There is a lot of information in the media and on the Internet about the details of the April Fools' incident, it seems to us that it is even too much. Interest in this fades, and rightly so ... There is nothing good here. But here's a look from the outside: the federal media give an assessment to the representatives of both republics, police.

The competition was canceled, and all other Caucasian athletes, as many as five teams from different republics, were urgently taken out of Kalmykia, accompanied by law enforcement officers, out of harm's way. Fortunately, the border is only a couple of hours.

The Minister of Sports of Dagestan has already rushed towards the evacuated athletes to Elista. A little later, a whole delegation from Makhachkala, headed by the head of the Cabinet of Ministers Abdusamad Hamidov, arrived at the neighbors. On Sunday at the end of the day, together with the head of the Republic of Kalmykia, Alexei Orlov, they made a statement, where they dotted all the i's. Namely: savages and scoundrels are found in every nation, but their actions cannot shake the centuries-old friendship between Kalmyks and Dagestanis. The Kalmyk people were asked for forgiveness, they were assured that the culprit would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Politicians stood against the backdrop of national flags and a statue of Buddha. The video was instantly posted on the Internet, and it was there that the main passions seethed.

On the same day, the press service of the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov disseminated information that the parents of the young man also apologized to the residents of the neighboring republic, the team's coach was fired, and the Minister of Sports was reprimanded. Each of the peoples of our country has its own customs of reconciliation, when the offender tries to make amends and show the unintentional nature of his act, the desire to make amends. Such customs exist in the Caucasus even to end blood feud. For hundreds of years, folk wisdom has helped families and entire nations to maintain peace and harmony. In this case, we saw some modern version of an ancient custom where the essence was preserved.

The incident, which threatened to aggravate the interethnic and interfaith situation in the south of the country, can be considered settled. Although one should not exclude the possibility that they will try to "wind up" the situation. Only there are not enough trump cards for such a promotion. And first of all, because the local authorities, perhaps for the first time in recent years, have demonstrated the competent behavior of anti-crisis managers. They did not hide the very fact of the conflict - balanced information quickly appeared on the official news resources of Kalmykia, and not only on social networks. When the problem is openly admitted, it is more difficult to weave into it fables under the guise of "the authorities are hiding the truth."

When it became clear that the situation was trying hard to give ethno-confessional outlines - allegedly the Dagestanis deliberately wanted to offend the Kalmyks, because the Muslims themselves do not respect Buddhism, the head of Dagestan very quickly sent his representatives with a high status for an official apology. This is seriously different from the behavior of Dagestani politicians in 2011, when they in every possible way denied the guilt of the fighter Rasul Mirzaev in the death of a person in Moscow and demanded his urgent extradition to the republic, since in the region where the crime was committed, the court will be against the accused, allegedly, it is unfair precisely because of ethnic background. In this case, the suspect in the crime remains in Elista, and there is no talk of transferring him to the Dagestan pre-trial detention center.

The fact that the organizers of the tournament found the courage to cancel it because of an offensive incident and very promptly took the rest of the Caucasian participants out of the region is also a very correct step.

With the heat of passion that was at the hotel at night, not only spectators from among the fans of free-style wrestling would probably come to the competition.

In a word, this time private crime could not be inflated to the scale of the second Pugachev or Biryulev. And this is very encouraging. This is a real victory. This means that with the joint work of the authorities and journalists, one can competently get out of difficult situations. To what extent the system of monitoring the interethnic situation of the FADN of Russia worked in this case and what is its role in resolving this particular situation is still unclear. On the agency's website, its position on this incident at the time of publication was not reflected in any way, and the source of "National Accent" in the department said that it would refrain from official comments for now.

Perhaps the situation in Elista will become one of the cases for the situation center being created in the FADN of Russia, which, as its creators assume, will allow "in real time to receive information about emerging conflict situations and ensure the implementation of measures aimed at preventing the escalation of conflicts."

