Why Lukashenka Fears Kastus Kalinouski

• Valer Karbalevich
• 29.11.2019, 15:09

Against the backdrop of thousands of Belarusians, and the flood of white-red-white flags, the dictator’s fears appear understandable.

As you know, history is the reversed modern politics. The ceremonial reburial in Vilnius of the remains of Kastus Kalinouski, Sigizmund Serakouski and another 18 participants in the anti-Russian uprising of 1863–64 turned out to be an important political event not only for Lithuania, but for the entire region.

It is no accident that President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, and the official delegations of Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine took part in the ceremony.

However, this event is especially significant for Belarus. It is not by chance that there were more Belarusians at the festivities in Vilnius, than Poles or Lithuanians. And it’s clear why.

The fact is, in Poland and Lithuania they have long decided on a national ideology, national identity, national history and national heroes. We have a completely different situation in Belarus. Here we are dealing with an unformed nation. The Belarusian society is strongly split in relation to worldview, basic values. Therefore, there is a sharp ideological struggle around the question on what ideological ground should the Belarusian nation be built. The current government appeals to the colonial heritage. From their point of view, Belarus is a fragment of Russia with Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, Lenin, Dzerzhinsky, the October Revolution, and the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, the democratic community offers a national narrative with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Skaryna, Kalinouski, the Belarusian People’s Republic.

And, by the way, Kastus Kalinouski is almost the only Belarusian historical figure who still has not caused any split in the society, the political class. He was recognized by both nationalists and communists, because he entered the pantheon of Belarusian national heroes back in the Soviet times. This symbol could unite the divided Belarusian nation. However, this does not work out yet.

It seems though that the situation is more complicated than the scheme of confrontation between the government and the opposition. In the power structures themselves, there is a competition of various ideological concepts related to history.

Recently, it is around the figure of Kastus Kalinouski that ideological spears break most of all. Suddenly, unexpectedly for all, the authorities began to debunk his image as a Belarusian national hero. In the updated school textbook on the Russian literature for the 8-year students, the following phrase appeared: “The Polish uprising under the leadership of K. Kalinouski (1863-1864).” After a fair outrage from the public and historians in December 2018, the Ministry of Education issued a statement insisting on its version of this historic event. In January of this year, an article by Ihar Marzalyuk, appointed to the role of an official historiographer, was published in Uchitelskaya Gazeta. He confirmed the version of the Ministry of Education. On March 17, I. Marzalyuk, in an interview with the program “Main Air” of the First National Channel, categorically stated that Kastus Kalinouski could not be “the national hero of the country”.

In the August issue of the journal of the ruler’s administration “Belaruskaya Dumka”, the installation article “On the Question of Historical Politics” appeared, as they said in Soviet times. Its authors are two main semi-official historians (academician-secretary of the department of humanities and arts of the National Academy of Sciences Aliaksandr Kavalenia, and director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences Viachaslau Danilovich) and two heads of the Security Council of Belarus. The article denies the concept of Soviet historiography about the progressive, national liberation character of the uprising of Tadeusz Kasciuszka and Kastus Kalinouski, they are declared Polish heroes.

It would seem that everything is clear, Kalinouski is not our hero, the topic is closed. And when the leadership of Lithuania invited A. Lukashenka to the reburial ceremony of the remains of the participants in the 1863-64 uprising, it was obvious to everyone that he would not come. Not only because of the anti-Russian context of this event, but also because it does not fit into the new ideological construct of official Minsk. Therefore, it was expected that only representatives of an independent society would come to Vilnius from Belarus.

But then, suddenly, contrary to the opinions of semi-official historians and government agencies, an official delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ihar Petryshenka went to Vilnius to rebury the remains of Kastus Kalinouski. This immediately disavowed all previous ideological constructions of the state ideologists.

It is important to note that on November 17, A. Lukashenka, responding to the questions from journalists about his attitude to Kalinouski at a voting station, said:

“He acted on our territory, was our man, if you want - our citizen. And there’s no getting away from it. ”

Does it mean Kalinouski is “our” hero in the end of the day?

Although the ceremony in Vilnius was dedicated to the event that took place a century and a half ago, it was obvious to everyone that it had acquired a modern meaning. Belarus is on a par with the states (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine), which, to put it mildly, have complicated relations with Russia. The speeches of the leaders of these countries sounded the idea of the need to unite the peoples of our region on the basis of the legacy of 1863, that is, the legacy of the anti-Russian uprising.

Deputy Prime Minister Ihar Petryshenka, whose entire work in the structures of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting in 2003, was aimed at integration with Russia, said at an official ceremony in Vilnius that the activities of Kastus Kalinouski “are connected with the development of the Belarusian national-cultural movement in the struggle for Belarusian statehood in the form of democracy.” That is, there is no doubt that Kalinouski is a Belarusian, not a Polish hero.

Further - even more interesting. I. Petryshenka said: “It is significant that the password for the rebels of Kastus Kalinouski was “Who do you love? “I love Belarus.” The testaments of the fighters did not lose their relevance and were continued in the main motto of our country “For a strong and prosperous Belarus”. That is, translating into an understandable language, Lukashenka is the ideological heir of Kastus Kalinouski! True, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable. Now I would like to hear how I. Marzalyuk and the whole ideological fraternity will get out of this now.

Obviously, such a turn of the wheel of the usually slow ideological machine is politically motivated. Firstly, it is necessary to somehow form the Belarusian identity, which is different from the “Russian world”. And the heroic halo of Kastus Kalinouski is very helpful here. Secondly, this is an attempt by A. Lukashenka to engage the opposition-minded part of the society.

But, as if afraid of their own courage, the authorities immediately tried to turn on the reverse. Both A. Lukashenka, and I. Petryshenka in his speech in Vilnius warned against politicizing the image of Kastus Kalinouski. From the point of view of ordinary logic, this message is rather strange. For the meaning of any historical mythology is precisely political. Turning to history is a way of legitimizing modern politics.

But A. Lukashenka’s fears are quite understandable, especially against the background of thousands of Belarusians and a flood of white-red-white flags that hovered in Vilnius for two whole days. And these were not representatives of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union or “Belaya Rus” at all. In other words, recognizing Kalinouski as a national hero, he symbolically legitimizes his political opponents. Hence such an inconsistency.

Valer Karbalevich, Svobodnye Novosti