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RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1784
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 1086
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0018
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 9982

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DS/DSS/ITA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KDEM PHUM TI
SUBJECT: ROCK AND ROLL IN DUSHANBE 
 
DUSHANBE 00001706  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. What could cause Tajikistan's youth to swell with anger, defy 
laws prohibiting mass gatherings and demonstrations, and take to 
the streets of Dushanbe? Were they protesting non-transparent 
election practices in Tajikistan leading up to the presidential 
election in November? Were they angry over the high unemployment 
that sends hundreds of thousands to Moscow as labor migrants? Or 
were they embittered by oppressive restrictions stunting freedom 
of the media? No! Tajikistan's teens were enraged when 
Iranian-born pop star Arash was a no-show at the national 
Independence Day celebration concert. 
 
¶2. On the night of September 10, the 50,000-strong crowd in 
Dushanbe's Frunze stadium erupted into what sources call "mass 
disorder." Sources say audience members at the free concert 
became upset when the internationally renowned pop star failed 
to show up. They began to throw bottles and objects at 
substitute performers on stage. As a result of the chaos within 
the stadium, 30 law enforcement employees and 20 civilians were 
injured, according to sources at the Ministry of Interior. Young 
men in the audience poured out of the stadium and approximately 
half of the crowd proceeded en masse toward the city center. The 
crowd, mostly teenagers, threw rocks at vehicles and about 2,000 
made their way downtown. 
 
¶3. In a country where mass gatherings, protests and 
demonstrations are illegal without official written permission 
from the government, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of 
Security officials dispatched law enforcement officers within 
half an hour. Officials quelled the incident peacefully within 
two and a half hours, detaining 36 people. 
 
¶4. Arash, the singer at the center of it all, publicly 
apologized on national television late that night for not 
performing. His band's flight was delayed. President Rahmonov 
had invited the singer to perform for Tajik Independence Day 
celebrations in Dushanbe and Kulob. The singer promised to 
perform September 11 at noon in lieu of the canceled show. 
Security was intense at the stadium. Approximately one thousand 
security officials were on hand, each with a baton and some with 
guard dogs chomping at the bit to curb any sign of unruly 
behavior. Authorities confiscated water bottles and evicted 
rowdy spectators from the stadium. Besides doing the wave at 
least eight times, the crowd was subdued and wary of authorities 
and the hour-long concert ended peacefully. 
 
COMMENT: 
 
¶5. While the reason the young men took to the streets was 
apolitical, it does speak volumes of the changing attitudes of 
this large Tajik demographic. Young men suffer from Tajikistan's 
high unemployment and are becoming the new emerging voice of the 
country. Tajiks who lived through the civil war, recoil from 
demonstrations or provoking authority, but this younger 
generation may have selective or little memory of the civil war 
to hold them back. 
 
¶6. Although security officials cautiously handled the situation, 
and managed to handle the crowd peacefully, what was obvious 
from the police reaction and subsequent strategy was that they 
lack crowd control experience, equipment, and training. 
Authorities showed they were not taking any chances by 
increasing force at the September 11 concert. Hopefully this 
incident will not be a sign to the government to ban future 
concerts. Arash's popularity and the prevalence in Tajikistan of 
Persian music from western-based pop stars show that pop culture 
can be a tool to introduce western ideas and engage an 
ever-growing and youthful population that is extremely isolated 
and poor. 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00001706  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
END COMMENT. 
 
 
SIGNATURE 
JACOBSON