A vandal from Dagestan was brought to his knees. Sportsman from Dagestan, wrestler Said Osmanov desecrated the statue of Buddha. According to the preliminary version, on the night of April 2, a vandal from Dagestan, who arrived in Elista for a freestyle wrestling tournament, entered a Buddhist temple, hit the statue of Buddha, and also urinated indoors. At the same time, he broadcast what was happening Periscope. The locals who discovered the video came to the hotel where the athlete was staying and forced him to apologize on his knees. The news agency writes that then the Dagestani wrestler "made an indecent gesture." The further development of the conflict was stopped by the police who arrived in time to the scene. A criminal case has been initiated in Kalmykia after a resident of Dagestan desecrated the statue of Buddha in Elista. This was announced in a television message on Sunday, April 3, by the head of the republic, Alexei Orlov. “An unprecedented, flagrant act of vandalism was committed against our national, religious shrine,” Orlov said. “The suspect has been detained and is in a pre-trial detention center. Investigative measures are underway against him, ”the politician noted. “A case has been initiated under Article 148 of Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Russia (violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion),” the head of Kalmykia stressed. “We condemn this act of vandalism,” he said. “Our common, main, joint task - of all residents of the republic - is not to give anyone a reason to doubt the existence of centuries-old traditions of friendship, good neighborliness, brotherhood of those who lived and are living in our multi-confessional and multinational republic,” Orlov said. The chairman of the government of Dagestan, Abdusamad Hamidov, who arrived in Elista, apologized to the people of Kalmykia. “All Dagestanis condemn the immoral act of our fellow countryman,” Hamidov said (quoted by RIA Novosti). “Therefore, on my own behalf, I deeply apologize to our fraternal Kalmyk people,” he added, noting that the coach of the suspect athlete had been fired. Gadzhimurad Akhmedov, spokesman for the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of Dagestan, believes that the incident has no religious component. He expressed this opinion in an interview with the radio station "Moscow speaking". “I don’t want this incident to be compared with a religious background, with a national background. There was a conversation with this guy, ”Akhmedov said. “Disciplinary measures have already been taken against him, the coach has been dismissed,” said the press secretary. “There will be a meeting of the extended board so that there are no such incidents. The trial will be with the entire team that went there, ”he said.

The real shock was caused by the behavior of one of the participants in the freestyle wrestling tournament in Kalmykia. The incident took place in Elista on the night of Saturday, April 2. The 22-year-old athlete, in his free time from the competition, went to a Buddhist temple with his teammates, relieved himself there and kicked the statue of Buddha in the nose. He shared his act on the social network Periscop.

Residents of Elista, who saw this video, arrived at the hotel where the athlete was staying, and forced him to apologize, putting him on his knees. The development of the conflict was stopped by police officers who arrived at the scene. A resident of Dagestan was detained and taken to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Because of this incident, the freestyle wrestling tournament had to be canceled.

On April 4, the Elista city court ruled to detain a 22-year-old Dagestan fighter. A criminal case was initiated against the young man under Part 2 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”).

The chairman of the government of Dagestan, Abdusamad Hamidov, arrived in Kalmykia and apologized for the act of vandalism on his own behalf and on behalf of all citizens of the republic. Gadzhimurad Akhmedov, a spokesman for the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the republic, said that the incident with the desecration of the Buddha statue in Elista does not bear any religious or national motives. He also said that a conversation was held with the wrestler, and his coach was fired.

Permanent Representative of the Republic of Dagestan to the President of Russia Izumrud Mugutdinova proposed to try the Dagestan fighter who defiled the statue of Buddha at the place of residence.

“This is an immoral act. But I know that he also asked for forgiveness, and his coach was seriously punished, and the Minister of Sports of Dagestan was reprimanded. I do not think that this guy had any goals to desecrate this monument or on any religious grounds, most likely, this is such nonsense, ”Mugutdinova emphasized.

The head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov apologized for the athlete's desecration of the Buddha statue in Elista. The corresponding letter was sent to the name of the head of Kalmykia, Alexei Orlov.

“In Dagestan, the news of the deed committed by a native of our republic in Elista was received with a feeling of deep indignation and condemnation. Unfortunately, ignorance, lack of culture and a low level of education still lead to such shameful actions that cannot be justified, ”the message says.

Abdulatipov assured that "what happened will not remain without a proper response." “All measures will be taken to prevent this from happening. The team's coach has already been dismissed, the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of Dagestan has been reprimanded for improper educational work among athletes, ”he said.

Religious leaders believe that the vandal deliberately desecrated Buddhist shrines. The rector of the St. Petersburg datsan, Buda Badmaev, compared the behavior of a Dagestan athlete in a Buddhist temple in Elista with the Pussy Riot punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012.

According to Badmaev, the athlete should be punished for insulting believers. Also, the abbot of the Buddhist monastery-university noted that if the incident occurred in a country where Buddhism is more widespread than in Russia (for example, in Thailand), the punishment would be more severe.

Indeed, there are several articles in Thai law that define religious crimes. You cannot appear in the temple with a naked torso and shorts. Your shoulders and knees should be covered with clothing. In many churches, special clothing is issued at the entrance to cover bare legs. It is also necessary to take off your shoes when entering the temple.

The image of Buddha is sacred, no matter what state it is in and what size it is. In no case should you climb the statues and defile them in any other way.

