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
Independence Day (Tajikistan) with the decoration of cars, buildings, and streets with Tajik flags. Television channels such as Televidenye Tajikistana, 1TV First Channel and TV Varzish stream all of the official events live during their programs. Independence Day (Tajikistan) Independence Day of Tajikistan () is the main national holiday of the Republic of Tajikistan. In the late 1980s political processes began in the Soviet Union, which have been associated with the start of the democratization of the Soviet society. Facing a spillover of the unrests throughout Eastern Europe that began in Poland, the republics of the USSR under the influence of the national-democratic