Three hundred Spartans, surrounded by thousands of the enemy, died for the freedom of their country. And three hundred young people freeze beneath the unfurling white and red flags in the centre of their country’s capital, surrounded by the indifferent, daydreaming residents and guests of the city. Maybe it’s not five hundred, not three. But does that make any difference?

Minsk’s Kastrychnitskaya Square can be seen on the TV news all round the world. But in the public gardens by the Panikovsky monument, five students are sitting on a chilly bench, drinking beer – three boys and two girls. Behind them, flags flutter, in front of them police walk by in twos and threes, ready, if given the signal, to arrest any one of the people heading home from the square to warm themselves up. Already hundreds have been arrested before the very eyes of metro passengers, shoppers at the ‘Centralny’ store, and the students in the gardens.

What is going on in the souls of these people?

In my soul, there is such a bunch of feelings and emotions that I cannot find words to describe all this.
There is shame, when I see the indifference around the square.
There is bitterness and pain, when I see the young people standing frozen in the middle of the circle, casting hopeless looks at the innumerable gawping bystanders.
There is fresh shame when I hear empty words about victory ringing out over the loudspeakers.
There is fresh bitterness and pain, when someone rings me with the name of yet another person arrested for taking warm clothes and food into the camp.
There is shame yet again, when I hear people say that it’s the first time they’ve seen such a thing, that we are witnessing a victory over fear.
There is bitterness and pain yet again, when I hear a girl standing in a subway telling someone on the phone what’s happening on the far side of the avenue, and saying that she’s afraid to cross over.
And there is shame once more when I hear what the old babushkas strolling around the square are saying, cursing the colour of the flags and the Belarussian speech coming over the loudspeakers and the ‘heretics’ in cassocks who have joined the circle.

I can find in my soul neither enthusiasm nor animation – not one thing that I could call a positive emotion.

We didn’t win these elections. We know that it was impossible to win them. That they were rigged. Yet this knowledge is practically worthless. We didn’t win.

We didn’t gain a victory over ourselves, we failed to overcome the fear. Fear hovers over the square. It is in the way the red and green flag flaps high up on its flagpole overlooking the encampment. It is in the way that the demonstrators are scared to stand on the parapet of the underpass in case the militia won’t allow it. It is in the way that the procession waits at a red traffic light as they cross the street. It is in the way that people avert their eyes so as not to see the far side. It is in the telephone calls between friends and acquaintances, when they agree to go to the camp, but then make excuses to each other fro not going.
It is everywhere.

This is not a revolution - it is the mere imitation of a revolution. A parody.

Perhaps I’m just angry. Yes, angry. This is just one more negative emotion to add to the bitterness, pain and shame. It is anger at the leaders who should have prepared for these events, but didn’t and, moreover, chased off those who were prepared for them. It is anger at the people who called on others to the join the camp, without thinking what they could offer those who turned out. Anger at those who secretly hoped to be arrested for 10-15 days, and then to emerge afterwards as “heroes of the opposition”, without having to answer for their idleness, inaction and lack of initiative.

As well as anger, shame, pain and bitterness, there is disappointment. Disappointment in my own impotence, disappointment in the fecklessness of those who are now in charge at the encampment, yet know nothing about what’s going on. Meanwhile, the militia are arresting innocent people. The ones who end up answering for this will be people who are not responsible for anything.

We now have an utterly absurd situation – one group is in charge of the encampment in the square; the elections were held by a second group; in 10-15 days a third group will take over; a fourth group will accordingly capture and put away the third lot; a fifth group will praise the courage of the third, and a sixth will be indignant at the connivance of the fourth. Everyone sees the absurdity of the situation, yet no-one puts a stop to it.

Whom God wants to punish, he first drives mad. And so it is with our situation. It is beyond reason.

What are we? Are we intelligent people? Do we need an intelligent way out of this absurd situation?

Then let us draw some intelligent conclusions from all of this - in order, beginning with the first conclusion.

1st CONCLUSION:
Even if our intentions are good and our aims worthwhile, not all means are appropriate in pursuit of these aims. Do we all agree that the elections were rigged? Yes. But surely we realised this not on 19 March, but way back in 2004. So we had time to think about what we would need to prevent the elections being rigged. Did anyone really think that a dozen or so tents in a square and a few hundred people would have any effect on getting the election results re-examined? We need to fight against election rigging and against those who rigged them. But we need to choose our weapons.

2nd CONCLUSION
It will never again be possible to trust anyone who chooses to fight with means that get us absolutely nowhere. And we need to name all the leaders of this encampment and the so-called revolution, and never again allow them to take part in opposition activities. May God deliver us from such friends, then we can deal with our enemies ourselves.

3rd CONCLUSION
As a result of the ineptitude of those who sought to defend us from dictatorship and fascism, we have ended up both with a reinvigorated dictatorship and with fascism. And it is cynical and self-confident fascism. The brutality shown by the regime on 2 March, by contrast with the tolerance of 19-22 March, shows the regime’s supporters that the regime can do anything it likes; it can punish or pardon, and nothing in the country can happen without its permission. This dictatorship, having considered all the moves the opposition might make, permitted the encampment in the square, calculating that it would degenerate into farce. Which is exactly what we are seeing.

4th CONCLUSION
This regime is not kidding. It’s in earnest. It can only be overthrown by someone stronger and cleverer. If you oppose the regime, and oppose fascism and dictatorship, then don’t put your faith in bustling romantics or dilettantes, but go and find someone competent and reliable.

V. Matskevich
22.03.04

PS. 23.03.06. This commentary (it’s hardly an article after all!) was written for a Belarussian information portal, at their request. The text was not published because “it speaks of fascism. We could be closed down for this”. Is not this the best proof that fascism exists in our country?

For 11 years now (I first said this of the Lukashenko regime in 1995, after the roughing up of the Supreme Soviet (VS-12) deputies in the Oval Hall) people have been saying to me that we don’t have fascism if I can call the regime fascist.
I can.
But would you prefer it if I couldn’t? So that you could say that I too had been silenced?
Is that really any more clever or brave?

Perhaps now you will start to listen to me!!! I will tell it how it is.

PPS. Yesterday I spent almost an hour talking to Milinkevich. It only took me 15 minutes or so to set out my proposals, even with all the detail. But Milinkevich wasn’t interested, although it’s almost the only way out he’ll get out of the current situation. He was more interested in how all that is happening will affect his image.

It’s hopeless.

V. Matskevich

23.03.2006

Translated by Chris Ayton (Scotland)