When sitting in a temple in front of an image or statue of Buddha, do your best not to point your feet at it. Otherwise, your gesture may be regarded as sacrilege. Also, do not point your finger at objects and people in the temple.

Women are not allowed to touch Buddhist monks. You cannot sit cross-legged in the presence of a monk.

Obscene behavior in the temple or disrespect for religious symbols can result in a sentence of two to seven years in prison. If you feel like wearing an orange monk robe just out of pampering, consider whether it is worth one year in a Thai prison.

Dagestan athlete in Elista transferred to a separate cell

Said Osmanov, a member of the Dagestan Greco-Roman wrestling team, who was detained on suspicion of desecrating a statue of Buddha in Elista, was transferred to a separate cell. A confession is demanded from the detainee, his relatives say.

Athletes from Dagestan, walking along Elista on April 1, went to a Buddhist temple, where one of them relieved of his need, and also kicked the statue of Buddha, reports "Rain", noting that perhaps no one would have known about the incident if the athletes themselves did not broadcast their actions to the Periscope app. The footage posted on the Internet was seen by the residents of Elista and came to deal with the wrestlers at the hotel where the team was staying. The fight was miraculously avoided, but the Dagestani had to kneel down on the knees to ask the angry Buddhists for forgiveness, the channel reports. It is noteworthy that videos about the events that followed the incident in the temple were posted on the network, including on the YouTube site. They only broadcast photos of a guy doing a stretch with his leg to the Buddha's nose.

Said Osmanov petitioned for a separate cell in the pre-trial detention center, said the ombudsman in Kalmykia Evgeny Emelianenko ... According to him, the petition was granted, and the conditions of detention of the detainee meet all the necessary standards, writes RIA "Kalmykia".

The athlete's lawyer also announced that Said Osmanov was kept in a separate cell, "Chernovik" reports.

Relatives: there is no evidence of Said Osmanov's guilt

The investigating authorities are demanding that Said Osmanov write a confession statement, since they have no other evidence of guilt, the detainee's uncle told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Abdulkadyr Osmanov ... According to him, the nephew is currently under pressure to confess to the desecration of the monument. "They have no evidence. There is no video, no photo evidence. And now they are trying to force a confession out of him under physical pressure," he said.

Abdulkadyr Osmanov noted that he was also asked to persuade his nephew when he went to Elista to see Said. According to him, the police never gave permission to meet. They hired a Dagestani lawyer who left for Kalmykia only on April 7.

According to Osmanov's relatives, they met with a young man who was that evening with Said at the statue of Buddha. Unfortunately, this young man himself is not available to the media, since the special services forbade him to communicate with journalists. But relatives shot a video from the back, where the athlete talks about what happened that evening on April 1. "There were three of us. We were walking in the park and saw the sculpture. We were broadcasting in Periscope. We did not know what kind of monument it was. With Sayid, we approached her, I began to shine my phone on her. Sayid said one thing, just one obscene a word on her, but I interrupted him. I explained to him that local residents could see us, and then there might be problems. And we returned to the hotel, "the video provided by Osmanov's relatives says.

As for the photo circulated on the Internet, where the young man lifts his foot to the level of the face of the statue of Buddha, this is a fake, the detainee's elder brother told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Hamid Osmanov ... "This is most likely an old photo. And it clearly shows that this is not Said. Said has curly hair. Shortly before the trip, he cut his hair short. And the photo shows a man with long straight hair. And the photo shows that the young the guy has stubble, and Said has sparse hair on his face, "said Hamid Osmanov.

On April 6, Abdulkadyr Osmanov sent an appeal to the President of Russia, the head of Dagestan and the Prime Minister of Dagestan with a request to monitor the course of the criminal case so that it is conducted objectively and fairly, without giving the event a political and religious coloring.

Recall that earlier, who noted that he was not at the scene of the incident.

Desecration of the monument was, eyewitnesses say

The incident took place late in the evening on April 1, a Kalmyk journalist told the Caucasian Knot correspondent Badma Burchiev who witnessed the events. According to him, Dagestani athletes were walking in the center of Elista, near the Kalmyk government building, when they saw the statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, which is located in the park on the veranda. One of the athletes, having abusively called the statue, approached him and relieved his need, says Byurchiev.

"The Dagestanis behaved extremely defiantly, witnesses of the athletes' walk say. One of them pointed at Buddha and loudly asked what kind of" p ... ", that is, a man of non-traditional sexual orientation. Passers-by made comments, but the athletes did not care," he said Burchiev.

