In spring 1992, we were shooting a video in the region of Shahumyan. An Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) unit was appointed to look after us probably taking into account that unit’s exemplary discipline. We were climbing to the positions with the guys, when we saw a fox. One of the young soldiers pointed a gun at the animal and wanted to shoot it. The commander severely reprehended him, “You have come here not to shoot and kill, but to defend your land, your motherland and it also includes your country’s nature.”
I recalled that story when yesterday I saw the terrible scenes showing the results of a party thrown by “tough guys” in Khosrov Forest. I thought that normal people whom I had met during the war had either left the country or had been constrained by social problems and had withdrawn from public life. Instead, there are mentally disabled people in the spotlight who mistakenly say about themselves “we are strong, we are powerful,” but in reality, they live a worthless and pointless life, which, admittedly, is a source of jealousy for many people, a landmark of their dreams, so to say. An integral part of that pointless lifestyle is damaging the environment and killing animals. A mentally healthy man doesn’t have a need for self-assertion using a weapon against defenseless animals. Shedding the blood of a breathing creature testifies to deep complexes, which developed in one’s childhood and are overcome by aggression and sadism. A symptom of the same disease is the fact of keeping a unit of thick-neck bodyguards – through them they “gain the upper hand” over ordinary mortals. However, the saddest thing is that those sick sadists satisfy their desire in Armenia and not, say, in Africa, which is quite appropriate for that. Most probably, they feel unique satisfaction by damaging their small, fragile motherland. The same kind of enjoyment incites them to kill defenseless animals.
Who are the participants of the latest party in Khosrov Forest? There is no doubt they are either MPs or ministers or generals. Such an inhuman attitude cannot occur to normal people. When we were preparing a show concerning this issue on Shant last Saturday, a few people approached me and told what they knew – for example, how those representatives of the “elite” cast dynamite into a river to kill fish. Or how they hunt in helicopters – they are powerful guys, they must think of their security. Why do you think the Minister of Nature Protection expresses doubts about the video provided by the environmentalists, instead of being annoyed and taking measures? It is quite obvious – because he feels (or perhaps knows) that it is done by “their guys” – MPs, ministers or generals. And “powerful guys” should defend each other’s honor.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
