Uzbek Independence Day

The Tashkent Globe in Independence Square. Literally putting Uzbekistan on the map.

Uzbekistan. What do we know about it? It's in Central Asia and its capital is Tashkent. That's about it. If we're going to celebrate its independence, we had better learn a little bit more than that, to wit, from whom did they claim their independence and what does said independence mean?

Since the 19th century, Uzbeks were under Russian rule. With the formation of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan became the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. On September 1, 1991, with the decline of the Soviet Union, the republic was able to declare itself an independent democracy. As was often the case though with former communist nations, the individuals running the country didn't change, only their political affiliations. In the case of Uzbekistan, this means that former party leader Islam Karimov became the first (and for that matter, only) Uzbek president.

I'll admit, at this point everything is going to be pretty biased, largely because it's hard in the Western world to find President Karimov's side of the story. Virtually every human rights watchdog--Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the US State Department, and many others--have defined President Karimov's government as an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. Indeed, it seems that gruesome torture and repression are every day events. It's a muslim nation, and those critical of the government are often labeled "Islamic extremists", and jailed or put to death by firing squad. As a consequence of repressive economic policies, nearly half of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day. You'd think the Uzbek people would vote Karimov out of office, but as is universally the case with authoritarian regimes, he easily wins elections with 80% or 90% of the vote. Even though the the Uzbek constitution specifically sets term limits for the president, the courts keep allowing him to run. Even those who run against him have admitted they only have done so to make the elections appear legitimate, and as a rule begin their speeches talking about how awesome Karimov is. Ultimately, they even vote for the guy.

Now I can't help but go on a little rant here, since there are many in the media and on Facebook and Twitter who slander American president Obama as a dictator. It's one thing if you vehemently disagree with his policies, or even personally hate him. I just don't see the comparison. First of all, his approval rating is way too low. If he were a dictator, he would make you like him. Karimov's government is extremely repressive of the media in Uzbekistan. In the US, the most popular cable news station is Fox News, which isn't shy about its opposition to Obama. If he really were a dictator, Glenn Beck wouldn't be claiming on his program that the president had people trying to kill him. There would be a quick and fancy show trial followed by his execution, not a devoted TV, book, and radio following that earns him tens of millions of dollars a year. Sarah Palin would begin every speech by saying how good Barack Obama is for the country, and rank him among some of the greatest presidents we've ever had. And for those of you who tweet that he's a dictator, you would disappear in the middle of the night and never be heard from again. Ultimately, you may think he's doing a lousy job as president--that's something we can debate--but we should all be able to agree that if he's trying to be a dictator, he could learn a lot more from the pros. 

World Heritage Site "The Registran" in Samarkand

Sadly, it seems that the Uzbek people are independent from Russian rule, but they are still not free. So today we instead will celebrate the Uzbek culture, their many beautiful ancient mosques and madrasahs, and above all, their food.

Our version of Plov

For dinner, we chose to make the Uzbek classic, plov. I found this good recipe (and by good, I mean it has giant pictures). I improvised a bit, namely I used pre-ground spices and ground mutton instead of lamb (which, admittedly, was mostly out of laziness). I'm sure a real Uzbek would scoff at our attempt, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The garlic bit was particularly tasty. Ultimately, our version comes off as a really fancy Rice-a-roni, so even if you're not willing to try this, you should at the very least add shredded carrots to all future boxed San Francisco treats you make.