Editing Dushanbe (section)

==== Riots and unrest ====
{{Main|1990 Dushanbe riots}}
[[File:RIAN archive 699865 Dushanbe riots, February 1990.jpg|thumb|February 1990 Riots in Dushanbe]]

In the 1980s, environmental problems and crime began to increase. Mass violence, hooliganism, binge drinking, and violent assaults became more common. There was an attack on foreign students at the [[Agricultural University of Tajikistan|Agricultural Institute]] in 1987 and a riot in the Pedagogical Institute two years later. Increasing regionalism also destabilized the [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|SSR]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|page=156|oclc=984803513}}</ref>

On 10–11 February 1990, 300 demonstrators gathered at the Communist Party Central Committee building after it was rumored that [[Government of the Soviet Union|the Soviet government]] planned to relocate tens of thousands of [[Armenians|Armenian]] refugees to [[Tajikistan]]. In reality, only 29 Armenians went to Dushanbe and were housed by their family members. However, the crowd kept growing in size to 3-5 thousand people; soon after, violence broke out. [[Martial law]] was quickly declared and troops were sent in to protect [[Ethnic minorities in Tajikistan|ethnic minorities]] and defend against vandalism and looting. The number of people protesting increased significantly, however, and they attacked the Central Committee building. The 29 [[Armenians]] were quickly evacuated on an emergency flight after shots were fired.<ref name="Nourzhanov-2013b" />

A few days after, and with looting still occurring throughout the city, demonstrators created the [[Provisional People's Committee]], or the Temporary Committee for Crisis Resolution, which put forward demands such as "the expulsion of Armenian refugees, the resignation of the government and the removal of the [[Communist Party of Tajikistan|Communist Party]], the closure of an aluminum smelter in western Tajikistan for environmental reasons, equitable distribution of profits from [[Agriculture in Tajikistan|cotton production]], and the release of 25 protesters taken into custody."<ref name="Nourzhanov-2013b" />

Many high-ranking officials resigned and the protector's goal of toppling the government was almost successful, but [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] troops moved into the city, declared the demands illegal, and rejected the resignation of the high-ranking officials. 16-25 people were killed in the violence; many if not most were Russian.<ref name="Nourzhanov-2013b">{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|pages=180–183|oclc=984803513}}</ref>

The riots were largely fueled by concerns about housing shortages for the Tajik population, but they coincided with a wave of nationalist unrest that swept [[Transcaucasia]] and other Central Asian states during the twilight of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s rule.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0D8103EF930A25751C0A966958260 Ethnic rioting in Dushanbe], New York Times, 13 February 1990. Retrieved 18 October 2008</ref>

After the increase of organized opposition from the [[Democratic Party of Tajikistan]] and [[Rastokhez]], [[glasnost]] by [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]], economic contraction, and increased opposition by regional elites, [[Qahhor Mahkamov]] disbanded the [[Communist Party of Tajikistan]] on 27 August 1991 and quit the party the next day. On 9 September 1991, Tajikistan's government declared independence from the Soviet Union.<ref name="Nourzhanov-2013">{{Cite book|last=Nourzhanov, Kirill|title=Tajikistan a political and social history|date=2013|publisher=ANU E Press|isbn=978-1-925021-16-5|chapter=The Rise of Opposition, the Contraction of the State and the Road to Independence|oclc=984803513}}</ref>