It was a non-appropriate behavior by Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly Arpine Hovhannisyan to label someone or a community as “mentally retarded”. It is really condemnable. One should not offend anyone, whether the person is a deputy, a laborer, a businessman, or an unemployed. It should be done neither verbally, nor written, neither in front of cameras, nor behind cameras, neither in large nor in narrow circles. Let me add, that offending someone is not appropriate even in one’s mind. (During my journalistic career, I have offended this or that person, for which I deeply regret).
Let us turn the situation for 180 degrees and assume that Daniel Ioannisyan, or a member of “Civil Contract” has named any Republican “mentally retarded”. How would the Armenian community on Facebook react? Let us assume: “Genius! Well done! Truly they are mentally retarded. That is even mildly said”. Would two dozens of NGOs condemn that offense? Would citizens gather in front of the “Civil Contract” member’s house and make protests? I believe, no. Or have not there been cases when offenses addressed to Arpine Hovhannisyan or Shushan Petrosyan were posted on Facebook that collected thousands of “likes”? Has any NGO voiced out that it is not a right behavior, that no one should offend anyone?
As the golden rule of the Bible says, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Of course, this rule, I would say even cosmic rule, also applies to the Republicans. They have been offending the people for over a decade, with their contemptuous and arrogant stance. If a person tortures another person in his cellar to make him stand back from his business, it is not only a grave crime, it is also an offense to all of us because the torturer was sure he would not be punished. So what? A crime should be responded by a punishment prescribed by law. What about an offense? My opinion and most of our society’s opinion do not coincide in this regard. I think one should not respond to an offense in any way.
I would like to remind Arpine and other pro-governmental and oppositional figures, current and former authorities Alexander Pushkin’s words: “Learn to control yourself”.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
