The Fergana Valley is a paradisiacal and flourishing region where flora, fauna, and human beings have always established a deep connection. It was a Golden Age that, unfortunately, slowly began to fade over time, until the difficult days when the tyrant Qorong'i attempted to besiege this splendid land, trying to transform it into a realm of terror, destruction, exploitation, and servitude.
The people of Fergana, a people ancestrally free, are now held under siege and constant threat. Unfortunately, the evil nature of this character was not evident at first. He presented himself as a savior, cloaking his true diabolical purpose under deceptive promises. In his expansionist ambitions, he always justified his conquests as necessary acts meant to bring progress, development, order, peace, and justice.
However, a group of young friends occasionally tries to escape the oppression of the wicked Qorong'i, retreating to a cabin in the forest to spend time together, devoting themselves above all to what the despot had forbidden: reading books, meditating, praying, and practicing other arts such as painting, writing, and music.
“Sardor, my friend, here you are! We were waiting for you!” says Jasur.
“Nurlan, Jasur, Zarina, and Meerim, please forgive me. Unfortunately, I had a setback… Qorong'i’s guards stopped me and asked several questions about where I was going and what I was doing.”
“This situation is truly unbearable. How long will we go on like this? We were born as a free, virtuous, respectful, and creative people, but at this rate we are emptying ourselves of what is truly precious: our soul, our spirit, our values, our virtues.”
“Zarina, you are absolutely right. Yet many seem intimidated, while others remain lukewarm because this destructive progress suits them: a world where everything is contaminated and polluted, where a false peace is guided by warnings of war, genocides, and devastating weapons. Behind the real interests of Qorong'i and others like him there is no desire for Peace, Freedom, Justice, Love, and Virtue, but only cravings for power, territorial expansion, and the conquest of resources that, moreover, poison the very earth itself. And the most serious thing is that, in order to strengthen surveillance over each of us, he would like to deprive us of the deepest freedom he still does not possess: that of our soul and our mind, the freedom to make choices. He wants to control every individual through microchips. And that would mean that even these meetings would no longer be possible… and that it would truly be like living in hell on this Earth.”
“No, please, Nurlan, that would be terrible! At the mere thought of it I could not even bear to continue living here!” adds Meerim.
“We must then awaken consciences, because our compatriots do not truly know the real consequences of this tyranny! He has attacked other peoples by presenting himself as a savior sent from heaven, but he has done nothing but follow a program based on a false order, a false well-being, and a false peace. If a territory is rich in gems and gold, he might claim that certain ethnic groups must be freed from the chains of ignorance; if another is rich in oil and natural gas, then their leaders suddenly become agents of evil and must be eradicated. It is always the same red thread that connects his misdeeds. But the most serious thing is that the rest of the peoples allow it! They seem asleep, blinded, deaf and blind, or lukewarm, or even worse, satisfied with this diabolical progress that aims at destruction rather than respect for life and virtues.”
“It is true, Zarina, I agree with you. But, my dear friends, we must ensure that we fight with our victorious weapons—weapons that shed no blood but spread Truth, Justice, Peace, Love, and other Virtues: the use of wisdom, writing, and the arts. We must denounce, at first subtly and in a silent and disguised way. The more souls become conscious, the more we will be able to create unions of hearts, deep connections, as if we were one single being, to drive tyranny and darkness away from our wonderful Valley,” says Jasur.
“How much pain I feel, my friends, when I see our Valley increasingly contaminated by waste, dangerous substances, and radioactive materials used above all for his diabolical weapons. All the fruits that the land and water once offered are now polluted, or even diminished, if not completely absent. Because of the destructive form of modernism promoted by Qorong'i and his companions continuing to advance, we will have fewer and fewer resources to live on, and we will soon be destined for self-annihilation.”
“Meerim, and you my other dear friends, we cannot allow this, because this Earth is a gentle concession from our Creator. We cannot remain indifferent. Actions are important, especially when they put our ideals into practice. For this reason, I would begin to seek peaceful solutions that can shake consciences and souls. In a world filled with dense darkness, we can be those small flames that, by joining and spreading, can create an immensely powerful Light!” adds Nurlan.
“Antigone, heroine of Sophocles’ famous tragedy, said that ‘we are born to share love, not hatred.’ And that is why our actions will be guided by noble values, to restore our Valley of Fergana to the splendor it once had, when the meadows were in bloom, the earth spontaneously produced everything we needed, and the waters of the streams were crystal clear and wholesome.”
“Dear Meerim,” Zarina intervenes, “I would also add what Sappho wrote in one of her poems: ‘Some say that the most beautiful thing on the dark earth is an army of horsemen, others of infantry, others of ships; I say: it is whatever one loves.’ And what we love is the desire for Peace, Truth, Freedom, Love, and Justice.”
“Well said, Zarina. Then let us try to denounce, spread the hidden truths, and awaken our other compatriots, our brothers and sisters. ‘It is not that we have little time, but that we waste much of it,’ as Seneca would say. Time is precious, and every single moment can be crucial, not only through our prayers or inner virtues, but also through good actions. Imagine how much remorse we would feel one day when we leave this earthly dimension if we had wasted much of our time on futile or even destructive things. Virtue calls us, because without it nature, flora, fauna, and all human beings would suffer… ‘Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Necessity hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be virtuous,’ Marcus Aurelius would say,” says Sardor.
Small actions, driven by noble intentions, gradually began to awaken consciences and create new connections, new unions of hearts. And it is known: where Love, Peace, and Justice reign, there is no place for hatred, chaos, or agents of evil like Qorong'i.
The Fergana Valley and its inhabitants will soon find themselves reliving the wonderful Golden Age, for the defeat of evil is imminent.
