The Untouchable Governor Of Uzbekistan's Ferghana Province
Despite what Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and other top officials say about reforming the system and respecting the rights of all Uzbeks, the governor of the eastern Ferghana Province is busy demonstrating he can do and say anything he wants and get away with it.
Born in the Ferghana city of Margilan in 1968, Shukhrat Ganiev has been in charge of the regional governor's office since 2011, having come to power under authoritarian President Islam Karimov. He previously served three years as first deputy governor.
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Soh is a rich agricultural region in an area that is rocky and largely barren and, unsurprisingly, problems over water rights often break out with the neighboring Kyrgyz villages in the area.
Such a conflict erupted on May 31 when villagers from Soh and nearby Kyrgyz territory got into a huge rock fight. More than 200 people were injured and several homes were also burned down.
Ganiev went to Soh to meet with Kyrgyz officials and try to restore calm.
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Even though he was surrounded by soldiers, residents of Soh threw stones at Ganiev and his delegation, prompting Ganiev to demonstrate a lack of diplomacy by threatening to close the exclave's borders, put some people in jail, and wipe several of the villages there off the map.
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Ganiev appears to be one of those Uzbek officials who for some reason is impossible to fire.
https://www.rferl.org/a/the-untouchable-governor-of-uzbekistan-s-ferghana-province/30826974.html