Kadyrov suggests moving Stalin's remains to Georgia
GROZNY. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has suggested burying Vladimir Lenin's body, handing over the remains of Joseph Stalin to Georgia and commemorating Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at the federal level.
"I have spoken many times of the need to bury Lenin though personally for me it makes no difference that he is resting there [in the Mausoleum]. When I am asked, I state my opinion," Kadyrov said in an interview with Interfax.
"I don't wish to touch someone's political or human feelings," he said. "I am not speaking of Lenin as a politician, I am speaking of the body or, to be more exact, of what remains of the body of a person who died some 100 years ago. Lenin was placed in the Mausoleum as a statesman, not a party leader. Therefore as the former leader of the USSR he should be committed to earth and a monument erected on his grave which he deserves among other things by giving instructions and consent for repression. And no public organization or political party should try to usurp the right to this decision," Kadyrov said.
"As for Stalin's remains, one should demonstrate goodwill and hand them over to Georgia so that he could be buried in his homeland. Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, which Joseph Stalin led. Therefore it would be logical and fair if Georgia got the chance to bury him and millions of people in Russia could take a deep breath in the knowledge that Stalin's spirit had left Russia," he said.
Asked about commemoration of Nikita Khrushchev, Kadyrov said, "Maybe Khrushchev did have some negative pages in his biography. I have not taken special interest in that. Some people also tried to dissuade me from paying tribute to him in Chechnya. I was told that he did not do anything personally for the triumph of justice, that allegedly "other times came", "the world community exerted pressure" and so on. I disagree with that. He made an enormous contribution to the triumph of justice with regard to the Chechens and Ingush."
"As for monuments... Moscow has people to decide whether to erect a monument or not. It is my personal belief that Russia should remember Khrushchev's name and in some form at the federal level decide on a monument or on naming some site of national significance after him," Kadyrov said.