I have been writing this column on a daily basis for over 20 years, and my regular readers will probably attest that at least one third of the editorial is related to broad-mindedness and tolerance. I have always been convinced and still am convinced that any idea can be expressed in a restrained, correct way. The value of this idea will not suffer from it, only its attractiveness in the eyes of the masses will suffer. For example, if you want those who hate Levon, Robert, Serzh, or Nikol to love you, then you “must” use a vocabulary that will deepen that hatred. Naturally, hostility should also extend to selected targets, so-called “servants”, such as the clergy, as it turned out recently.
Over the years, my calls for restraint have met and continue to meet with standard objections, such as “what if they…”, “these are not worthy of a normal vocabulary”, “I’m a fighter, I’m not adaptable like you.” The constant reproduction of the “fighter” leads to a permanent split in the society, to the never-ending enmity of different groups. This is a situation that has been repeated for decades. A certain feature of the current stage is that the current government, leaving its immediate responsibilities, has focused on fighting against the “former government”, which is meaningless and fruitless from the point of view of the state. It can be said that this is the “brand” of Pashinyan, his entourage, and active fans.
But if we do not take into account the nuance that emerged after 2018, the sowing of widespread hatred is specific, first of all, to all kinds of street opposition movements. “We are fighting here, we are fighting against the police, and you are standing on the sidewalks indifferent. Are you not interested in saving the homeland?” But that’s still nothing. God forbid, on the way of these revolutionary detachments, you meet someone who has been targeted around them as a “supporter of the government”, that person will be whistled, cursed, scolded. This was the case with Armen Martirosyan (who, as far as I understand, is not a supporter of the current government), the same fate befell actor Sos Janibekyan, who in his public speeches expressed support for the government.
It is important to understand one thing. Those who demonstrate in the streets, those who sit in palaces under high walls, those who protect the latter from the former, those who sympathize with the former or the latter, as well as those who are just passers-by, are all PEOPLE who can have their point of view. That view must be respected. In fact, it unites people more than it divides them.
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Aram Abrahamyan
