“I am a human rights activist, a Georgian Muslim from the mountainous Adjara,” says Nestan Ananidze, who was born in the village of Diagonidzeebi, Khulo Municipality. She grew up in a large family, where the practice of caring for each other was an important part of it.
She started his studies in a neighboring village — she had to walk 2 kilometers every day to get there. Then she moved to a municipal school and discovered how unequal the environment was between the village school and the center school.
Before she was a student, she lived in Khulo, where the majority of the population is Muslim. It was a natural environment for her, and she couldn’t imagine why she could be “different” anywhere else, until she was asked at a summer camp why he was “of the enemy’s religion.”
At first, it was difficult to respond to stereotypical attitudes, but later she began to fight. The fight not only to protect the rights of Georgian Muslims, but also to create an inclusive environment, to solve the problems of mountainous Adjara, and to popularize it.
Nestan is a member of the “Solidarity Community.” She spoke to Aprili Media about her personal experiences, the rich culture of Georgian Muslims, the importance of a diverse society, and laws that violate fundamental human rights.
Life in the Highlands of Adjara
In the village of Nestan, Diagonidzeebi, the school only went up to grade 9. So she started her studies in the neighboring village, Okroashvilebi. Then she moved to the center of the Khulo municipality to study, because there were better opportunities there.
“As you know, Adjara is mountainous and to get to school, we had to walk about 1-2 kilometers, uphill. It was mountainous and it was most difficult in the winter, when there was a lot of snow. There was so much snow that it completely covered me. I remember arriving frozen several times, crying while warming up.
We, in the mountainous Adjara, are used to living in difficult conditions and did not make any big complaints about the conditions in which we studied. However, the most disappointing thing for me was that there were fewer human resources in the village, including teachers. Several subjects were taught by the same teacher, and for some subjects there were no qualified teachers at all and there are still none. It is disappointing that there were better teachers in the center, or there were different circles: music, drawing, dancing, wrestling. We did not have these opportunities in the village.
The issue of awareness was also problematic. For example, there was not and still is not enough information about non-formal education in the villages. Those who study in the villages do not have the information to go, participate, develop further, acquire various skills. In contrast to young people living in the center, who have more information about programs, non-formal education.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
It emphasizes that in terms of resource distribution, there is an even greater difference between the Khulo center and Batumi.
“It is still the case today that when you talk about Adjara, you mainly think of Batumi and the problems of Batumi. If any meetings are held, they are held in Batumi. It is also a problem that when donors, ambassadors or embassies go, they go to Batumi. Recently, there have been initiatives to organize meetings in the municipality, but the main tendency was that when we talked about Adjara, the arrows were pointing towards Batumi. However, there are a lot of people living beyond it, including in Kobuleti, Khelvachauri and mountainous Adjara.”
When we asked about the problems in mountainous Adjara, she told us that they have many things in common with the problems of Svaneti, Tusheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and other mountainous regions.
“Basically, these are socio-economic problems that affect people on a massive and large scale. These are infrastructure problems, for example, internal rural or central roads. For years, the population has been demanding the construction of the Batumi-Akhaltsikhe road, which has been endlessly delayed and has not been resolved to this day, the situation is dire.”
Mountainous Adjara is also plagued by the problem of eco-migrants, and many people have been forced to leave their homes and now live in Batumi or other regions. There are eco-migrants from Adjara in almost every region.
There is also a problem with electricity. Heavy snowfall in winter and often problems with movement on the roads bother people. The most important thing, which especially affects women, is the problem of access to healthcare. There is no functioning medical facility in any municipality in mountainous Adjara.
The basic requirements, such as access to drinking water, food, and healthcare services, are lacking and not available to people. This vulnerability is often exploited by the ruling authorities. Then we have demands on these people for higher matters, which, in my opinion, is unfair.
The problem of access to healthcare services is particularly acute for pregnant women. Nestan tells us that there are no maternity wards in Keda and Shuakhevi. The only one that was operational was in Khulo, which closed last year. Pregnant women had to travel to Batumi, a minimum of two hours away, to receive basic services. This was especially difficult in the winter when there was heavy snowfall.
