State-controlled media in this Central Asian country have described the changes as "beautification work under the leadership of the President" Islam Karimov. But gossip on those streets that are left says the changes are to block easy access to the city center and thereby thwart the kind of mass rallies witnessed in the past two years in Tbilisi, Kiev and Bishkek - capitals of other ex-Soviet republics that saw protests sweep out veteran regimes.
Whatever the explanation, Tashkent's motorists are not happy.
"This happens only in Uzbekistan," railed one driver who, not wanting any trouble from the nation's hardline authorities, requested that his name not be used. "There was a very convenient road here to reach the city center yesterday. Today there is not. Now I have to spend an extra 15 to 20 minutes to reach the other side of the city."
To be sure, since Uzbekistan's independence in 1991, Tashkent's 3 million residents have frequently seen green places and flower beds installed in place of buildings that authorities deemed too unattractive and sometimes removed overnight.
But for many here, the latest urban changes in Central Asia's largest city have followed suspiciously on the heels of "revolutions" that have roiled other former Soviet republics, during which massive gatherings in their capitals' centers eventually brought down their veteran leaders.
Popular opinion in Tashkent has it that the government of Karimov, who has ruled this poor agricultural nation since 1990, is taking measures to make sure no such mass gatherings occur in Tashkent.
For example, following Ukraine's "orange revolution" at the end of last year, the main wide alley in Mustakillik (Independence) Square, where Independence Day celebrations are held, disappeared, replaced by narrow pavements surrounded by trees.
After protests ousted the leader of Uzbekistan's neighbor Kyrgyzstan in March, sections of two key roads - Sharof Rashidov Street that leads to Mustakillik Square and Buyuk Turon Street that crossed so called "president's road" - also gave way to gardens.
In a similar vein, in February, authorities banned motorcycles from Tashkent and then all other cities. The official version was that they were not safe. The version whispered around the city was that motorcycles were too difficult to control and track [they did not require a license plate in Uzbekistan] and thus made an attractive mode of transport for potential suicide bombers.
Uzbekistan has witnessed a series of deadly suicide attacks last year in Tashkent and in the ancient city of Bukhara that killed 47 people and that the government blamed on Islamist groups operating out of Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
Karimov himself has portrayed the changes to the city landscape as urban improvement.
"We need to build new buildings to replace the morally and physically out of date buildings and to pay attention to every detail of the cityscape," Karimov said on state-run television while visiting construction sites on April 15.
His critics say different - dissatisfaction with the authorities in this populous poor country is so high right now that any mass gathering has a chance of turning into a mass anti-government rally.
"For them any place where people gather in big crowds may pose a danger," said another Tashkent resident. "Because the situation is so tense that one word would be enough to lead the crowd.'
The above article has undergone press censorship
TASHKENT - Uzbek President Islam Karimov dismissed Western calls for an international investigation into a military crackdown earlier this month in which observers say hundreds died. "Regarding an international investigation, Uzbekistan is a sovereign state. It has its own constitutional system, a government, a parliament and a president elected by the nation," Karimov was quoted on May 26 by the daily Khalk Suzi (People's Word) as saying. "Why should someone from outside come to conduct an investigation?" he demanded.
Karimov has come under growing pressure to allow foreign participation in investigating the May 13 crackdown in the eastern city of Andijan. Karimov has said that 169 people died in the Andijan events and that no civilian deaths were caused by the armed forces. But independent witnesses say the armed forces fired indiscriminately on unarmed demonstrators who gathered after gunmen stormed key buildings in the city. One rights group, the Free Farmers, has put the death toll at 745, based on a door-to-door survey.
© 2005 Agence France-Presse
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