Our Invincible Army

This will be the best autumn of our lives.

It has been the hardest summer of our lives. It has been the most beautiful summer of our lives. Now the whole world is praying and worrying about us. And deep down, it's a bit jealous of us: no other country in the world has long had such a wonderful summer.

We have already had a terrible and beautiful winter 2010-2011, without which this summer would not become history. Then the Belarusians fearlessly took to the square, and then became fantastically united: they were raising money for the families of political prisoners, writing letters and postcards, and with the risk of imprisonment they were driving with firecrackers under the walls of prisons and colonies to organize festive fireworks on the prisoners' birthdays. We have had a terrible and beautiful spring of 2006, when we were learning to set up tents in the square, break through the riot police cordons, hide thermoses and food packages under jackets to feed the brave inhabitants of the tent camp. All those were rehearsals for this summer, the preparatory period, training, self-preparation. We all proved to be excellent students. The summer exam was passed with flying colors, and we moved to the next level.

Now we have autumn ahead of us. And this autumn should also become the most beautiful in our lives. Otherwise the circle will not close. The revolution is continuous, it is not soccer or theater. There are no seasons that can be compared later - this one is less successful, that one is more successful - and draw conclusions for the future. The future will not come if we now have a break because of the frigid weather, sessions, vacations, quarter reports. The villains are already trying to use the fruits of our labor, of the sacrifice of our compatriots: the Russian prime minister will not come to the country, fraught with protests, for no reason. Vladimir Putin as well will not receive Sasha 3 % for no reason: the resigning dictator, who has lost everything and is clinging to the riot policemen's helmets on the last leg, is of no interest to the current dictator Putin on his own. But the country is very interesting. The weak, shivering with fear, exhausted by popular resistance, ex-dictator will do anything to avoid or at least delay the inevitable punishment. So we will probably have to fight not only against the local riot police, but also against that "law enforcement reserve", which the Russian ruler has vaguely promised to the Belarusian resignee. And we may have to defend not just our votes, but the country.

But we will manage. Now there is even no doubt about it. Remember how once - in autumn, in winter - we, standing at the square or sitting in paddy wagons, were dreaming: if the workers had come out, then we would definitely win! And now they have come out. They are on strike. And they are demanding Cockroach's resignation and fair elections, not salary raising - the workers are even cooler and braver than we could imagine. And we also were grumbling sometimes: they say in vain that students are the barometer of the revolution; our students are too concerned about their future careers and student parties, and there are not many of them in the streets... But September 1 came - and the students were in the streets. They were fighting each other off the riot police, marching in columns to help each other, together with their teachers, demanding the release of political prisoners and fair elections. It's enough to say that the schoolchildren have already taken to the streets. And their parents will not scold them for missed lessons and lectures. The parents will be proud and will put a bag of sandwiches in their backpack - what if they get hungry on the barricades - and cry quietly with happiness that such wonderful children have grown up, and they will also take to the streets so that the children are not afraid on their own. This will be the best autumn of our lives, don't doubt it.

About fifteen years ago - soon after the 2006 elections - my opposition friends met with veterans of the Polish Solidarity. The tent camp, which lasted four days, had already been smashed, the light and noise grenades had already exploded in front of the column, which was on its way to Akrestsin to release the arrested, and the detainees had already been taken to Zhodzina, because all the prisons in Minsk were overcrowded. So, the veterans of Solidarity asked: how many political prisoners do you have now? and how many have already served time for politics? and how many were beaten, fired, expelled - in a word, repressed? And finally, they said: when the score goes to thousands and tens of thousands, you will win, because an invincible army will be created from these repressed. And this army will sweep the dictatorship off the face of the earth.

Now I understand what they were talking about. All these years, Sasha 3 % with his own hands, supported by the KGB, judges, prosecutors and other wastes of skin with epaulets and robes, has been creating this army. Yes, in the past it could still be suppressed by the outnumbered enemy. But now, after this most beautiful summer in our lives, our army has become invincible. There are no generals in it, only soldiers. It has no oath, only a thirst for freedom. It has no subordination - only solidarity.

We all are the soldiers of this army. We keep fighting. The best autumn of our lives is coming.

Iryna Khalip, specially for Charter97.org

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