MAKHACHKALA, November 6 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Russia’s republic of Dagestan has ordered an analysis of the century-old anthem of another southern Russian region for possible signs of extremism, his spokesman said Wednesday.
Lawmakers in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus republic of Dagestan earlier said the anthem of the nearby Krasnodar Territory might incite ethnic and religious hatred because it contains a negative term for people of non-Christian beliefs. The original song was written in 1914 in honor of Kuban Cossacks who fought against the Ottoman Empire forces during World War I.
“Ramazan Abdulatipov told experts to conduct a legal evaluation of whether the Krasnodar Territory anthem contains elements of incitement to ethnic hatred,” spokesman Magomedbek Akhmedov said.
The matter will be referred to Russia’s Constitutional Court if experts confirm the politician’s suspicions, Akhmedov said.
Relations between Dagestan and the Krasnodar Territory turned sour last month when two people set fire to the Dagestani flag at a football match between Krasnodar’s FC Kuban and Dagestan’s Anzhi.
The Russian football premier league’s security head Alexander Meitin said at the end of last month that the perpetrators had been detained and fined, and that they were not Kuban fans, but were merely “showing off.”
