On August 31, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, died at the age of 91 at a hospital in Moscow. His death did not disturb a usual day in Russia. No official mourning or holiday was announced, and neither was the Russian national flag flying at half mast as a mark of respect to the departed leader, who was responsible for the disintegration of USSR, directly or indirectly, and the birth of Russia.
The Russian media, it seemed, was least interested in making his passing noteworthy. The general mood was more that of anger, than of loss, as a majority was still angry with him for his experiments with democracy. Social media posts accused him of engineering the fall of USSR.
I landed in Soviet Union in 1988, during the height of the transition period under Gorbachev, to pursue a post-graduation course in journalism. I had a keen interest in Communist politics and in the Soviet Union. Gorbachev, through his 'Glasnost' and 'Perestroika' reforms, was attempting to democratise USSR and the Communist party, and open up the economy. But everything was not in his control. He was the humane face of the country, and was starkly different from the rough and tough Soviet leaders the world was used to.
Gorbachev conducted elections and brought to the forefront young leaders like Boris Yeltsin. Though he was hailed for his policies by the West, he faced dissent in his homeland. And, the economy was on a downward slide.
Gorbachev was the kind of leader who could convince US President Ronald Reagan, who once called the Soviet Union an 'Evil Empire', to bring the cold war to an end. Until Gorbachev pulled out forces from Afghanistan, those at home weren't aware that scores of Soviet soldiers were dying on the frontline. Gorbachev was a strong advocate of democracy in a party that was used only to accepting orders from the top. He gave the cadre the power to criticise. Though Gorbachev wanted to reform the Soviet Union, he failed because of the vastness of USSR that had multiple time zones.
Soon after the failed August Coup by Communist party hardliners to seize power, Gorbachev resigned and USSR disintegrated. Boris Yeltsin assumed power as president and his presidential years were nothing less than chaotic. He governed through oligarchs, and, at the time, private companies would sell tickets to visit the offices of the KGB and the president. There were long queues to get basics like bread as the economy further tanked.
Gorbachev contested the 1996 elections and lost poorly: he got less than one per cent of the votes polled. It was the last nail on his political career. He became a successful columnist admired by the West, but at home he became a nobody. After the death of his wife Raisa in Germany in 1999, he was even more withdrawn socially.
Gorbachev and Yeltsin were like chalk and cheese when it came to conducting themselves in public, but they had one thing in common: they are the only presidents who were forced to quit Kremlin; others died in office.
Gorbachev was a supporter of Putin's foreign policies, including the annexation of Crimea, as he always felt that the US went back on their word on NATO's expansion on Russia's eastern front. Even in a recent television interview, Gorbachev said he felt cheated that the West did not keep its promise.
I doubt whether Russian history would remember Gorbachev positively. The current mood of the nation does not allow that. Many look back at the USSR years and despair at the current situation where NATO is knocking at the doors of the once mighty Mother Russia. They believe that the United States of America would not have dared to stare at the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had the country stayed united. And for them, Gorbachev is the villain who is responsible for the situation they find themselves in.
(As told to Vignesh Vijayakumar. Devadathan Nair is a Moscow-based media professional.)