Social and political processes in uzbekistan on the eve of independence. Plan: The acute and serious situation that arose in Uzbekistan at the end of the 80s of the 20th century

2. A new stage of repression in Uzbekistan. Fake cases called “The Cotton case”, “the case of the Uzbeks”.
During this period, the Soviet state, which was based on administrative-commandism and communist ideology, in order to strengthen its internal political position, followed the policy of violence in certain periods. Oppression, violence, and repressions have led to the loss of national spirit and identity among other peoples, to the emergence of feelings of indifference. The last period of repressions started by the Soviet state in Uzbekistan in the 80s of the 20th century went down in history under the infamous name "cotton case", later "Uzbeklar case". The center considered the crisis that began to engulf the Soviet state not to be based on the existing system, but rather to "emerging negative evils", and chose Uzbekistan as a testing ground.
In November 1982, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU who took power after L.I.Brezhnev's death Y.V. Andropov chose the path of harshness based on harassment and pressure in the country's recruitment and placement policy. Yu.V. Andropov, relying on his long-term experience in the State Security Committee, was aware of all the information about the increasingly difficult economic, social and political life of the country, in particular, the shortcomings and deficiencies in the work of the leaders. The political leadership in the center is characterized by the shortcomings in the personnel policy, the loosening of discipline, and the loss of ideological vigilance. At the June 1983 plenum of the ruling party, the important issues of the party's ideological and public political work were put on the agenda and it was emphasized that the main causes of corruption in society should be sought from the mistakes of any employee, specific problems and difficulties of development. The 16th Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU of Uzbekistan, which made a big "turn" in the social life of the republic, also supported the activities of the center in the field of "health improvement" in the republic. Although such a procedure has a negative impact on the socio-economic and spiritual life of the republic, no action was taken against those who made working with personnel one of the main "tasks" of the party. This plenum, supporting the center's "fight against the evils of the recession" in Uzbekistan, started the process of repressing and punishing local leaders in various ways.
Such situations led to the emergence of the concept that Uzbekistan is the only region in the Soviet country where bribery, embezzlement, and theft have increased. By the decision of the 16th plenum and the 21st session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan of Uzbekistan, personnel began to be sent from the center to Uzbekistan. Important management links such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Uzbekistan SSR fell under the hands of such personnel. They became the main reasons for the worsening of the socio-political situation in the republic. In a short period of time, from the highest and most important positions of the Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan to regional and district prosecutors, representatives sent to permanent work from the center were replaced. In 1984, employees sent from the center were appointed to the positions of the Prosecutor of the Uzbek SSR, three of his deputies, and heads of the largest departments. As a result, G.N. Matyushov, V.I. to Samarkand region. Eremenko, A.D. to the Khorezm region. Titorenko, A.P. to Navoi region. Sukharev, V. M. Zheltkov to Surkhandarya region, V. V. to Karakalpakstan ASSR. Donsov, G.P. to Tashkent city. Filippenkovs were appointed prosecutors. Such measures actually signaled the beginning of the policy of deploying "paratroopers" sent from the center to key responsible positions in the republic. They were supposed to be the support of the center of the union in the republic and further strengthen the Soviet-style "discipline" in the republic. Undoubtedly, it was difficult for the personnel sent "at the request" of the local authorities to protect the interests of those who were illegally detained. On the contrary, the "paratroopers" played an "active" role in the continuation of the policy of repression, in the escalation of injustice and lawlessness, abuse of office, and intensification of violence and repression in the republic. In turn, they became the center's support in the republic and filled the need for the republic's law enforcement agencies through "desantchilar".
In such a situation, persecution began against personnel who were "considered unworthy" of the position they held, and they began to find the "culprits" of the growing economic crisis, and to punish them by the party, supposedly to prevent problems. In 1983, the Prosecutor General of the USSR According to A.M. Rekunkovs order, an investigative team of 200 people gathered from different regions of the country will be formed and sent to Uzbekistan under the leadership of T.Gdlyan, an investigator of the Prosecutor's Office of the USSR for special cases. This was the actual beginning of the “cotton work”.
