Hello, Neighbor!

If you want to see the man of the year, look in the mirror.

Colleagues send out emails: "Take part in choosing the person of the year in Belarus". Yes, please, I will do it. The more so, because the choice of the Man of the Year has never been so simple and obvious.

We are not going to choose between Pavel Seviarynets and Mikalai Statkevich. Between Viktar Babaryka and Siarhei Tsikhanouski. Between Natalia Hershe and Katsiaryna Andreyava. Between Pavel Arakelian and Volha Khizhynkova. We are not going to find out who is the more "heroic hero," because everyone is a hero. We will not count the number of days they have spent in jail or the gravity of the charges against them. Heroism is measured neither in kilograms, nor in centimeters, nor in amperes; it is not to be found either in the SI system or in the GHS one - it is not a physical quantity. So there's no reason to compare anyone to anyone.

I will never choose between my friend Nastia from Liabiazhy, who, despite having three children, has not missed a single march (except for two weeks of coronavirus), and my neighbor Siarhei from Pulihov Street, who has been running around the city for almost six months, helping detainees from our neighborhood, and, during short breaks, also rescuing, treating and re-homing found homeless cats. I will not choose between doctor Artsiom Sarokin, who has reported about zero ppm to save the good name of murdered Raman Bandarenka, and journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was the first to write about the zero ppm. Between the bloggers who have been kept behind bars since last summer and the guys who wrote "will not forget, will not forgive" at the site of Aliaksandr Taraikouski's death. And I will certainly not choose between Raman Bandarenka and Aliaksandr Taraikouski, who will remain the heroes of Belarus and the men of the year (just like all those who died during the revolution) for as long as Belarus exists - i.e. eternally.

How can one choose among tens of thousands of those who have passed through Akrestsina and torture, among hundreds of those imprisoned in criminal cases, among dozens of those who have already been sentenced to a penal colony? And among their relatives, who were standing outside their prisons all day long in order to find out where their relatives had been taken? And among those who have been on duty for almost half a year under the walls of detention centers, just to meet people who are released after administrative detention, give them hot tea and take them home? It's like trying to choose between MGLU and BSUIR, pensioners' marches and women's demarches, Loshytsa and Serabranka, Liabiazhy and Novaya Baravaya, Zhabinka and Zhodzina.

This text could be continued ad infinitum. There have appeared so many heroes and their exploits in five incomplete months that there remains one, the simplest, conclusion. The Man of the Year in Belarus is the citizen of Belarus. That's you, reader. This is your sister. This is your neighbor whom you may not even have met before. This is the cab driver who drove you away from the riot police hunt. It is the nurse who, after doing her hospital duty, went to the barricades to help the wounded freedom fighters. This is the teacher who refused to lie to his students. This is the student who used the last of her money to gather the care package for detained fellow students. This is the pensioner who sews flags. It's the entrepreneur who buys New Year's gifts for the children of political prisoners. This is everyone who makes us feel united. Every one of us.

So there's no problem choosing this season's Man of the Year. If you want to see the person of the year, just look in the mirror. Wish whoever you see there to win. And by all means, say "Long live Belarus!" I have no doubt that from the neighboring balcony or courtyard you'll hear in response: "Live forever!" That will be the echo of another man of the year.

Iryna Khalip, specially for Charter97.org