soviet occupation and stressed that the end of the war did not bring freedom to the Baltic's. Russia stoutly denies accusations that it illegally occupied the three Republics arguing that the Baltic governments of the time had willingly invited Soviet troops into their countries and agreed to join the Soviet Union.

Informal summit

In the run up to the celebrations in Moscow, Mr Putin held an informal summit of Commonwealth of Independent states. "This, without exaggeration," he stressed" was a just war for the very right of the people to live on earth, have their statehood, their language and their culture. We shall have to pass down this priceless experience of unity and solidarity to our subsequent generations."