Understanding the Responses to the Challenges in the Aftermath of the June Tragedy in Kyrgyzstan: Uzbek Mode of Struggling With Post-Conflict Predicaments in Osh

Abstract

The June inter-ethnic violence left many challenges for the people in post-conflict Osh. The issue of ethnic discrimination against Uzbek part of the population and the rising ethnic Kyrgyz nationalism has drawn the concern of the many, including international community, scholars of political science and experts worldwide who study the ethnic conflicts and nationalism and post-conflict reconciliation. In the aftermath of the violent conflict, the Uzbek community is left in a vulnerable position where they experiencing economic, cultural and political discrimination and pressure from the government. Kyrgyz the government is attempting to build a nation and unite the people in the country under one national identity, promoting the ethnic identity of a titular nation as a unifying instrument for people, which in its turn, has opposing effects on national minorities in the country. The paper, however, is not an attempt to examine the origins of the violent conflict rather it seeks to understand the post-conflict challenges that left in a predicament the viability of the Uzbek minority life in the aftermath of the conflict and their responses to this predicament. The paper ultimately argues that the policy of Kyrgyz state on building nation and national identity to unite the people of Kyrgyzstan that led to marginalization of the minority group, made them cultivate their coping mechanisms to defend themselves from the adverse effects of nationalism.