It Is Not for Us to Talk about Expediency

Writing about "stupidity" and "weakness" is easy from the comfortable couch.

Ihar Bantser was recognized as a political prisoner. Strangely, this happened only now, when the 14th day of his dry hunger strike has already begun. Meanwhile, on the Internet, disputes are unfolding about the advisability of such a form of protest as a hunger strike.

There were opinions that a hunger strike is a manifestation of weakness. Like, a person should fight for his life and not put it on the altar of self-sacrifice. They also write that this is complete nonsense, suicide: you will die and not achieve anything.

If you look at the history of political hunger strikes, then, indeed, most of them ended tragically. But, firstly, I will not raise my hand to call these people fools and weaklings. Secondly, there are examples in history when even the death of a protester from a hunger strike yielded results.

Mahatma Gandhi is immediately remembered. In his life, he suffered more than one hunger strike, and all of them were associated with politics and naturally fit into one of the principles of the Indian public and political leader - nonviolent resistance (satyagraha): the willingness to endure pain and suffering. It is unlikely that Gandhi's hunger strikes directly affected, but India eventually became independent.

In the Soviet Union, some of the most famous dissidents who used the hunger strike as a form of protest were the writer Anatoly Marchenko and the academician Andrei Sakharov. The first, by the way, died in prison during a hunger strike in 1986. But it was his death that pushed Mikhail Gorbachev to release political prisoners en masse. This was Marchenko's only demand.

In the history of modern Europe, the most famous case is the mass hunger strike of the soldiers of the Irish Republican Army in 1981. Ten Irish people died. Over the next two years, all five requirements were not officially but actually fulfilled.

All these politicians have remained in history. It put everything in its place. Hardly anyone today would call Bobby Sands or Anatoly Marchenko fools and weaklings.

I do not mean to push Ihar Bantser not to stop. Right here, with all my thoughts, I want him to start drinking water and stay alive. I mean, it's easy to write about "stupidity" and "weakness" from a comfortable couch. I do not urge anyone to call Ihar a hero, but let's, guys, have at least respect for a person who is on the verge of death. It is not for us to decide in this case. It is not for us to talk about expediency.

Ales Dzianisau, Belsat