I have often to be riding along the areas of Northern Tojikiston. It seems to be connected with my profession of a journalist. Mostly I resort to the services of public transport. It is natural that I have enough time to ruminate and watch the events around, see people's behavior. As a rule, conflict situations, injustice attract more, though not infrequently you admire the beauties of nature through a window.
Once I found myself a recurrent time on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border in the middle of January. I was glad sincerely not having noticed habitual unlawful posts which had barred locomotion of people and vehicles entailing nothing else, but destabilization in bordering areas; the though occurred to me - it was not for nothing that we, journalists of "Varorud" had been constantly drawing the attention of both Kyrgyz and Tajik authorities to this point. But at that moment I wouldn't think that besides road communication there are the problems of watershed and land usage between the two neighboring peoples, which are much acuter for Tajiks than for Kyrgyzes, inhabiting the contiguous territory. As for the issue of road communication, Kyrgyzes have a greater stake in it though one can't lay out of accounts our only northern enclave - that of Vorukh - mustering over twenty thousand of population. But we would like to settle the whole spectrum of conflict questions without waiting for a recurrent scandal. Spring will soon come again and the problems of water distribution will be raised anew with enhanced acuteness. But from year to year this issue has not been finding its solution though when big amounts of water are involved there are agreements between the sides. As for the problem of land, the very fact that the intergovernmental commission on demarcation and delimitation of frontiers passed a resolution, first at the beginning of December in Bishkek and then in a month in Isfara, on establishment of joint ecology post on a number of mountainous terrains proves that the both sides acknowledged the arguable status of the entire Turkistan foothills in the north of Tojikiston; therefore, you may hope that the territorial issue will be solved in a complex with those ones of watershed, land usage and road communications.
When the premise of posts cancellation in bordering zones was touched on I though unwittingly about those military servicemen, militia and custom's officials - where had they vanished? Had the authorities of the two different areas placed them in jobs? As for military servicemen, they, beyond doubts, will be used properly. They will be merely driven into military barracks and made to improve martial training on testing and drill grounds. Custom's officers won't stand on roads either if not for urgent situations. They will have no occasion to justify their actions afterwards if the latters are not authorized. But as for our militia, it will enjoy their advantage. If beforehand there were two men at SAI posts now there will be four. Do you think they will trace the rules of traffic? They will simply seek for a chance to extort money. If it were not so, why do then they stop only a defenseless driver of public transport or dilapidated "Moscvich", "GAZ-24" who can be easily accused of his vehicle being out of repair? Why when a person rides in a car of foreign origin his single nod makes the whole team stand still?
When returning form Isfara to Khujand I noticed that at SAI post near Kim settlement were standing those who a month before had been keeping Russian Federation citizen Valery Solodovnikov for several hours without any explanation, they wanted to make him understand what he had to do to move from Batken to Isfara though there were no grounds for not letting his coming to Tojikiston. Now people of this sort fortify the posts, which need no fortification; I refer SAI post between Isfara and Kim amid the steppe to this category too. The question raises: what do auto inspectors guard here, what traffic rules do they trace? Wouldn't it be more reasonable if they spent same time for improvement of their knowledge in the culture of behavior, spiritual and moral refinement? If they like military servicemen embarked on heightening their fighting efficiency and martial promptitude the state might be sure of having a firm, strong and well-trained militia.
By the way, the issue on SAI posts over the viloyat territory needs reconsideration for long. Many of them converted into a kind of a sinecure undermining thus the authority of the Tajik militia and powers upon the whole. Though one can't deny the fact that for the last two years not little has been done to heighten the prestige of the law-enforcement bodies in the republic. I think it's high time the legislative power in Tojikiston urgently contemplated the issue of correspondence of branch laws, promulgated interdepartmental instructions to the Constitution of the country - extraordinary commissions of law-enforcement bodies the latters were entitled to in connection with the political situation in the country in the mid-90-ies must be abrogated.