The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Veterans feted as Muscovites remember the end of the War

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Tuesday, May 10, 2005

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Opinion - News Analysis

Veterans feted as Muscovites remember the end of the War

Amit Baruah

MOSCOW: As the Russian State celebrated the end of the Great Patriotic War at Red Square, the people rejoiced on the streets.

As heads of state and government gathered at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, people began to come out of their homes once the formal ceremony at Red Square was over.

Children, women and veterans of the war were all celebrating alike. Wearing their medal-studded uniforms, veterans were the toast of the day. In Stary Arbat, a chic shopping area here, pubs and bars had opened their doors to the veterans.

As this correspondent looked on, the war veterans were sought out and taken into special enclosures. Food and drink were on the house.

At Victory Park, dedicated to the end of the Second World War, thousands of people stood in queue, wanting to get in. Many were carrying flowers.

It's not a cliché to suggest that every family lost a member during the Second World War. Given that 27 million perished in the Great War, it wasn't surprising to see Russians with flowers in their hand wanting to honour their dead. It's a sacred holiday for the Russian people.

* * *

Print journalists in these days of television get least priority; access is rather limited for writers. This newspaper reporter, along with other Indian correspondents, was no exception. The massive Rossiya Hotel, where we were staying, was a stone's throw from Red Square, but we had no choice but to watch the event "live" on television.

All you could do was walk to the barricades just outside the Square manned by hundreds of policemen. Or you could watch the actual, final "fly past" that marked the end of the parade.

Security is such an overwhelming consideration when world leaders gather. It's almost part of the routine. Photographers and television camerapersons are the lucky ones — they are the only ones allowed access these days.

* * *

Western television networks, while grudgingly conceding the role played by the Soviet Union in saving the world from fascism, were more focused on Russia's "flawed" history, its approach to the Baltic Republics and Stalin's "human rights record."

One Russian student, interpreting for the Indian press corps, pointed out that there was nothing in common between what BBC was putting out and what the Russian channels were saying.

The event was the same but the interpretation differed. As the veterans were put on show, the Russian channels were speaking about their accomplishments, the losses in different battles and the medals they had won.

Western networks, on the other hand, appeared keen on glossing over the heroic Soviet record in saving the world from the fascist hordes. Their focus was on the boycott by Georgia (the only CIS member-State to do so, 11 others were in attendance) and the need for Russia to come to terms with democracy like the one that had been "created" in Ukraine.

* * *

Sporting his usual light-blue turban, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stood out in the crowd of world leaders who had gathered here on Monday morning.

He was clapping and waving as the veterans rolled by a specially-erected viewing area for world leaders. President Putin, who delivered a brief address, was seen chatting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine looked a troubled man as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi clapped hard and smiled a lot. Mr. Yushchenko, who did not want to come to Moscow in the first place, was told by Ukrainian war veterans that they were willing to reschedule their celebrations so that their President could be at Red Square this morning. He finally came.

* * *

The hammer and sickle and the red flag are long gone from Russia. It went with the Soviet Union. The new Russian flag is blue, white and red — inaugurated by Boris Yeltsin — after the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Walking behind a military band marching through Stary Arbat, a sole veteran, bedecked with medals, carried a blue-banded red flag with the hammer and sickle, the long-time symbol of communist parties around the world. Inquiries revealed that he was carrying an old Russian naval flag.

Nationalism and the memory of defeating fascism are alive in Russia. It was evident to anyone who took a walk on Moscow's streets on Monday.

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