I remember when the Verkhovna Rada prolonged the Black Sea Fleet stay in the Crimea. On the following issue of Savik Shuster’s “Freedom of Speech,” the people’s artist of Ukraine Bohdan Beniuk was asked to share his opinion about the events. He said something like this: “When you look at the map of the world and see Ukraine, you understand that there is one place in the world where you always feel like coming back to, where your home is, your kith and kin, where you can be yourself. And when it is no more, there will be nowhere to come back to... So what shall I say? We only have one Fatherland, we have to love it, if it doesn’t exist, neither do we...” Now they have given up the Constitution, and they are waiting to pass the “Law on Languages” which formally preserves the official status of the Ukrainian language, but fully expands the sphere of usage of Russian. This document was recently very clearly and logically refuted in The Day publication by Volodymyr Panchenko, Ph.D. (linguistics) professor of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, MP of the 1st convocation and Maksym Strikha, Ph.D. (physics and mathematics), vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Higher Education of Ukraine. However, those who are anxious to push through the “Law on Languages” have arguments of their own and maintain that there is no doubt about the Verkhovna Rada passing it. Who cares about eggs when making an omelette?
On the other hand, we cannot just sit about and keep silent. And even if you can buy and sell politicians by the dozen, there must be some people who have real values. It is up to the public to stand up for the Ukrainian language. It is up to scholars, intellectuals, and anyone who cares about Ukraine and its fate.
The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy set an example on September 24 when its Scholarly Council passed a decision supporting the expert findings about the unconstitutional character (and thus the necessity of removal from the parliament’s agenda) of the draft law “On Languages in Ukraine,” submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by MPs Oleksandr Yefremov, Petro Symonenko, and Serhii Hrynevetsky. The ruling of the Scholarly Council, together with the expert report by Volodymyr Vasylenko, Ph.D. (law), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine from 1992 to 2002, and Volodymyr Panchenko, was sent to the president of Ukraine and the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. Protest actions against the law “On Languages” have been held outside the parliament. Among the picketers were members of the civic campaign New Citizen, the volunteer movement Freedom Space, and the civic movement Ukrainian Rebuff. The protesters were holding slogans which read, “Want bilingualism, learn Ukrainian,” “Solve our solvency problem, not that of Russian,” “The true language problem lies in cheap gas,” “MPs, don’t deprive Ukrainian kids of their mother tongue.”
Bird cages with Ukrainian books inside were also brought by the organizers. Among them were famous Ukrainians: the Kapranov brothers (well-known writers), the singer Fahot, and the former dissident Vasyl Ovsiienko. The protesters maintained that once “Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism” is legally established, the Ukrainian language would quickly vanish from schools and universities, television and cinema, bookstores, and government offices.
Also, according to UNIAN, the picketers said that if the MPs would not listen to the public demands, they were ready to start an indefinite protest action to protect the Ukrainian language, in particular, during the European soccer championship Euro 2012. However, there is more than a year and half before the championship starts. But we have to defend our language till then. The problem of survival of the Ukrainian language should be of greater interest for Ukrainians themselves than for European soccer fans.
The protest action continued on Tuesday. The protesters from Our Ukraine party handed out copies of Valentyn Nalyvaichenko’s open letter to parliamentarians, in which he urged them to refrain from passing the law “On Languages.” The appeal read, “I call upon you, Ukrainian legislators, not to pass this explicitly anti-Ukrainian bill which tarnishes the honor and dignity of Ukrainians in their own country, and jeopardizes the future development of the Ukrainian nation.”
“We must prepare for a long struggle, and systematic work,” said Oles Donii, MP, referring to the conflict with the incumbent regime. Just like many other experts, he believes that it is the young people and students who are the main force opposing the regime. By the way, young people prevailed among the picketers outside the parliament. The youth leaders are convinced that, despite the general disappointment in political leaders, one should not underestimate the role of the youth. They are very dynamic, capable of quick mobilization, and are not afraid to stand up for their rights.
“I am convinced that the potential protest actions in this country have every chance to outdo even the student Revolution on Granite. Most young people interviewed by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation said that they would take to the streets and protest if there were violations on the part of security, defense, and law enforcement structures, persecutions of civic activists, limitations or ban on rallies and demonstrations, infringements upon freedom of speech, etc.
“However, all this is already happening in Ukraine. For instance, the attempt on the part of the Security Service to establish control over the civic sector and its activists. Quite recently, some civic organizations faced the problem of excessive attention from the security services. The same goes for journalists, bloggers, and historians. We have every right to say that this is no exception, but instead it is rather a very dangerous tendency which has to be rebuffed today.
“Over the past four months, the representatives of my organization, the Democratic Alliance, have had four meetings with the SBU officers, in Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv. This is what is worrying us today,” said Vasyl Hatsko, head of Ukrainian-wide youth civic organization Democratic Alliance.
However, the regime turns a blind eye. That is its strategy: to either close its eyes to what is going on, or open them and see slogans like “The true language problem lies in cheap gas,” or “Away with Tabachnyk!”, and then say that the pickets are out there for money. Yet there usual weapon is chutzpah, cynicism towards anything including the Ukrainian language.
Viktor Yanukovych went as far as to declare the other day that the law “On Languages” had been openly debated in this country. Where, when, and by whom? There has only been one reaction, from Volodymyr Lytvyn, who said that “solving the language problem is very untimely now.” This was said at the parliamentary session on Tuesday as he commented on the opposition’s protests against the draft bill.
“As far as draft bills on languages go — and there are seven of them — I would ask you to refrain from escalating the confrontation, as the Verkhovna Rada is not considering those documents,” said Lytvyn.
He also added that the draft bills had been “submitted for expert examination.” “When we have the experts’ opinion, and if there is political will to do it, we will consider this issue with responsibility. Now this problem is untimely, and let us not aggravate the society which has already been excited by the local elections,” remarked the speaker.
The last word remains with the people. The representatives of the political party Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) urge other political parties and the public to unite and come to the Sofia Square on October 14, at 6 p.m., to take part in a rally to defend the Ukrainian language. We must go there, we cannot just sit and do nothing. What else can Ukraine do to make its “defenders” (Our Ukraine, Fatherland, Svoboda (Freedom), Za Ukrainu (For Ukraine), etc.) stop squabbling?
COMMENTARY
Volodymyr VIATROVYCH, historian:
“I am very happy to see that it was not the political parties that were protesting outside the Verkhovna Rada building, because there has been too much political advertising in Ukraine these days. We saw youth activists, representatives of numerous youth civic initiatives, and also the older generation: former political prisoners and dissidents.
“All these people rallied there, motivated by the resentment of the draft bill “On Languages” authored by the PoR MP Yefremov. This draft law will effectively kill the Ukrainian language.
“I am happy to see this activity because it proves the existence of civic society in Ukraine, one that is capable of self-organization and defending true values, Ukrainian being one of them.
“Thanks to the protest action on Monday, the conciliatory council of the parliamentary factions refused to include the consideration of this draft in the agenda for the weeks to come. This is our first victory, and I am convinced that via such methods of organized civic resistance, we will be able to oppose such actions of the regime which have been seen so often of late.
“I am happy to see that there have been similar actions to defend historians, Ruslan Zabily in particular; and there have been similar actions held by journalists to support Viktoria Siumar, outside the SBU office.
“This is proof of the Ukrainians’ ability to defend themselves. There will be more actions to come. They are being discussed now, but the main principle is that they should be free from any political campaigning.”
