Fourth anniversary of Beslan tragedy: Mix of anger and apathy

Grieving relatives of more than 330 people killed in Beslan's School Number One in 2004 gathered at a cemetery outside the town at the start of a three-day mourning period.

Red carnations were strewn at the foot of a bronze statue depicting four mothers and dozens of angels to represent the 186 children who died.

Toys and food were placed on many of the pink marble graves and one elderly woman could be seen pressing her head against a tombstone.

Survivors want to know why no-one, other than the one surviving hostage taker, has been punished for the episode in which more than 1,000 people were held for three days inside the school.

A handful of police were tried for negligence in allowing a heavily armed group to reach the school on September 1, but they were either cleared or amnestied.

September 1 is known in Russia as the 'Day of Knowledge' and is when schoolchildren all over the country return to or begin their studies.

During events in Beslan to remember the dead, flowers and floral wreaths were laid and candles lit in memory of the deceased. The proceedings started with the ringing of the school bell to mark the exact time when the school was seized.

Hundreds of people observed a minute of silence near the school gym where the hostages were kept during the siege. The school has not been repaired and has been left in ruins as a memorial to the dead.

The mourning ceremony will continue the next day, and a requiem concert will be given in Beslan on Tuesday night in memory of those who died in Russia's worst terrorist attack.

Russian opposition parties and human rights groups plan to hold three days of rallies in central Moscow and other cities across Russia.

A relatively small memorial gathering did take place in Moscow, however. LJ user abstract2001 (Marina Litvinovich, founder of PravdaBeslana.ru site) posted a few pictures (RUS) from it on her blog (more pictures are here). The first photo is of Dmitry Milovidov, whose daughter died during the 2002 Dubrovka theater hostage crisis; at this year's September 1 rally, he held a poster with photographs of the children and adults who had died in Beslan.

Below is one of the conversations that took place the comments section of abstract2001's post:

lugerp08:

400 people is too few, perhaps there haven't been enough victims yet. :(

abstract2001:

Should there be victims for other people to wake up? ;((((((((((((((((((((((

lugerp08:

Apparently, yes, if it's predominantly the victims and their relatives who attend such rallies. The rest probably lack the time, they were saying goodbye to the summer with beer outdoors, and were celebrating September 1 at home.

rgkot:

And what's going to happen if one goes to such a rally? Will the Chechen terrorists drop their weapons [...] and repent?

lugerp08:

No, the terrorists will leave the Kremlin if we stop acting like sheep.

LJ user drugoi posted a selection of 2004 Beslan photos from various sources, most of them heartbreakingly graphic. Although he didn't write a single word, his post generated seven pages of comments, the majority of which were wordless, too.

Below are a few comments that broke the mournful silence (RUS):

lach_gas:

It's amazing that you hear more about Lady Diana [...] than about Beslan. The capital is celebrating. On [...] TV, on this most tragic day in recent history, they are broadcasting ice dancing and outdated Hollywood tits.

ptiza_s4astja:

Well, all of this has to be forgotten and we should pretend as if nothing had ever happened. Hey, we live in the most well-off, developed country, all's cool, people live in prosperity and safety, and Beslan doesn't fit into this scheme at all.

bifurcus:

Horrible. One is willing to forget, but such things should not be forgotten, there's no way we can forget.