Farmers Verbally Abused by Head of Andijan District
Radio Ozodlik published an audio recording of a meeting on January 25, 2018, in the Andijan District Office. In the 16-minute audio recording, the head of the district, Ulugbek Isomiddinov can be heard using obscenities to insult local farmers for not transferring money for the coating used during the sowing of cotton seeds:
“Oydinbulok! [name of the farm– Ed.] Come on, come out here! Oi, you wretch, why didn’t you transfer the money for the coating? Beggar! Oi, bastard, it is a presidential decree to transfer the money. So, why didn’t you transfer it, you bastard?”
Then the head of the district started insulting another farmer:
“I am asking you, why didn’t you transfer the money? Oi scum, how long do I have to tolerate your dealings? If you have a debt, why haven’t you transferred the money yet? Oi bastard, why didn’t you transfer the money yesterday?”
Ulugbek Isomiddinov, hokim of the Andijan district then continued his tirade against a farm manager of the Sherzodbek oltin dalasi [name of the farm– Ed.]:
“You con man, are not human, you bastard. I treated you with respect, called you my brother. Tell me you bastard, an artist, damn. All of you transferred only one million soms, where are the other 8,384,000 ? What are you waiting for, you bastard? Oi you wretch, haven’t I respected you? Oi scumbag.”
According to the farmer from the Andijan district, local farmers have been humiliated and insulted by Ulugbek Isomiddinov for years.
“We cannot take such unjust treatment from the hokim anymore. We have money on the accounts of the cotton factory but he demands cash. At the meeting on January 26, one of the farmers said that he wanted to pay for the coating from his account of the cotton factory. However, the hokim demanded that he pay in cash. Poor farmers are looking for cash. The hokim doesn’t leave them alone, he always insults them. It feels like there are no people in the Andijan district except for the hokim. In his opinion, all others are bastards,” a local farmer complained.
After hearing the audio recording, a Radio Ozodlik reporter contacted Ulugbek Isomiddinov by phone. When the reporter asked about the reasons for insulting local farmers, the hokim admitted that he was wrong and that it would not happen again.
According to Uzbek law, farms in Uzbekistan operate as “independent business entities.” Despite this, insults and verbal abuse by the authorities against farmers, as well as representatives of other organizations, are commonplace in Uzbekistan.
During the cotton harvesting season, journalists obtained an audio recording, in which the hokim of the city of Andijan, Dilmurod Rakhmatullaev, insulted school and college principals for not fulfilling the cotton quota using insults such as “scoundrels”, “wretches”, “bastards”, and “lackeys”. (https://harvestreport.uzbekforum.org/mayor-of-andijan-intimidates-and-humiliates-to-meet-cotton-quota/).
Another audio recording was published earlier, where the hokim of the Parkent district, Nematulla Abdullayev, insulted directors of organizations for not sending enough employees to harvest cotton (https://harvestreport.uzbekforum.org/uzbek-official-unleashes-torrent-of-abuse-at-cotton-meeting/).
Translated from Uzbek.
The original article was published on January 26, 2018, by Sadriddin Ashur on the website of Radio Ozodlik.
Source: https://www.ozodlik.org/a/andijon-tumani-hokimi-fermerlarni-haqorat-qildi/29000489.html
