The Sunday Times

Putin the new textbook hero

By Mark Franchetti
25aug03


HIS portrait has been woven into carpets, a pop song has been written extolling his manliness and he has been portrayed as the hero of an action novel who kills Chechen rebels with his teeth. Now the achievements of Vladimir Putin are to be taught in schools.

In a further sign of the personality cult being constructed around the Russian President, teenagers will be required to study Mr Putin's reforms for state history exams.

New textbooks - approved by the Education Ministry - portray the Kremlin leader in a flattering and often sycophantic light.

One praises Mr Putin for cracking down on the country's independent media and bringing it back under the control of the Government.

His foreign policy is described as "more flexible, open and dynamic", and he is lauded for his determination to fight international terrorism - even before September 11.

Another book makes flattering comparisons with his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. "The new presidential candidate was always among the people," it says of his successful 2000 election campaign.

"Coming after Yeltsin, who was rarely seen and could hardly move, Putin made a positive impression: young, self-disciplined and driven by tireless energy."

Pupils are asked to consider his achievements: "Explain the mass support for Putin's policies," reads one. "List new evidence of Russia's rebirth," says another.

Another book praises Mr Putin's decision to bring back the communist Soviet-era anthem, which Mr Yeltsin banned, as an example of his drive to unify the country.

The two wars in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, which have killed an estimated 100,000 people, scarcely get a mention. Allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes are ignored.

For critics it has an alarming echo of the past. "The pages on Putin are just one piece of praise after another," said Sergei Kovalyov, a prominent former dissident.

"The tone is like that of Soviet-era Communist Party songs."

The Sunday Times, London

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