The incident was filmed with a phone camera and broadcast in the Periscope application, while the incident record was not preserved. Burchiev claims that the service is designed in such a way that after the end of the broadcast, the video is not saved, and other tools are needed for recording, which the Dagestani athletes did not use. "There is no recording of the actions of the Dagestanis - neither on Youtube, nor anywhere else," said Byurchiev.

He noted that the photo, which was published in the media, where a man stretches his legs and hits his feet in the head of the Buddha, was taken long before the incident and not even in Elista. “Unfortunately, even respected publications disseminated incorrect information. Subsequently, this led to a huge resonance among the Elista,” the journalist said.

Many residents of Elista watched the broadcast of the Dagestanis' walk in Periscope, and "it was not difficult for them to quickly write off on social networks and agree on revenge on the Dagestanis," said Byurchiev. Elista chose the place and time of the gathering, and about 100 people arrived there in cars, some of whom were armed with bats, sticks and fittings. By 23.00, the crowd headed towards the Elista Hotel, the largest hotel in the city, where, according to Burchiev, all athletes stay.

"The crowd was determined, people demanded to hand over the offender. Several police squads drove up to the hotel, and only this stopped the crowd from lynching. For a long time, no one came out, but suddenly a man appeared at the door of the hotel - the same athlete who cursed and took the need for a statue. The man shouted: "Sorry", but this was clearly not enough for the crowd - everyone wanted physical violence. Then the athlete followed the lead of the crowd demanding to kneel. This was enough for everyone to disperse in a few minutes, "Burchiev commented ...

At a certain moment she got scared, she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent hotel employee "Elista", who asked not to be named. “It was spontaneous, uncontrollable and unconscious. It was as if lower instincts had awakened in people. At some point we thought that the police would not be able to resist the crowd, and people would break into the hotel. Every Elista supported the crowd, no one was left indifferent,” - said the hotel employee.

Badmaev: the actions of the Dagestanis offended the national feelings of the Kalmyks

Dagestanis shouted insults at the Kalmyks, promising to "bring them to their knees," the editor-in-chief of Sovremennaya Kalmykia told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Valery Badmaev... "Thus, the Dagestanis insulted not even the Buddhists, but the Kalmyks. All layers of the population are outraged, including pensioners of Russian nationality, who, it would seem, were not affected by the incident," Badmaev said.

The incident caused a serious public outcry among the entire population of Elista. Seeing the desecration of the statue, the townspeople called their friends, were indignant, they, in turn, reported the incident to their neighbors, and they passed the information on to their relatives, Badmaev said. He said that local Dagestanis complained to him that by kneeling down, the athlete "humiliated the entire Dagestan people."

Culturologist: Said Osmanov showed disrespect to himself

Head of the Center for the Development of Contemporary Oirat Culture "Tengrin Uydl" Basan Zakharov believes that the athlete could react differently and not succumb to the mood of the crowd. "In this regard, the Dagestan and Kalmyk cultures are similar - if a man knelt down, this is disrespect for himself. I don't know what the motivation was. This characterizes a man as an extremely unstable person. In this regard, I understand Dagestanis. There are two offenses - and in front of the Kalmyks and before the Dagestanis, "Zakharov told the" Caucasian Knot "correspondent. Now the population of Kalmykia has "calmed down", says Zakharov. "After the apologies of the Prime Minister of Dagestan and the muftiate, it was possible to avoid interethnic conflicts," said the culturologist.

Political scientist: Kalmyks have shown the ability to quickly self-organize

The speed with which the Elista people managed to cooperate is a consequence of the fact that the Kalmyk capital is "a small city, about 100 thousand people", where "any news spreads quickly - all the more bad," the chairman of the expert council of the Research Fund told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent electoral politics Andrey Serenko... Also, "Kalmyks are capable of quick organization when it comes to protecting religious shrines," the political scientist believes.

"What is happening was broadcasted via the Internet, and there are many advanced users in Elista. The incident itself took place in the city center, next to the building of the republican administration, where there are always people. Witnesses personally observed the trick of the young bastard and helped this news spread. The Kalmyks are not aggressive people, but with self-esteem and are able to stand up for it, "Serenko said.

In Elista, a major scandal erupted over the hooliganism of Said Osmanov, a 22-year-old member of the Dagestan freestyle wrestling team. Together with the team, he arrived in the main city of Kalmykia to participate in competitions. On the night of April 3, he went to get acquainted with the city and, in the process,

defiled the statue of Buddha: first he relieved it in need, and then effectively punched the metal deity yoko geri in the nose (a direct kick in karate. - Gazeta.Ru)..

