In early September, a video from a celebration allegedly organized by a Kazakh policeman for his grandson, who became a schoolboy, spread in the media and social networks. We checked whether the video and its description are true.
The video, which was shared on September 1 and 2 by Russian-language media and Telegram channels, shows a celebration, apparently in honor of a boy, who is carried into the celebration hall on a palanquin by people in ethnic costumes accompanied by music. With captions like “The grandson of the head of the traffic police of Pavlodar (Kazakhstan) celebrates September 1” and “Nothing unusual, just the grandson of the head of the traffic police of Pavlodar going to first grade,” the video was posted by Telegram channels “Ax 18+» And "Ax Live» (2.3 million and 601,000 views at the time of writing the analysis, respectively), “Ukraine now: news, war, Russia» (444,000), Nexta Live (295,000), "Lentach» (181,000) and many others. According to the TG Stat service, the total reach of such publications in two days exceeded 5 million views. The video also became popular on the social network X (formerly Twitter) - one of posts got 862,000 views there. The story also appeared in some media: the TV channel "Constantinople» reported that “the local traffic cop arranged a magnificent celebration for his grandson,” and “New news» they captioned the video as follows: “A boy from a “respected” Kazakh family is being honored as if he were the heir to the royal throne.” YouTube video commentators weren't shy in value judgments (one of the mildest: “Ignorance, stupidity, corruption!”).
The first thing worth paying attention to is that many authors of publications in the media and social networks are not familiar with the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan. In this country, the abbreviations traffic police and traffic police are not used to designate traffic control units. In 1996, the traffic police was renamed to the traffic police (zhol police). Having experienced a number of transformations and renamings, in 2013 the traffic and patrol services steel part administrative police. Scandalous news related to the chiefs of the traffic police of Pavlodar or the Pavlodar region and published in the last few months are absent on Kazakh news sites or social networks.
The date of filming was not indicated by users, but a video of a supposedly magnificent celebration in honor of a boy who became a first-grader hit the Internet long before September 1. The first videos with a similar description appeared on YouTube 11 And 17 August. Unfortunately, Verified was unable to locate the original video, but we found out what exactly was captured on it and where it was filmed.
The fact that the video was filmed in Kazakhstan is indicated by the traditional Kazakh clothes on the artists and the song to which the boy is carried out in a palanquin - this is a track by the popular Kazakh group “Alashuly” called “Batyrlar urany"("Cry of the Batyrs"). The hall in which the celebration was held is actually located in Pavlodar, in the Saida Plaza shopping center. This is confirmed by photographs of the banquet hall in the service 2GIS - curtains, doors, chandeliers above the doors and the pattern on the floor are identical to those shown in the video.
However, in mid-August it was not Knowledge Day that was celebrated there. The holiday itself is called “Sundet Toi” - a feast in honor of circumcision. The ritual of circumcision is an important part of the life of a Muslim, and magnificent celebration in honor of this event - not uncommon a phenomenon in Turkic countries, where, in addition to its religious function, it also performs a kind of initiation procedure for a boy, his symbolic initiation into horsemen. In Kazakhstan, the rite of circumcision is usually performed at the age of three, five or seven years, most often spring or autumn. Holding a memorable “Sundet Toi” has become a popular service in Kazakhstan event agencies. For such a holiday, as for a wedding, numerous relatives come from all regions of the country, and the number of guests can reach several hundred.
A boy dressed in a festive outfit, accompanied by horsemen (Kazakh event agencies have a special service “warriors for the holiday") and/or women in national dress may enter the hall on a camel or foal, accompanied by berkutchi with a golden eagle on his hand or houndmaster with a hunting dog.
Many invite music or dance groups and even arrange game kokpar - it all depends only on the degree of adherence to traditions and the level of income of parents and relatives, who on this day present the boy with valuable gifts. There are more options and less expensive, sometimes a feast is organized for several boys at once, but the tradition itself is not something exotic, but happy relatives en masse post videos from similar celebrations on social networks.
The video that users are discussing does not show the most luxurious celebration possible. According to "Verified" calculations based on price list Kazakh event agencies and banquet halls, such a celebration at 100–150 people (with a banquet, musical accompaniment, toastmaster services, an appearance with batyrs, rental of a suit and palanquin for a boy) will cost approximately 1-1.5 million tenge (200,000 - 300,000 rubles). Our calculations were confirmed by an expert - Kazakh event manager Vyacheslav Nerush, adding that the price could be significantly lower if the holiday does not take place in Almaty or the customer himself purchased products for the banquet.
Thus, the video has nothing to do with September 1, and its connection with any Kazakh civil servant cannot be proven. However, even if this celebration was organized by the family of a traffic police officer, there is nothing unusual about it: the celebration captured in the footage is a Kazakh holiday in honor of circumcision, which is not something extraordinary and prohibitively expensive. Telegram channels and media outlets that published the video placed it in a fictional context.
Cover photo: still frame from the video
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