<div dir="ltr"><div class=""><table class="" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr class=""><td class=""><br></td><td class=""><br></td><td class=""><br></td><td class="" rowspan="2">Belarusian authorities raise importance of Belarusian language<br></td></tr><tr class=""><td colspan="3"><table class="" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class=""><div class=""><img class="" id=":ug" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif" alt=""></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% white"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black">If you are having trouble reading this email, you may
<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=preview_message&fn=Link&t=1&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=hswgt3xmmbrdpvscod1d84wtlocre&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&messageversion_id=bzsuscfqbtzbmikmcqejzfwuvrosbko&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg" target="_blank">
view the online version</a></span></p>
</div>
<table style="width:114.34%" width="114%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr>
<td style="width:100%;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;padding:0in" width="100%">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=6eoeezfnxb4lergf5g0cybo46ot7d&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQ7w2ZzCOxvlDvZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkglJZ7aahnESah_4lW0_3J4FmPWsxlEzIG4Q-7hrFuQQtbCh02grZ2E9sEyKWACrJy6ya0uBjCWmKw8dJ9VuI_pJdb70B_UO1EkvL97TEn7ZAumyVvI82p3hml5rgB-50DL3c_AbtEQMPfjz1ZUWItkP_swnpw3orVeXdDGMcNQJ4A" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none"><img class="" src="http://hosting-source.bronto.com/500/public/edm_banner2.jpg" alt="Eurasia Daily Monitor -- The Jamestown Foundation" border="0"></span></a></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;padding:0in" width="100%">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12pt"><b><span style="color:black">October 30, 2014 -- Volume 11, Issue 193</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:100%;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;padding:0in" width="100%">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Language Is National Security in Belarus</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">On
October 23, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka met with a group of
Belarusian writers. In any country surrounding Belarus, a meeting like
this would probably not be similarly newsworthy.
The country has two writers’ unions and a PEN-Center. Only one of these
entities, called the Union of Writers of Belarus is loyal to the
government and uses its funding. The other, called the Union of
Belarusian Writers (UBW), is one of the mouthpieces of
the opposition, as is the Belarusian PEN-Center. The members of the two
latter institutions write exclusively in Belarusian and have never
participated in meetings with the head of state. They routinely complain
that the publication of material written in
the Belarusian language is sidelined and that the government does not
do anything to raise the stature of the national language. Indeed, in
Belarus where two languages, Belarusian and Russian, enjoy official
status, Russian is used almost universally, whereas
Belarusian is the first language of communication within a certain part
of the opposition. Speaking Belarusian in public is a rarity in the
city of Minsk where, in 2013, only 1.6 percent of all secondary school
students were enrolled in classes with Belarusian
as the language of instruction (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=c0begfui7nj3a124dcepn23e4e110&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQOVfhET_92uqIZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgkMxDBbFvLfAQGmOMZR-0YiZj9nHMxYFG9RWYCrXWWCmUfXWmGSAt5bYxW55fFfdBKVTq-aNUbv_PXEnwgKWTD5" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
<span tabindex="0" class=""><span class="">August 22</span></span>), and no single institution of higher learning uses Belarusian across the board.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">It
seems, however, that the wind is changing direction. The peculiarity of
the October writers’ meeting with President Lukashenka is that the
members of all three writers’ organizations
were invited, and the sorry state of affairs in regard to Belarusian
was openly discussed. For example, according to Barys Piatrovich,
Chairman of the UBW, only 5 percent of Belarus’s population prefers
Belarusian-language books whereas, just three years ago,
in 2011, 14 percent did (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=2n15x1yrrzx5sr0jj0126p7z9od7r&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQngrMlHL5WBshZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgnDAwMtR5RGGYJExEIE4hS7h6L6rmybLCqpBu_PSv771ngjHZNdDh6_yFFYg4-eEhZpTIuZt5u_NWcbwvLzd8rAU5z_-2uLoC_kFsdbLRmF_mglIfzDjWhXhCeAX6zgfRklVfXvcR5S9VQSIe-5WG5H" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Belorusskie
Novosti</span></a>, October 23). At the meeting, Lukashenka pronounced
some paragraphs of his speech in Belarusian—in fact, he claimed that for
him to switch completely and effortlessly to Belarusian it would be
enough to communicate with a Belarusian speaker
for just two hours (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=9e4qd5e72hcys9jq42lr5xw0ymwu8&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQsWjI58WzZe9-Z4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgkMxDBbFvLfAQGmOMZR-0YiZj9nHMxYFG9RWYCrXWWCmaiaU3OD3N9pO_R5vB16DZAFIGw-GvQSRwpSFs9yL8O1" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
October 23).</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Ironically,
the same day that Lukashenka expressed his friendly feelings to both
the Belarusian language and Belarusian-language authors, a book
presentation by one of them, Viktar Martsinovich,
at a Greek Catholic parish in Grodno was broken up by police (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=6jbr5pmdmerkh310jp9upz8vj5y5o&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQHeerjNnr2andZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgkMxDBbFvLfAQGmOMZR-0Yi8Y1OM7bl0EsXhwDbDoqOvvffVO9AJlX7cGKfUpwDBRrjnOIxH9vc2bgZVAFrDna2" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
October 23). Incidentally, the book’s title is Mova (Language).
