The 1992 Tajikistan protests, also known as the Tajikistani Revolution, were nonviolent, bloodless protests and demonstrations against the results of the 1991 Tajik presidential election. These results were thought to be rigged and in favour of the president

Rahmon Nabiyev Rahmon Nabiyevich Nabiyev (5 October 1930 – 11 April 1993), was a Tajikistani politician who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan from 1982 to 1985 and twice as the 2nd President of Tajikistan from 23 September 19 ...

. Opposition rallies erupted on 26 March 1992 but demonstrations became large-scale by May, at the onset of violence. These series of peaceful

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

would lead to the bloody

Tajikistani Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War,, group=pron also known as the Tajik Civil War, began in May 1992 and ended in June 1997. Regional groups from the Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions of Tajikistan rose up against the newly formed government of Preside ...

Background

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

was part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as the

Tajik SSR The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly known as Soviet Tajikistan, the Tajik SSR, TaSSR, or simply Tajikistan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1929 to 1991 in Central Asia. The Tajik Re ...

. The introduction of

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

and

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

policies by

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, last president of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

led to a series of political and economic upheavals that led to the unraveling of the political and economic system in place and greater influence by actors outside the Communist Party. In 1990, the Dushanbe riots took place against immigration from outside the republic and the government. After the failed

August coup The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

against Gorbachev in 1991, the republican authorities proclaimed independence and set

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

on November 24, which was won by communist leader

in disputed circumstances.

Protests

Protests surrounding the election results escalated into clashes in March 1992, but soon subsided. Quiet protests and small demonstrations took place in April. Mass strikes and major demonstrations then resumed throughout the country, demanding the resignation of the government and President Nabiyev. The government responded by arming militias and quelling the demonstrators with guns and tanks, sparking more clashes. The unrest spiraled out of control, with a particular clash in

Khujand Khujand, sometimes spelled Khodjent and formerly known as Leninabad from 1936 to 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan and the capital of Tajikistan's northernmost Sughd province. Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, d ...

, Tajikistan's second-largest city, sparking the 5 year long

. After weeks of mass strikes and demonstrations, the protesters captured the Nabiyev and forced him to resign.
Political Construction Sites: Nation-building in Russia and the Post-Soviet States
', page 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajikistan protests, 1992 1992 in Tajikistan 1992 protests 20th-century revolutions Demonstrations Protest marches Protests against results of elections Protests in Tajikistan Revolutions of 1989 Tajikistani Civil War

Background

Protests

See also

References