As Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is all set to win yet another term in the Presidential election barely two weeks away, two things stand out in the country’s murky politics – the funeral of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in prison and Putin’s annual address which is effectively his election campaign speech.
It became clear from the gathering of mourners despite police crackdown on opposition leaders and activists that Navalny had not died in vain. Thousands of Russian citizens turned up at the funeral 1 March, disregarding fear, intimidation and massive police presence in Moscow. It was tell-tale evidence that Putin’s regime has not succeeded in totally erasing from the people’s mind the ideals for which he gave his life. The authorities had made all efforts to prevent the funeral from becoming a rallying point for the opposition. For example, Navalny’s mother had to overcome almost insurmountable difficulties in recovering his body after he had died in custody at the age of 47, on 16 February. The authorities did not allow the bereaved family and friends of the leader to find a place in Moscow where his casket could be watched over. His parents were present at the funeral, but not his widow, two children and brother, who had been forced into exile. The religious ceremony was kept to a minimum.
The majority of the crowd was unable to enter either the church or the cemetery. Yet, ordinary citizens did crowd outside the church to show their solidarity with the democratic activist who had been subjected to varied forms of repression not seen in Russia for a long time. That things in Russia are not what Putin and his regime want the rest of the world to believe became clear from the slogans that rang out at the funeral – “No to war,” “Putin, murderer,” “Russia will be free.” There is not a shadow of doubt about the crowd’s opinion of the despotic regime. What is more, over 200,000 people logged on to Navalny’s YouTube channel to watch the funeral. It only showed Putin has not quite managed to stifle dissent altogether.
Putin’s predicament is the same that many previous ‘strong leaders’ of countries from across the world had to face. People do get cowed down for a limited time. This ‘time’ may seem long for individuals but when observed from a bigger perspective, all changes have been and are taking place in one lifetime. History shows, over and over again, how from known events like Brutus stabbing Caesar to Benito Mussolini, Stalin, Allende, Idi Amin, Ferdinand Marcos, Pol Pot, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and many others, all have been forced to go ignominiously. Many of them have been murdered and ripped apart mercilessly by their own country’s common people while they were trying to run away with their amassed riches from businesses they had promoted while enjoying unquestioned power. These people had all used their governments to subdue and terrorize their own people. A few, like Alexander, Napoleon or Adolf Hitler had, no doubt, killed millions of their own countrymen but had also turned outwards and attempted to annexe other lands by again butchering millions from other races or nations.
Now Putin seems to send the message across the globe that the whole country is behind him and there cannot be any opposition to his policies. The very concept that one man, no matter how twisted and capable, can outsmart and outmanoeuvre a whole nation forever has been proven by history, again and again, to be a fallacy. All of them are destined to face their end violently and cruelly. It is just a matter of time.