Turkmenistan’s authorities go to extremes for pageantry. Last week, in one of the regular displays of patriotism Turkmen citizens are forced to attend and prepare for ad nauseam, two students waiting outside in unseasonably cold Ashgabat caught pneumonia and died, according to an opposition website.
The staged ceremony was in preparation for the upcoming Neutrality Day on December 12, and university students were practicing how to stand alongside the road to wave at the motorcade of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. They were told to wear light clothing, despite the cold weather.
According to The Chronicles of Turkmenistan, two were taken to a local hospital.
Both [the students] were diagnosed with acute pneumonia but the call for medical assistance had been too late.
According to some students, many of them complained to the teaching staff that they felt unwell. Yet, the teachers kept repeating: “Even if you die, you will die here, at the stadium!”
Public displays of patriotism are a mandated tradition in Turkmenistan, and almost everyone – children, teachers, government employees and soldiers – is required to attend. In July, approximately 500 doctors and nurses were taken off their rounds and forced to attend the opening ceremonies of a hospital in another region. And the roll call of holidays never stops. In September, a government newspaper published a list of 49 “official” festivals and public events.
This wasn’t the first time forced fun participants fell sick. At the beginning of 2010 in Dashoguz, after waiting alongside the road for several hours for the president’s motorcade to pass, ten people were hospitalized with colds.
According to The Chronicles of Turkmenistan, due to the two deaths, Neutrality Day celebrations have been canceled. Nevertheless, not to spoil the party too much, Lenta.ru reports that authorities are keeping mum about the students’ deaths.
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