A PRAYING KOMSOMOL MEMBER
An Letter to the Enbekshi Qazaq Newspaper
Enbekshі qazaq
As the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth, a great wave of awakening surged through Kazakh intellectuals, sparking a passionate quest for knowledge. This outpouring of intellectual zeal led to an explosion of new magazines and newspapers being published in Kazakh, heralding the dawn of a new era in sharing culture. However, what these intellectuals wrote went beyond only spreading knowledge. Soon, a variety of publications emerged, covering topics like business, society, politics, art, and humor. Qalam invites you to explore snippets from Kazakh publishing culture and history, offering a glimpse into the important issues of the past.
The newspapers and magazines that began to proliferate in Kazakhstan in the first half of the twentieth century were not not only as sources of information and a way to spread ideological propaganda. They were also used as tools for public shaming and denunciation of the socially unwanted. At the same time, soviet newspapers also published anonymous letters. This is one such letter sent to the youth section of the Enbekshi Qazaqi
The Kazakh Laborer newspaper in 1927:
Comrade Tabanuly Besbai, who resides in the eighth auylia Kazakh village of Janaqorgan, has been a member of the Komsomol1
1KomsomolThe All-Union Leninist Young Communist League,[a] usually known as Komsomol,[b] was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. since 1925. Last April, when it became evident to us that he was fasting, he was publicly shamed. Since then, we had hoped that he would give up such practices, but Comrade Besbai has continued his old habits and keeps praying to this day.
The uezd committee of the Komsomol should take drastic measures against Besbai and others who continue the rites and traditions of the past.
Enbekshі qazaq
The Enbekshi Qazaq newspaper was a regional Kazakh-language paper launched in 1921 by the regional committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. Since then, the newspaper has changed its name several times, from Social KazakhstaniSotsialdy Qazaqstan to Socialist Kazakhstan,iSotsialistik Qazaqstan and is currently published as Sovereign Kazakhstan.iEgemen Qazaqstan