Nestan and her friends appealed to local and central authorities about this problem last year, but received no answers. Then they began protesting, demanding the opening of a maternity ward and decent salaries for doctors.
“This yielded results and they reopened [in Khulo], although I cannot say that this problem has been completely solved today, because there are still problems with taking tests and ultrasounds. There is no proper equipment, local medical institutions are almost impoverished. If a pregnant woman goes there and cannot get tested…
It is important that this maternity ward exists, which we requested, but it is necessary that all services are in order. One is that not all services are provided to the local population and they have to go to Batumi. The second is that mountainous Adjara is being emptied of people, including doctors. Moreover, their work is not appreciated, they are not properly paid, and therefore the quality is decreasing.
The Rich Culture of Georgian Muslims and Stereotypes
“I never considered myself different, it was very natural for me to be a Muslim from mountainous Adjara. This perception of difference… Don’t you feel different yourself?… Someone tells me or hints to me secretly or indirectly that I am different, which is then followed by stereotypes. My first experience when I felt this was at one of the summer camps. When I told them that I was from Adjara, they asked me if I was Muslim. I answered that I was Muslim and asked me why I was speaking of the enemy’s religion. This was a very strange question for me at that time. I was stunned, I didn’t even know what to answer,” recalls Nestan.
Many people remember the stereotypical attitude. Even the fact that many at the university were surprised how a person from the mountainous Adjara got into the law faculty. It was as if they didn’t expect him to be able to do it. There was a case when the audience spoke badly about Islam, she didn’t like it, but she couldn’t raise his voice.
“I had a case on public transport when a man was talking about Georgian Muslims and I responded to him. This was my first experience when I publicly told a person what his problem was with the fact that I was a Georgian Muslim, studying in this country and wanting to create a better country, how was I inferior to him?”
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
“It wasn’t easy for me to speak out. In the first years, I had more of a process of self-determination and observation. Later, after entering different spaces and discussions, I overcame these barriers and openly confronted stereotypes and negative attitudes.”
She is particularly unhappy with the stereotypical attitude that “there are no Georgian Muslims,” as well as the Georgian Islamic cultural heritage.
There is often an attitude towards Adjara people — “When will we return to our roots, to the religion of our ancestors?” This forces many young people to have internal battles with themselves instead of fighting for their rights.
She has given much thought to the causes of these stereotypes. She names the education system as one of the main challenges and asks the question of what kind of Georgia young people are taught, and how familiar they are with different cultures and people.
“How much do we teach about ethnic and religious minorities?! In general, when we teach the history of Georgia, what kind of history do we teach — what is Georgia, what kind of country is Georgia, what kind of people live here, what language do they speak?! Do we teach that there are ethnic, religious minorities, that we have Svan, Mingrelian, Abkhazian languages, or if we are talking about Pankisi, about the Kists?!”
“First of all, this is the main thing, how the education system and the state view the new generations, what kind of Georgia they should teach them and what kind of society they want these generations to live in. If we don’t teach each other and show this diversity through books and programs, then ordinary Nestan will go to a summer camp and meet a young person to whom she will be a stranger.”
Nestan says that the politicians who make the decisions are from a generation and come from an educational system that rejects diversity, and they are guided by these internal perceptions and attitudes when making decisions.
How do we teach the younger generations about Georgia? Where do we live and what kind of society do we live in? One that is diverse ethnically, religiously, where people of different genders and sexual minorities live. If we teach them that we are a country of a homogeneous, Orthodox, ethnically Georgian society.
Nestan wants the public to better understand the culture of mountainous Adjara, with its religious and cultural characteristics.
“Meet local women who create unique embroidery, the most beautiful embroidery, authentic and very valuable. Learn about the Georgian-Islamic cultural heritage in the form of wooden and old mosques, which is a national cultural heritage.”
