BETTER TO BE A SCYTHIAN THAN A KRYASHEN ^(*)

The question of ethnic origin was the most difficult in the 2002 census

THE MAJOR PHASE OF THE NATIONAL CENSUS ENDED YESTERDAY. THE FIRST OFFICIAL RESULTS ARE PROMISED IN MARCH, BUT SOME PRELIMINARY RESULTS ARE ALREADY KNOWN. CENSUS FRAUD WAS REPORTED IN TATARSTAN AND BASHKORTOSTAN, WITH CENSUS-TAKERS ORDERED TO EXAGGERATE THE NUMBERS OF THE CORE ETHNIC GROUPS.

The major phase of the national census ended yesterday. The first official results are promised in March, but some preliminary results are already known. They include both the unexpected and the predictable. Among the former are a dramatic rise in the population of Chechnya, and the appearance of ethnic groups ethnographers have never seen before. Difficulties with the questions on ethnic origins in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan were actually expected.

It turns out that not only the Kryashen and Mishari live in Russia - but there are Elves, Hobbits, and Scythians as well. Students at prestigious schools in Perm, Tolkien fans, playfully described themselves as Elves and Hobbits. Some adults in Rostov-on-Don had themselves registered as Scythians: they are members of the regional branch of the Scythian National Congress. Not so long ago the Congress appealed to its members to identify themselves as Scythians in the census, to emphasize their heritage. Some scandals have been reported already - some census-takers refused to write down "all this nonsense".

But this is a trifling matter compared to what happened in the two Muslim republics on the Volga River. In Bashkortostan, the opposition predicted that the authorities would inflate the numbers of the core ethnic group and underreport the numbers of "rivals" - Tatars and Russians. Despite predictions, no one expected the process to be so crude and on so large a scale. The coordinating council of Tatar community groups has compiled a list of incidents that occurred in the first days of the census in Bashkortostan. Some census-takers admitted that they had been ordered to bring up the number of Bashkirs to 30%. Methods of fabrication were simple and straightforward. When entering Tatar households, some census-takers wrote down all answers in pencil, citing some instructions or saying they had lost their pens. Others wrote down all answers into notebooks, saying they would be transferred to census forms later. And others did not ask the question about ethnic origin at all... In some areas, census officials openly asked residents to identify themselves as Bashkirs, claiming that it was necessary to preserve Bashkortostan's sovereignty.

Something similar is happening in Tatarstan too. The only difference is that the ethnic group harassed in Bashkortostan is doing all the harassing here. Several days into the census, the Kryashen minority group demanded an end to the abuses, saying their rights were being violated. Judging by what information is available, the tricks used in Tatarstan are identical to those deployed in Bashkortostan. At the same time, some open threats are used as well. The Kryashen are told that their collective farms will be disbanded, villages left without heating, and pension payments suspended.

The State Statistics Committee expected problems with these two republic, but felt confident of its ability to handle them. Irina Zbarskaya, head of the Census Directorate of the State Statistics Committee, assured us that the situation was under control, and that observers representing the State Statistics Committee and the presidential administration had been dispatched to Ufa and Kazan. It seems, however, that their mission was a failure.

Nothing is known at this point about how successful the census was in other problematic regions - particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow politicians, however, are disappointed and aren't even concealing it.

Alexander Torshin, deputy speaker of the Federation Council: This is the first census in democratic Russia. I'm disappointed in how it was organized. Substantial sums were spent, and we do not have any guarantees that the information collected is truthful... In the Soviet Union, tampering with census forms was likely to earn you a lengthy prison term. Not any more... The 2002 census makes it clear that we need a law regulating this procedure, ensuring oversight, and accountability for distortion.

(*) Kryashen - an Orthodox Tatar