The first President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, an outstanding politician, a man of exceptional nobility and dignity, who had devoted his entire life to serving his Motherland, and who had presented his unlimited love and care to his nation, passed away He will forever remain in our hearts as the President with a capital letter, a person with a wide soul, fearless and resolute, gentle and kind, our defender, support and our father and brother.
There was nothing to worry about; the country was getting prepared for a great holiday – the 25th anniversary of its independence. But… grief always comes unexpectedly. The sudden illness of the President overshadowed everything around. There was nothing that would gladden the eye or to please the heart. The whole country came to a standstill in anticipation of a possibly painful report, when people feared to turn on their TV sets or pick up the phone, only to hear the worst news. People prayed for their President in a single impulse. Again and again I read in the social networks a cry of despair coming fr om the hearts of people, pleading, “Please, live. I beg you, please, breathe. One breath, then another… Let your heart beat for a long-long time. You have still got so many things to do. It is the wrong time, not now. We do love you, we are behind you. Please, live!” Everybody prayed, they prayed in different languages, as perhaps, they had never prayed before in their lives. Hope glimmered in the heart of every resident of the country, fending off a terrible premonition. But life is guided by its own laws. The trouble descended like a storm cloud fr om the sky covering the country with a mourning veil. Sadness and pain filled our hearts. It was like a dream then, which we wanted so much to wake up from.
Even the birds kept silence for some time; gray clouds covered the sky; everybody was crying seeing off their President in his last journey, promising to follow his behests, to live in peace and harmony and not to turn away from the intended path:
“If we live together as friends, unite and unanimously serve the interests of the nations and the country, if there are no traitors among us, then no one will ever be able to defeat the Uzbek people”.
We have set ourselves a big goal – to build a democratic state with a market economy, civil society, and join the ranks of developed countries, and there is no force that would be able to push us off this path.”
“I believe in tomorrow”, said Islam Karimov would say.
We, too, believe in tomorrow with all our hearts and souls. These days, bоth young and old alike continue to speak and write their piercing posts about their President with warmth and love, with tears in their eyes, and dedicate him their poems and songs, which bear the popular pain, their grief and sorrow.”
“He is gone… But how can I force myself to believe it … And even as he left, he managed to unite and to bring us closer together and bequeathed great faith in the future.”
“My President taught me the most important lesson – throughout his life he taught me the lessons of intellectual courage and human bravery and to have one’s own opinion and defend it. And I feel grateful to him for that. I have always admired my President and his personal courage.
I have always felt proud, I feel proud, and I will feel proud of my President.”
“Autumn has again come to Tashkent; I like it now in a very special way. I love it tenderly and gently, not as usual. And my desire to be shoulder to shoulder with this city and with this country has escalated as never before. And I can see this desire in the eyes of thousands of people who had welcomed together this autumn and seen off a very important person for all to his new road. These tears, these gestures, and this pain cannot be copied and distributed among those willing to have them.
I’m not Russian now, not a Tartar, not a Korean, and not a Uighur. I am an Uzbek in the ranks of the Uzbeks like myself: Russian, Tatar, Korean, and Uyghur Uzbeks. I am of the same kin of this kind, honest, and hard-working nation. Here is my friend. He has large and broad shoulders that flinch from crying. He does not hide the face; he is just sitting with his drooped head. He is a big man but turned into a boy. Here is my girlfriend. She stares with her glassy eyes at the television screen, listening and having pressed her hands to her chest. Her tears flow without stopping. And here is me, with a lump in the throat, with tears, and the weakness in the hands. These men are strong, but suddenly they turned weak. Just for one second. These women clutched their hearts. There is lots of space in those hearts, more than one can imagine. And we settle down hope, love, friendship, faith, and gentleness in those hearts. It seems to me that these days Uzbekistan has been covered with a huge dome, woven out of love. The prayers of millions will not remain in our small palms, but find their way to somewh ere up there, much higher up, wh ere there is the sun and the heaven. The heaven is so much important. Namely such energy we need: bright and strong. We need it today, tomorrow and forever. Have a nice journey, the Great and Important man.”
“The era of the reign and life of the Greatest Man, Wise Ruler, Father, Husband, and Grandfather has come to an end… For several days the whole country prayed, cherished hope and believed. And the thing is not that our prayers were not heeded to. It was just that his time had arrived. Every person has time allotted to him for self-actualization in this world. And now – quiet and tranquility have settled down: eternal heavenly peace. You must have just been tired. You have done everything you planned and even more. You go under deafening applause and carry away with you part of your nation’s soul. Something in us all dies together with you… All that remains with us to do – is to stay behind and prove to you from here, from the Earth, that we are going to be worthy of you, that all things have not been done in vain.”
“I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, next month, next year, or how a New history of Uzbekistan will be written, but I will tell my baby the story of a real Hero, thanks to who we have what we have. And someday we will visit your final resting place to bow down and express our great heartfelt THANKS.”
“We are your brothers and sisters, your children and grandchildren. Let us all join our hands and swear to preserve our country. This is our last promise to you.”
“Rest in peace. We will miss you very much. I do not know how to welcome a New Year without your blessings and congratulations. But I promise that everything is going to be well with us. I promise this, so that you could rest in peace. You will definitely feel proud of us.”
“And now… Now leave us alone and let us all plunge into our grief. We all need time to understand, to mourn and let him go… Fare thee well … You had been sent to us by heaven and now you’ve gone back home.”
Islam Karimov was a man of amazing erudition, scholarship, and professionalism. Until his last breath, he stood up for his people, his country, for the good of which he had accomplished seemingly impossible deeds without sparing himself, his energy and life.
We bow down to you, Islam Abduganievich, for each year of our prosperous life, for every beautiful month, for every day of happiness, for every peaceful hour, for every valuable minute, and even for every second of our independence.
Our President! Your cherished and blessed memory will remain forever in the hearts of your people!