We are doing everything we can for this, including the Solidarity Community, myself personally. We have created tourist maps, interactive and physical. We are creating various resources so that more people can see the Georgian-Islamic cultural heritage, which was created by the local population, together with local Lazi craftsmen.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
I would name Georgian Muslim figures: Haidar Abashidze, Memed Abashidze, Kadir Shervashidze and their associates. Now we are creating a work where we collect biographies of 35 people. It describes the contribution of Georgian Muslims to history, to the process of building a united Georgia.
When asked whether the local government is supporting them, she answers: “I would like the local government and self-governments to be actively involved in this process and support initiatives aimed at building a strong unified state, but unfortunately, we do not have this reality. Despite our numerous efforts, we have not seen any proactive steps on their part, let alone any counter-steps.”
The Role of Civil Society and Russian Laws
She became involved in activism as a student when she learned about the Social Justice Center’s program, the Solidarity Platform. She says it was a significant experience, as the discussions and conversations about common challenges led to self-reflection. She began to think about the environment she lived in, what problems she had, and why.
Then, together with friends, she founded the Solidarity Community, which we have already told you about in detail. The organization works on various issues: Georgian Muslims, youth, queers living in the region, European integration, preservation of Georgian-Islamic cultural heritage. They try to contribute to the construction of an inclusive society.
Nestan says that civil society in Adjara is very poorly developed and organizations are often “sought after with a candle,” especially those working on minority and inclusion issues. She believes that in this context, the government should be more appreciative of those who do important work, although it sees the opposite reality.
“Initiatives that have never happened before are viewed with danger and fear, and not with the intention of learning and implementing new approaches themselves. What is ultimately not a threat is done for the well-being of the local population, and not so that someone can see some profit.”
“As for the Russian law, which is definitely not a transparency law,” she begins her discussion on the issue. She says that they were involved in the protests from the very beginning and it was hard to imagine that the government would adopt the law despite the large-scale protests. She explains that the current government was most concerned about the democratic and inclusive processes that the non-governmental sector was working on.
The government, which wants to maintain power for a long time, in this process, diversity, an inclusive environment, a strong society are being blocked as a barrier. Accordingly, this was a deliberate attack on society, on the population in general. Because this will affect every person, not just civil organizations.
They say they are going through a difficult process now. In many cases, they also have to fight against the notion that if citizens cooperate with them, they will lose social assistance. Despite the objections, they do not intend to submit to the unconstitutional requirements of Russian law.
“The Solidarity Community is one of the objects of this process, whose work they want to stop. Ultimately, this will lead to the fact that there will no longer be young people in the region who will speak out about local needs and challenges.”
There will be no people who say that women don’t have a maternity ward; who will talk about how much work needs to be done, that people don’t have access to electricity and quality education.
There will be no people who will talk about the Georgian-Islamic cultural heritage; who will demand that the government, ministries, carry out the restoration of mosques, because rehabilitation is urgently needed.”
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
Nestan spoke to us about another Russian-style law that restricts fundamental human rights. She explains that the homophobic law, which targets the queer community, applies to the entire society. She says that one of the most vulnerable groups before the elections was the queer community, and that is why it is necessary to inform new generations about an inclusive society so that they cannot easily control people by instilling irrational fears.
“In reality, laws that are passed against any group are a threat not only to the specific vulnerable group they are aimed at and against which the ruling government is passing them, but also to all groups whose rights are violated . ”
If today they portray LGBT people as the enemy and pass a law against them, tomorrow it is possible that this will no longer be enough to maintain power and they will portray a new enemy. For example, in the form of religious minorities and pass a new law that will put society in an even more difficult position. That is why when we talk about one injustice, one unconstitutional law against one group, it actually concerns the entire society.
Nestan was an election observer, so we talked to her about this issue as well. In addition to the violation of the secrecy of the vote, she saw the violation of the function of the flow regulator and agitators.
“In addition to the huge violation of the secrecy of the election, there were massive attempts to influence the free choice of the population during the pre-election period, which gives us reason to say that these elections were not free, democratic, and fair.”
When talking about future plans, they tell us that we are in a difficult situation, but they do not intend to give up, and in this process, it is very important to support people – including those for whom civil organizations are implementing these projects.