Subsequently, however, an official in the Grodno City Hall informed
Radio Liberty that the authorities have nothing against Martsinovich or
his book but only objected to a public gathering being
held in a building that has not yet been commissioned. The same
official, however, acknowledged that police displayed excessive zealotry
(<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=9wfv3ihfz9hvlp79w9fek65g4ydkc&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQ2tblur7pkaZfZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgkMxDBbFvLfAQGmOMZR-0YiZj9nHMxYFG9RWYCrXWWCmUvu_MNo-m0x5cdGMfTTEz0OVRY73jJ7I2TNJ0NQ3XpQ" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
October 24). The handling of the event in Grodno resembled Soviet-era
friction whereby provincial authorities need special instructions from
the capital city to start treating actual or potential dissent less
zealously than before; but such orders are usually
delayed or are issued only after some sort of an embarrassing accident.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Artiom
Shraibman, a political analyst at Belarus’s major non-government news
portal Tut.by, believes that Lukashenka’s and his entourage’s current
attention to the Belarusian language
is opportunistic; but it, nonetheless, has to be taken advantage of. It
would be a grave mistake to shrug it off. One has to understand that
the system of power in Belarus is strong and nobody inside the country
can overturn it, Shraibman argues. Yet, for
the first time in 20 years, motivated by self-interest, the powers that
be are ready to do something that their opponents have long advocated.
So it is important not to frighten away this mood but lobby the
authorities to open new Belarusian-language schools,
name streets after Vasil Bykau and Rygor Borodulin (major Belarusian
prose writer and poet, respectively), and erect new monuments to
Belarusian princes and activists. This should be the minimum program for
all those concerned about strengthening Belarus’s
independence, believes Shraibman (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=3dimqrj636u93njl7x4sedx3lq3yh&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQQRxcsk2KrS6cZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkglHkkE6CCapxCCTjBzerobpWNYXIjhK2Dk8d44feAdB0wZ1btJqJCovs9pJ73TbuX8uptWlNkwXYKLgrBzH5rfX" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
October 24). As for the reason behind Lukashenka’s attention to the
preservation of the Belarusian language, Shraibman points to the lessons
learned in Ukraine this past year. Namely, a preponderance of Russian
speakers turned out to be heaviest in those regions
of Ukraine where Ukrainian identity has been relatively weak. In this
regard, all of Belarus is vulnerable, he concludes.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Incidentally,
one recent attempt to conduct a free Belarusian-language course for
those willing to master the language has failed because of political
disagreements. Its organizer, Yekaterina
Kibalchich, who was born in Minsk and graduated from the Belarusian
State University, has, since 2003, been affiliated with Channel One of
Moscow TV. She spent her own money to run the language course on the
premises of Tut.by in Minsk, and some opposition-minded
Belarusians worked as course instructors. When, however, it became
clear that Kibalchich did some TV reporting in support of separatism in
eastern Ukraine, the language instructors left in protest. Writing in
Belarusian, the philosopher Piotra Piatrovsky suggests
that language and politics should not mix; dedication to one’s native
language should unite people of different political orientations, and
