“Native Language Is The Parameter Of Being In Opposition”,
Visits of the student-journalists have become a usual thing. During the last several years this has been within the measures of such a subject as “Politology in Journalism” (or politics in journalism). The starting journalists got a chance to attend the place where usual people are not allowed. In the Press Center they heard about the work of their future colleagues, in the end they could feel themselves at the places of the deputies’ in the “Oval Room”. But the most interesting happened during the meeting with 2 members of the Chamber of Representatives Natallia Audzeeva and Mikalaj Dubovik.
The leader of the press centre Mikhail Babrou welcomed all the guests in Belarusian but right afterwards he said: “Sorry, but I will continue in Russian. This is easier…
The representatives of the people in the Parliament in detail told the guests about their activity and very confidently answered the questions of the young journalists who touched almost all acute problems, starting from the international affaires of our parliament and ending with the new law on Publishing and other Mass Media. When the meeting was almost over the following question was asked:”According to the Constitution two languages have the status of state languages (Russian and Belarusian). So why does not the Belarusian language sound in the Parliament? The members do not know it or they disdain it?”
M. Dubovik: “Not disdain. “Mother tongue” (in Belarusian) we know very well. But understand our generation was brought up in an uneasy atmosphere of a 1language and it easy to communicate in Russian for us. I myself came from a province and all the time tried to get rid of the provincial talk. We were broken several times in the language context; such questions cannot be solved by power. My children graduated from a Belarusian school – this is my attitude to the Belarusian language. But let us look at the problem from another angle. If I come to electorate in Uzdzenski region… they will say “Dubavik-the oppositioner has come!”
No Mikalaj Mikalaevich, they will not say that as according to the last population census more than 80% of the respondents chose Belarusian as the mother tongue as their ancestors used it for communication, because all national heroes used it, as the language is an important parameter of any nation. But if you refer the language only to such unwilling by you ‘opposition’ than poor is the country for whom you make the laws and those people you represent!