Uzbekistan : Andijan protesting again!

Major News of <Uznews> : Andijan protesting again! 

About 2,000 people took to the streets in Andijan today, demanding compensation for homes demolished in 2011. The place of protest has been blocked and interior forces have been drawn up to the town.

This is the second protest demonstration by home owners in Andijan in the past two weeks.

People who lost their homes during the town reconstruction in 2011 are demanding compensation and homes of equal worth from the authorities.

The protest is undergoing in Andijan’s Kurgan-yer district. A protest participant has said that about 2,000 people filled the nearby highway that links a regional clinic and a green bridge.

Protesters are saying that they are fed up with their conditions as they have been living like homeless. After the demolition of their homes, the authorities placed some people in a cotton industry institute hostel, some in a hostel of a local college, while others found accommodation in their relatives’ houses.

The authorities in Andijan, according to the Uznews.net respondent, have shown patience so far, trying to calm down people and promising to resolve their problems. However, the protest site is cordoned off by police and units of interior forces have been drawn up to the town.

Andijan Region mayor Akhmatjon Usmanov met the protestors and promised that everyone would get compensation worth 50m sums (about $17,500 at the black market rate).

The protesters listened to the mayor without any particular delight, assuming that the authorities would cheat them again.

Andijan has a particular reputation in Uzbekistan. On 13 May 2005, the authorities killed about 1,000 people in the town, including women and children, who had demanded freedom and their rights.

Since then, life in Andijan has continued under vigilant surveillance by law enforcement bodies that are ready to smash anyone who dares to rise up. But life is forcing people of Andijan to claim their rights again and again.

news@theasian.asia