THE ONLY RESULT OF SILENCE IS A BLANK PAGE
Anahit Danielyan
KarabakhOpen
01-04-2008 12:11:46
In Karabakh everyone hurries to benefit from government programs. Young
families who got married a long time ago rush to the civilian registry
office to have their marriage registered. They are in a hurry to
get 300 thousand drams the government gives to every couple which
gets married.
This hurry has one explanation – people have lost confidence in
government and do not want to miss the chance, the government may
suddenly change its mind. One of my friends told this to me who
already has two children but has just registered their marriage.
The cause of lack of confidence is that the society has no power and
levers to influence the policy of the government. This is possible
only in case the society is strong.
And the society is strong in case the government listens to the public
opinion and makes policies in accordance with the needs and interests
of the society, which is by the way the duty of the government in a
democracy. If the government serves people, people are not arrested
for political dissent, repressed or declared foes.
If the government does not listen to the public opinion, in the end
this hits the government. During the conference on the development of
Kashatagh the policy of the government on the region was criticized. It
is not accidental that the head of Tufenkian Fund James Tufenkian
said in Kashatagh they will have to begin from a blank page, and the
"blank page" is the result of 15 years.
When journalists brought up the problems of the region of Kashatagh,
criticized the wrong policy of settlement, the officials who conducted
this policy cast stones at them. The result is a blank page.
As a result, in most cases the society prefers silencing their problems
and opinion to avoid trouble. Silence of the society has started to
worry the government, especially that the public opinion is necessary
for the correction of a number of government projects. For instance,
during the recent parliamentary hearings the organizers were almost
begging the participants to express their opinion on the problems of
publication of books. But the most part of the intelligentsia present
preferred to keep silent.
What will happen if global problems are discussed in which the opinion
of the public will be necessary as weapon? What if the Karabakh issue
is discussed?