only egotism stands in the way of unity (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=gwsoxrdf4h8xhtbtb368mi87r5db9&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQxXNFbHWjBUUNZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgnDAwMtR5RGGYJExEIE4hS7l8_rtvqY4EhxZAuztLMchyHjVyqzrqvYmmotH8cJ58djxetofPXE2_l3zPs3sNvI-0NV5Vuk67iCf4QGUzKYSLfPjQae5BhOTHtHgBAXgS1FMgW_cvq0FweVi8Ermvqx" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Belorusskie
Novosti</span></a>, October 16). Indeed, in the words of Yury Zisser, the founder and owner of Tut.by, “language is national security” (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=d94p7o9m1uakg4v5mwv8rilf2l23y&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQPOYSuK8BUZiMZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkglEP0ay_ZOGP-BOYhaCfZYGlejkMmGEXH1fM4PG4C6bjI99vgp2OLMrjNc5jC6V2_ekta5y6O69XwtXyAOUY3AiJuoyyRGFaodF60-B7llxXw" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Svaboda</span></a>,
October 23).</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Some,
like the editor of the major Belarusian-language newspaper Nasha Niva,
Andrei Dynko, opine that Lukashenka’s attempt at preserving and reviving
Belarusian is too little, too late
(<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=6k58f8dpnq33zq7btvkym47xh8cnx&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQA-XiOmuataP1Z4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgnDAwMtR5RGGYJExEIE4hS7sEGZ9UfNUAhfYivsdkpROq72B_0_90ujdf8ZpTHwcnWnRTz_qwf1WCJ1-SEuV5fvTh8NMiiXakqtj-NegJPgPEN7g96gv0K0xLoRr3HVqg4rjFg10HvH_HrgdAUi6ads" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Belorusskie
Novosti</span></a>, October 23). Whether or not this is true, it is
unlikely that concern over Belarusian sovereignty is being blown out of
proportion. In 2016, for example, as TASS reported earlier this month, a
new Russian military airbase will appear in
Bobruisk (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=02kxfx8i23f4b1z71l2628wq7cwwi&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQoyZ7QJQQpJO_Z4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkglHkkE6CCapxCCTjBzerobpWNYXIjhK2Dk8d44feAdB02RHaD6N8J6Fskzcu9G1Bgj8DgMxhBSV9A1YCCSs6cSKcJ1F0SbNDs9KnF7Xp1TR4w" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Belorusskie
Novosti</span></a>, October 15); and just days ago, Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev of Russia warned about the consequences of Belarus’s
resistance to five major privatization agreements that would hand over
major Belarusian businesses to Russian tycoons (<a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=g4v7lgn732qhfndhuac30rzae9rlv&id2=b5l8odb3ui2yqhtkxc3meb2xdr219&subscriber_id=bfmbrcjgphtbzapdnnrptundskodboc&delivery_id=caophsgixetiudwzvmrxsakjnusebid&tid=3.AfQ.T4xR.CyvK.AW4xxg..AtpxZQ.b..l.AxTh.b.VFLP_Q.VFLP_Q.TBRehg&td=JKsKcWXCV8h5lVE3WMySLQQxy4QlPF_xiOZ4zonYt7gEm-8aMHIsVYjetG5ZyL29My3qCOObNzkgkYI7c81Ff-fGut7RZT7L0t9_xkp6Tiz_8Lne7Is5dOTXhEWBRyZoSIaH95iZbZhMWRRMuG6kszeHAK5eXUNMw04Rrmmn5V1u5F-1ogLWoiJQ" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">tut.by</span></a>,
October 21).</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">To
what extent the Belarusian authorities’ newly revived interest in the
national language will strengthen Belarusian identity remains to be
seen. But any movement in this direction is
arguably a welcome development for those concerned with the country’s
safeguarding of its sovereignty.</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1496648354162bbe?compose=149668ffc9a9580f">https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1496648354162bbe?compose=149668ffc9a9580f</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>