President Attends Memory Day Solemnities

Дата публикации: May 16, 2012 11:26:35 AM

Initiated by President Islam Karimov as the Day of Memory and Honor, May 9 is widely celebrated in Uzbekistan as a national holiday.

Memory is an expression of uppermost respect and reverence for our ancestors. Under the leadership of the President, historical justice has been recovered, while the noble deeds and the courage of our forefathers are being glorified and perpetuated.

Our selfless compatriots who displayed audacity and heroism on the battlefields of World War II, who fought for the peace and freedom of their land, for the harmony of their families and children – are always at the esteem of our people. The more than 6,600 war veterans living today in our country have been afforded comprehensive attention and care by the government.

The decree issued by President Islam Karimov on April 18, 2012, to reward the Second World War veterans has been another vivid manifestation of such veneration. In line with that order, war veterans across the nation have been ceremonially awarded cash remuneration.

The Memory Square in Tashkent was crowded on May 9 than any other time in the year. It was packed with war and labor veterans, government officials, members of parliament, the military and the general public.

President Islam Karimov entered the square at 9 a.m. amid a tender music on air from early hours of that day.

Under the sounds of military orchestra the head of our state laid a wreath to the Monument of Mourning Mother. Islam Karimov paid tribute to the memory of thousands of fellow countrymen and women who perished in the Second World War.

“Today our nation celebrates a great historic date, namely the 67th anniversary of triumph over Nazism in World War II,” the President said.

“Solemn events are underway around Uzbekistan in dedication to the Day of Memory and Honor. We bow our heads, first and foremost, in homage to all our compatriots who fought that brutal war and never returned home.”

“I feel tremendously honored today to express my heartfelt greetings, wishes of long life and my earnest respect to war veterans who live beside us safe and sound, and who have been a source of spiritual inspiration for us.”

As Islam Karimov suggested, “It would be safe to maintain that that tragedy did not leave any Uzbek household intact if one takes into account that 1.5 million of our fellow countrymen left for combat in that dreadful war, and that approximately 500,000 of them fell in the bloodbath.”

Years and ages will pass, but the pain, the suffering, grief and the sense of loss the horrific war inflicted on our nation will never be forgotten.

According to the President, we are convinced that the memory of our self-sacrificing fellow citizens who demonstrated daring, valor and heroism in the struggle with Nazism for the peace and harmony of the people and blue skies will live forever, and our nation will remember its splendid sons with gratitude.

Honoring and veneration to the memory of the fallen has always underlined the gracious quality of our people. This tradition has come to be our national value, has been imbibed into our flesh and blood. This is the very reason we mark the 9th of May as the Day of Memory and Honor.

Indeed, the pain of our people cannot be healed with the passage of years, a pain caused by that war which has left a tragic trace in world history, a disaster that claimed the lives of 27 million people of the former Soviet Union, and that brought about unparalleled suffering and loss to our people with myriads of women and kids left as widows and orphans.

President Karimov stressed that the most imperative and critical challenge we face today is to prevent so ominous and disastrous a war from recurrence.

The ongoing confrontation, armed conflicts, bloody tragedies, and the restless circumstances surrounding us today require a consistent vigilance from us. Instability in the neighboring Afghanistan has reigned as long as 30 years without any indication of amelioration yet. This poses a formidable threat not merely to Uzbekistan, but also to all the people in our entire region. Naturally, Islam Karimov pointed out, this should bother every person who is concerned about the future of their country, families, children.

Today, notwithstanding the 67 years since fascism fell, this kind of evil – unfortunately as it is – has been ascending in a variety of nations and regions across the globe, and a menacing phenomenon like chauvinism has been spreading with vigor. And indisputably, disregard to this trend, indifference to these threats may lead to gruesome consequences.

One has to state it time and again that a timely detection of these sorts of risks and revealing the true intentions of their perpetrators is as urgent as never before.

Expounding on this topic, President Karimov underscored the necessity to draw the attention of general public to this critical challenge, namely, to preventing and eliminating such dangers.

As far as the unfolding successes of Uzbekistan with a growing international acclaim are concerned, the head of our state suggested one can name a range of factors underpinning them. Yet central to them – a foundation of all the achievements made by our people, an aspect that hardly needs detailed clarification for anyone – is the cardinal transformation in the mindset of our people, their attitude to life, work, their profession, and manifest throughout independence years.

In a word, Islam Karimov put it, one may effortlessly observe that it is primarily the independent thinking of our people, their consistently enriching spiritual world, the mounting social activism that have come to a backbone of all our accomplishments and successes, a source of our might and prowess.

Worth mentioning in this regard is that what lies behind the colossal ingenious work underway around our nation is human factor, first and foremost. This year we are going to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of our independence. The international community has been acknowledging our achievements made possible within a historically brief span of time thanks to the resourceful potential of our people, the human factor. Many countries have looked at us with admiration. That was evident also during the recent major international forums in Tashkent addressing the vital sectors – healthcare and education.

The underlying reasons behind the announcement of this year as the one of robust family, according to President Islam Karimov, are such gracious objectives as the priority of human interests, the reinforcement of the sense of involvement inherent in every citizen for the destiny of their families, people and native land.

This has facilitated the consolidation of peace and stability in Uzbekistan, an atmosphere of mutual respect and harmony in our multiethnic society.

Placing emphasis on the need to cherish the current peaceful and unruffled life as well as the national independence as the apple of the eye, Uzbekistan’s leader underscored the importance of studying our road to independence by the younger generation, for them to be aware of the fact that the path to these bright days has been quite thorny. After all, the future is in the hands of our youths. We ought to support and rest confidence on our growing generation since it is a decisive force of tomorrow.

President Islam Karimov’s recently published book, “Uzbekistan on the Eve of Attaining Independence”, serves as an important source and a practical guide in enquiring into the history of our land’s independence.

In this light, as the head of state asserted, vital in our life is the younger generation’s awareness of the essence and significance underpinning the Day of Memory and Honor, that is, noble virtues like reverence toward the memory of the fallen, honoring our esteemed aksakals and mothers, protection of Motherland and the clear skies above it, cherishing the peace and harmony of the nation, fostering our children in the spirit of bravery and determination displayed by fathers and grandfathers.

All this undoubtedly adds to our strength and power and reinforces our confidence in the future.

The President of Uzbekistan expounded then on some pressing challenges, including the sacred duty of every one of us to multiply the might and capabilities of our national armed forces who have secured a peaceful life for the people.

We have always relied on our own competence, strength and power, and we are going to keep that line in the future.

We have set a grand healthy ambition for ourselves, a goal dreamt of by our forefathers: namely, to secure life conditions in Uzbekistan inferior to no one, to build a great country.

“On this gracious path we ask the Almighty to safeguard our people, our land from evil and misfortune, and we will definitely achieve our marvelous objectives,” Islam Karimov said.

The Monument of Mourning Mother has been studded with flowers today. Through to the deep evening, the Memory Square was crowded with people willing to pay homage to fellow citizens who sacrificed their lives in the name of peace and freedom of the native land and a bright future for the posterity.