When the slanders against the Uzbek people started with the fabrications of the “Cotton Case”, the employees who “committed to criminal activities” in the national economy were brought to justice, and they were accused of "adding to" in the national economy. The work of the investigative team, which began with the investigation of the additions, gradually began to attract people working in leadership positions. The repression that brought the name "cotton work" and "Uzbek work" was later given a national color and turned into a full "Uzbek work". As a result, local leaders and intellectuals began to be persecuted. About these situations in Uzbekistan, so many articles were published on the pages of the central press, from which "people who do not know the history, culture, and hard work of cotton and cotton growers, it seems that Uzbeks are increasing their income in various dirty ways, lives", was the reason for the birth of the wrong idea.
Most of the investigators who joined the investigation team called by the center to investigate the population were people who did not have much knowledge and experience, turned a blind eye to illegal situations, and performed tasks blindly. The investigation team was given great powers and privileges. They went to the path of lawlessness with false accusations, slandered, organized incitement, falsified facts, forced people to give false information, and used them as a means of revenge against people they did not like. All the criminal investigations carried out by T.Gdlyan were in the direction of open accusations. After a lot of physical and mental suffering, the prisoners were forced to admit their guilt.
Investigators kept unproven people in prisons together with serious criminals, brutally beat them, tortured them, threatened them and forced them to sign documents prepared by investigators.
The investigation team obtained the information they needed from the witnesses in such vile ways. Mothers with many children, pregnant women, and young children were among those illegally detained. The purpose of these cases is not to expose economic "criminality", but to stop the anti-graft actions, which are a clear manifestation of the general negative situation in the life of the country, to punish free-thinking national cadres with "iron discipline". it consisted in curbing the intellectuals, suffocating the social and political forces emerging in the republics, and keeping the national consciousness and citizen's activity under control.
During the activity of the investigative team under the leadership of T.Gdlyan in Uzbekistan, 20 senior officials of the Procuracy of the Uzbek SSR and the Ministries of Internal Affairs of the Uzbek SSR, four secretaries of the Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, eight secretaries of regional committees, Uzbekistan The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the SSR, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR, the Minister of the Cotton Cleaning Industry of Uzbekistan and several other responsible employees, in total 62 responsible persons, were accused of taking bribes and brought to criminal responsibility. 1989 - the cases of 35 defendants brought to justice were brought to court. During the years 1984-1989, more than 800 "criminal" cases were tried by T.Gdlyan's group, 600 of those brought to criminal responsibility were executives, 10 were Heroes of Socialist Labor. In 1986, V. Usmanov, the minister of the cotton ginning industry of the Uzbek SSR, was sentenced to death, and the sentence was carried out in 1987. By the 80s of the 20th century, cases of embezzlement, bribery, and abuse of office increased in all the allied republics. Also, these vices were not only mistakes and shortcomings made by local leaders, but also the result of the administrative and command system formed in the country over the past years. In the case of the "Cotton Case" fabrications, it was aimed at distracting the Uzbek people from the growing economic crises and diverting public attention to other parties by making one nation "guilty" of it. In fact, it happened, "big thefts" and "bribery" in Uzbekistan were discussed all over the country. As a result, "friendship and fraternal cooperation" were left aside in this huge country, "an unbreakable union of peoples of different nationalities", and the label "bokimanda" was attached to the whole country in relation to the Uzbek people. The political leadership, which went to the path of blaming the whole nation, turned the "cotton issue" into the "Uzbeks' issue". When the independent investigation of the "cotton affair" began, Uzbekistan did not want to hand over the case to the local leaders, tried to obstruct the investigation, hide the real culprits, and put all the blame on the shoulders of the Uzbek people.