The Achievement of Greatness by A. Sydykov Thanks to the Soviet System
The fate of A. Sydykov and many of his associates compels a reevaluation of the role of Kyrgyz civil servants. From the perspective of the Bolsheviks, all these people were initially "fellow travelers," "adaptors," "bloodsuckers." Later, these labels transformed into the specter of the "enemy of the people." The Bolsheviks hated the civil servants of the old regime. They were to dismantle the old state machinery and build a new administrative apparatus in its place. However, this could not be done immediately. Therefore, in the early stages, they left professionals in important government positions. Their replacement occurred through systematic purges as trained party activists were introduced into the state apparatus. An exception was made for old-regime officials only when being hired into party bodies. They were either not allowed or efforts were made to prevent them from entering the sacred sanctum of the Soviet system. At least, the long-serving officials did not stay there for long.
"All native officials who had attached themselves to the Russian administration as translators, clerks, and even 'dzhigits' (native police) were seen as an equally exploitative element in the eyes of the Kyrgyz masses," wrote the chairman of TurkCIC T. Ryskulov. He was echoed by another expert on Turkestan — Deputy People's Commissar of Nationalities of the RSFSR G. Broido: "The lowest rank — guard, translator, etc. — all of them are well-off people. Wealth is the foundation, but it is based on rampant bribery." Undoubtedly, corruption and greed, which widely permeated all layers of pre-revolutionary Russian society, reached colossal proportions in the colonial provinces. This is evident, as is the fact that among the representatives of the old administration, there were often decent people. Soviet ideology, for instance, did not allow for malicious attacks against Ch. Valikhanov, Shabdan, Baytik, Kurmandzhan-datka, and other figures who served the tsar. The tragedy of A. Sydykov and his contemporaries lies in the fact that, unlike their famous predecessors who did not live under the Bolsheviks, they created during the Soviet power. Otherwise, they would have certainly achieved the glory of scholarly researchers or activists of their time.
However, the paradox of history is that A. Sydykov achieved his true greatness thanks to the Soviet power, which opened a historical perspective for the Kyrgyz people. Speaking of the role of translators, it should be noted that without their mediation in the 1916 conflict between the official authorities and the rebels, the number of casualties in the military confrontation would have been much higher. Objective historians have established that during this troubled time, A. Sydykov saved many Kyrgyz from extermination by secretly informing the rebels about the impending punitive operations. It is no coincidence that the Kyrgyz of the Pishpek district nominated him in 1917 as a candidate for the deputies of the Constituent Assembly of Russia.
The High Political Mission of A. Sydykov