MP: Belarus paid dear for opportunity to go along its own path

Historically, nothing was easy for the Belarusian people: neither freedom, nor independence, nor the right to self-determination, nor victory. Taking into consideration modern days (importantly, peaceful), the main task is to preserve this peace. As noted by a deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, Irina Dovgalo, in her Telegram channel, it will then be possible to focus on creation, development and assistant to others.

According to the MP, Belarusians were split against their will in 1921. “The Belarusian land was halved virtually alive. This means that Poland took away not only the land, but also its people and everything located on that territory. However, it was not enough for it to take the land: Polish authorities and officials treated Belarusians as second-class people, viewing them not even as persons but as cattle. Moreover, those Polish landowners treated horses and cows even better than the Belarusians who worked for them,” Ms. Dovgyalo explained, adding that Poles went far beyond that terrible attitude towards Belarusians, and their goal was to destroy the national identity, self-awareness, education and culture of the Belarusian nation.

“They [Poles] even wanted to take our faith away: 139 churches were converted into Roman Catholic churches, and 189 were destroyed. In addition, they considered the elimination of education in the native language was an effective means of Polonization of Western Belarus. Polish officials wanted the Belarusian population not only to study in Polish, but also to think in Polish and in the spirit of Polish statehood. Only after almost two decades, the Belarusian lands returned to their historical borders,” the MP said.

Although there are now different views on the events of September 1939, Ms. Dovgalo believes that September 17th is not just a day of unification of the Belarusian lands, but a day of real unity of the Belarusian people, “After all, as a result of the Liberation Campaign military operation, the lands that had belonged to Belarus by historical right returned to the country. Poles still do not like to remember how Belarusians defended their land, their right to be called Belarusians: [this was manifested at] the partisan movement which started in 1922, the Brest speeches of the unemployed in 1931, the Ostashino uprising of 1932, the Lida strikes in 1935-1936, the Naroch fishermen's speech of 1935, the Skidel uprising of 1939, and so on.”

The MP added that peace-loving Belarus is now defending its national, political, and economic interests in the international arena, doing this honestly and on the basis of international law, respecting the interests of other countries.

"We must have firm determination and assertiveness to preserve our country. We must be ready to work hard. We must understand that we will never be allowed to relax. It is important to learn the lesson of history, since an undeveloped history lesson will repeat until we capture it well,” Ms. Dovgalo noted. She emphasised that the sacred duty of Belarusians is to prevent the split not only of their native Belarusian land, but also of the people. This means the nation is united as never before.

"Happy National Unity Day, dear Belarus!" Irina Dovgalo congratulated.