Comment by throwaway290 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwaway290 | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

This is false.

Colonization of eastern parts of russia involved forced conversion to christianity, violence, rape, mass murder, but not language extermination

Even culture extermination is an exaggeration, sure some areas got forcibly "converted" to christianity (if they were unlucky to be invaded before USSR) but you will see mosques/buddha statues/whatever is applicable and all the local traditions and beliefs mostly going like before

Actually in areas where local languages exist they kept schools teaching local languages and official signs are duplicated in both local and Russian all the way from USSR. I know this first hand;) but even the article you linked will tell you that.

So it was maybe not as good as support for indigenous languages in Canada but not extermination

Only since 2018 it is optional to teach local language in schools, previously there were at least some schools that teach it in every area like that. thank Putler for that too.

This is false.

Entire history of Ukraine since russia became a thing is a constant struggle for preserving its own language.

Look at what happens now: 1. russia demands russian language to be declared official in Ukraine. 2. russia targets Ukrainian cultural institutions in its airstrikes, trying to destroy anything Ukrainian 3. first things russians do after occupying a territory is "reeducation" of Ukrainian-speaking representatives of the population and burning Ukrainian books

I can continue this list.

Seeing original post at times like this is genuinely confusing. But OTOH, many still choose to be wrong understanding russia's warv against Ukraine. pUtin explicitly said he intends to solve "Ukrainian question" once and for all.

My reply is about what happened within borders of Russia to indigenous languages and cultures. if you think I'm commenting about war against another country you are very wrong

> but not language extermination

as Lithuania - this is absolutely not true. Even before Soviet union the Russian empire was exterminating language to the point where there's an entire Lithuanian history chapter on Lithuanian book smugglers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_book_smugglers

Soviet empire wasn't better either. My great grandmother who was a Lithuanian language teacher was sent to Siberian gulags _for_ teaching Lithuanian. Luckily she survived and lived to a 100 just to prove these disgusting people wrong.

Sorry, my perspective is based on what happened within borders of Russia, I guess USSR was worse to white people who look more like russians

i have tatarian friends. they would like a word with you on this topic.

when they are over my place for more than a couple of hours, there is always conversation about russia trying to suppress anything tatarian: both culture and language.

this is their first hand expirience. from few past decades

tell me more... I don't hear that sort of thing from my non white friends in russia

I heard about discrimination and other shit especially if they go to white western areas of russia, but never about language suppression at home

well... it's not something that they will discuss. especially given that many try to assimilate or already lost their native culture or don't even care about it.

don't like posts of type "ai told me so", but google nicely summarized things in this case

Language Suppression: The most significant recent development was the 2017 law that ended the mandatory study of the Tatar language in schools, making it an optional subject. This has led to a decline in new generations of Tatar speakers and marginalized the language in administration and higher education. Efforts by Tatarstan to revert their script to the Latin alphabet were also blocked by Moscow.

Political and Civic Crackdowns: The Russian government has systematically eroded the political autonomy that Tatarstan gained in the 1990s. Tatar national organizations, such as the All-Tatar Public Center, have been labeled "extremist" and banned, with activists facing fines, detention, and imprisonment for speaking out against the policies.

Historical Revisionism: Moscow promotes a single, "imperial doctrine" of history, suppressing narratives that contradict it. This includes the erasure of Tatar national heroes and the promotion of figures who align with the Kremlin's narrative. Public memorial events related to historical injustices, such as the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars, are restricted or prohibited in Russian-occupied territories like Crimea.

Control over Identity: The official state policy focuses on a conventional, apolitical interpretation of Tatar culture, ignoring the community's desire for genuine self-determination. The goal appears to be the destruction of distinct national identities and the creation of a unified, unitary Russian state.

also watch this with subtitles/translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwLTayPMrKE

I asked what friends tell you, not interested in slop. thanks

> The most significant recent development was the 2017 law that ended the mandatory study of the

dude I just mentioned that law in my comment

this is essentially what they told me (this is why copy/pasted slop as it's easier than typing half a page), +him been dragged to FSB for "conversation" due to "extremism"

if typing is too much to make an argument then maybe it's not worth it.

extremism laws are no joke, talking about gay things is "extremism", talking about secession also "extremism". But that is true for anyone even if you're white

Reply on news.ycombinator.com