Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic along a waterway. After Stalin's death in March 1953, Stalinabad, was renamed to "Dushanbe" on 10 November 1961 as part of the De-Stalinization program. In February 1990, tensions between the Tajiks and Armenians squared off in the republic's capital Dushanbe. 26 people died and 565 more were injured and the Soviet troops put down the riots. Both Yaqub Salimov, the Interior Minister and the youth activists were convicted for the participation in the riots. Later on 24 August 1990, Tajik SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. By 1991, Tajikistan participated in a referendum in March as part of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, led by a chairman, was the de jure leader office of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic between 1938 and 1990. It was elected by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The office was created as a replacement for the office of Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Since the Russian SFSR enjoyed only limited autonomy within the Soviet Union until late into the perestroika