Soviet-era Monuments and Slogans in Tajik Capital “Should Stay” · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Over the last two decades, the authorities in Dushanbe have dismantled most of the Soviet-era monuments and huge political slogans on rooftops which had all been an important feature of the cityscape before 1991. However, as Radio Ozodi reports [tj], Tajikistan's capital has preserved a handful of Soviet statues, slogans, and signs [see all photos].
Blogger writing on Russian Chronicles of Tajikistan suggests [ru] that these “remnants” of the Soviet period should stay:
I believe that all these symbols, monuments, bas-reliefs, and signs should be preserved. More than that, we need to take a good care of them and ensure their proper maintenance. It is not about some kind of nostalgia or love for the Soviet past. No. It is more about the fact that all these “remnants” of the Soviet epoch could become important tourist attractions.
The blogger also proposes to keep signs with the Soviet-era street names in the capital and place the monuments that have been dismantled in museums.
And under Ozodi's story, Mansur comments [tj]:
The symbols and signs left from the USSR should not be taken down, for they are important historical evidence reminding us of our great past…