This act of the young athlete did not go unnoticed. Soon after the abuse of the Buddhist shrine, several dozen Elistins came to the hotel where the Dagestani team was staying to ask why the Ottomans chose the image of Buddha as the toilet and boxing bag. The arrived residents of the city filmed their conversation with the wrestler on mobile phones, and then posted it on the Internet. The conversation with the bully took place in the presence of police officers, who behaved neutral and did not interfere with the audience.

“I didn’t know that this was a monument, I didn’t know that ...” the athlete tried to say something in his defense. “How didn’t know ?!” - the crowd of gathered Elista explodes with an indignant cry. Soon their speech became unprintable, and they sharply demanded that Sayid apologize for disrespecting the deity and kneel down so that the public would believe in the sincerity of his repentance. After a little thought, Osmanov fulfilled the wishes of the audience. but

this did not save the athlete from other unpleasant consequences. A criminal case was opened against him under the article “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”,

on which a young man could face a real term of imprisonment. In the meantime, he was arrested by the decision of the Elista court and is in the Kalmyk jail.

Gazeta.Ru discussed the situation with representatives of the Buddhist community of Kalmykia and other regions of Russia. “The Buddha would undoubtedly forgive him for this, because according to our religion, if you do not accept evil, then it does not concern you and the person will leave it with him,” argues Bator Mandjiev, a resident of Elista. - But from the point of view of the geopolitical region, guests need to be put in place, otherwise they will behave in the same inappropriate way,

because they only understand power. If not for the police, the crowd might have killed this guy.

In Kalmykia, the steppes are wide, no one will find it. "

According to him, inter-ethnic conflicts periodically occur in the city, but they are quite rare.

“Two years ago there was a case when people from Dagestan came to us, allowed themselves all sorts of liberties, insulted people, but did not touch religion. As a result, the Elista beat them a little. On the whole, in Kalmykia, they treat normally representatives of any religion, including Muslims. You just need to behave normally, you don't need to be impudent, ”said Mandzhiev.

A similar point of view was expressed by the young Elista housewife Tatyana Batyrova, who also professes Buddhism.

“From the point of view of Buddhism, one should not keep evil and one should forgive Osmanov. But he insulted our people, defiled the holy place.

This is a disrespectful act, he believes that only his God is worthy of respect, ”said the woman.

“What do you think, if Buddhists came to the mosque and committed sacrilege, what would the Muslims do to them? And so it happened here. If it were not for the police officers, something not very good could have been done to this person. I personally do not hold a grudge against this person, but I believe that the court should put an end to this story, "says Kyuske Ochirov, a native of the Tyva Republic.

The abbot of the St. Petersburg Buddhist temple Buda Badmaev noted that it is necessary to share the Buddhist teaching in itself and the reaction to it of certain individual followers of Buddhism.

“In Buddhism, a person himself realizes what he has done and how he should determine his behavior. Buddhism is a very compassionate religion in this regard. We understand that this person has done, to put it mildly, a stupid act. Naturally, the reaction of all Buddhists will be unequivocal.

It is the believer who punishes, not religion — that is what philosophy is all about. If people honor something, then you cannot defile it, ”said the religious leader.

According to him, although Buddhism is a religion of love, some people are in principle imperfect, including the followers of Buddhism, and therefore the crowd gathered in front of the hotel behaved quite aggressively.

“Everyone understands holiness in his own way. In principle, there should be mutual respect, and if a person violates the laws of society, then it is necessary to make sure that he begins to understand that this should not be done. It is desirable that he understands this himself and apologizes - this is the task of Buddhism.

This guy, in fact, punished himself, "

- said Badmaev.

Friends of Said Osmanov on his social page VKontakte in an interview with Gazeta.Ru dissociated themselves from him and said that they did not know him at all. They also stated that they did not approve of his act. Meanwhile, after the incident, the chairman of the government of Dagestan Abdusamad Hamidov personally arrived in Elista and apologized for Osmanov's behavior.

“We consider the act of our fellow countryman to be immoral. On my own behalf, I offer my deep apologies to our fraternal Kalmyk people. I would like to note that the coach who brought the wrestlers to the competition has already been fired, ”the official said. His father also sharply negatively commented on the behavior of the athlete.

Meanwhile, the statue of Buddha in Elista, which was desecrated by an athlete from Dagestan, will undergo a purification ceremony. This was stated by the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Kalmykia Khongor Elbikov.

“On Tuesday in Elista near the statue of Buddha there will be a“ subbotnik ”, in which members of Buddhist centers will take part. The monks of the central khurul will conduct a ritual of cleansing and washing the statue, ”Elbikov said.