The latest revolution in Armenia was a peaceful and bloodless one. Glory and honor to those standing on both sides of the barricades, and first and foremost to Armenian citizens. But there’s the question of whether the revolution was successful in calming down the people’s wide array of anger and hatred towards the former regime. Is our society immune to violence and bloodshed? Judging from the fact that a political party that supported an armed political revolution will be participating in the upcoming elections, and that our political and intellectual elite does not have the spirit to protest against that, we do not have such immunity.
With every step, I hear “until these people aren’t shot, hung, and stoned, nothing will change in this country.” The new administration, being against such practices, must keep up its high ratings and pay its debt to such thoughts as much as possible. Even more, there are people who have a similar mindset who agree with the theory that progress cannot take place without revolutionary violence. To say that this theory is completely wrong would mean to not be familiar with human history. It’s something different that I am personally against paying such a high price for progress.
On July 14th, 1789, French revolutionaries took over the Bastille prison, where there were only seven prisoners and a large warehouse for weapons. The creators of the New France wanted to take control of it. The governor of the Bastille, the Marquis de Launay, in accordance with his military oath, refused to carry out the revolutionaries’ orders and fired at the attackers. There were many casualties as a result. In the end, the revolutionaries successfully invaded the Bastille prison, arrested de Launay, and when they took the marquis to the municipality of Paris, the furious crowds attacked him and got brutal revenge on the soldier. He allowed a butcher with the last name of Desnot to have the “honor” of killing him, who cut off his head. The marquis’ head was then put on a pike and carried throughout the streets of Paris.
However, we visit the French embassy every year on July 14th and we congratulate the French people on the anniversary of their revolution. Perhaps Armenia will also one day celebrate the day that the police regiment was invaded by armed attackers and three police officers were killed with champagne and snacks. I will not be participating in those celebrations.
Aram Abrahamyan
