Poles say „no” to the politics of lithuanisation

On Saturday, seven thousand people went out on the streets of Vilnius to say – „Stop to the elimination of education of national minorities”.

Despite the fears that the protest action, organised by the strike Committees of Polish schools in Lithuania, may lead to riots, no serious incidents were noted.

 „My God, they walk and walk. The beginning of the column is already on the Kudirka square, and the end is still not in the sight, the rally must have grown up to few kilometers” – such commentaries of bystanders were heard on Saturday afternoon in the centre of Vilnius.

 A march of thousands, joined by the representatives of all regions and communities inhabited by Poles, representatives of Klaipeda, employees in the field of education, started to march on Midday on the main street of Vilnius, Avenue of Gedyminas, in front of the building of Seimas, in order to reach the Kudirka square and the seat of the government of Lithuania, where a rally took place.

The protest action was carried out on the first anniversary of passing of the Act on Education, which in the opinion of Poles is the beginning of the end of teaching in Lithuania in national minorities’ languages: in Polish, Russian and Belarusian.

 Contrary to the claims of Lithuanian nationalistic circles, the protest of Poles was not aimed against Lithuania. “This is not an action against Lithuania, but a protest against the current liberal – conservative coalition” – said at the rally Waldemar Tomaszewski.

The largest concern is caused by the provision of the Act that assumes that within two years a unified exam from Lithuanian language has to be introduced in schools of national minorities and schools of Lithuania. Within two years, students of the now 10^th grade of Polish schools need to catch up with the programme, for which students of Lithuanian schools had 10 years. This represents 800 hours of curriculum difference in comparison to students from Lithuanian schools.

The new Act also states that starting in September this year, classes on the history of Lithuania, geography of Lithuania and the knowledge on the world, concerning the parts related to Lithuania, will have to be taught in Lithuanian in Polish schools. Besides, the subject: the basis of patriotic education has to be entirely taught in Lithuanian. Up to today, even during the soviet rules, all classes, apart from Lithuanian, have been taught in Polish in Polish schools in Lithuania. According to the new Act, Lithuanian schools will be kept in rural communities at the expense of Polish schools, which should get closed. As it was calculated, out of present 110 Polish schools, only 60 will remain. All these actions are supposed to contribute to the rapid lithuanisation of the Vilnius region, inhabited mainly by Poles.

 Poles in Lithuania, however, do not accept this state of affairs.

“From time immemorial we have been Poles and I want our children also to remain Poles, I want them to have an opportunity to obtain a normal education in their native language – Polish. They do not allow us to do so, therefore we must fight, “- said to “Kurier” Dorota Drobicz, who came to the rally from Ejszyszki in the Salcininka region.

“Why am I here? I have two sons and their future largely depends on whether today we will manage to defend our rights. As a father, I can not accept that already since the childhood, they become second-class citizens, according to the law. The Act states that they will have to prepare for Matura exam from Lithuanian only in two years, unlike their peers from schools in Lithuania, who had 10 years for this. Moreover, Lithuanian is not their mother tongue. Yes, I agree that my children should know Lithuanian language perfectly, but this cannot be forced in a manner that is being done by this government “- said to “Kurier” Zygmunt Sienkiewicz from the village Awiżenie in the Vilnius region.

In the resolution adopted during the rally, the participants called for the cancellation of the provisions of the Act on Education that are unfavourable to schools of national minorities. The resolution was passed to the chancellery of the government.

 „Poles living in Lithuania are deprived of rights that belong to every human being” – the authors of the statement wrote. They also expressed their belief that “Lithuania and Poland should be united by friendship and alliance” and “good neighborly relations should be based on the commitment to common values, respect for the identity of each of the nations, as well as the Lithuanian minority rights in Poland and Polish in Lithuania “.

A lot of emotions aroused around the countrymen from Poland, the members of the Association “March of Independence”, who came to Vilnius. They were associated with the riots that occurred during the march on 11^th November last year in Warsaw. It was feared that they might provoke similar incidents also in Vilnius. Lithuanian nationalists also threatened the residents of Vilnius with the “rescue” from Poland. As it turned out, fears were unfounded. “We came to Vilnius to assist the Poles in the struggle for rights that they deserve. We believe that the Lithuanian authorities discriminate Poles. History shows that similar actions to the one, in which we participate today, really make sense. We can see a lot of people here and this is important. There was no need to fear us; we are not hooligans, as it can be seen. This action runs very quietly, because demonstrations in Poland have a more vigorous course”- said to “Kurier” Łukasz Nosodłowski. On Saturday, more than 50 compatriots from Warsaw came to Vilnius.

Contrary to the fears, an incident at the beginning of the march was caused not by Polish or Lithuanian nationalists, but by the Count Aleksander Pruszyński. The Canadian and Polish citizen, permanently residing in Belarus, before the march started to loudly protest when the Deputy Chief of the police of the Vilnius district asked the participants of the march for the compliance with public policy. The descendant of Polish aristocrats, also associated with Vilnius, did not like the fact that the police colonel spoke in Lithuanian. “It is disrespectful for the people gathered here, I demand that you speak Polish” – shouted Aleksander Pruszyński, who in 1994 tried to run for the office of the President of Belarus. However, apart from the Count of Belarus, the statement of the police officer in Lithuanian language did not disturb anyone, what became another proof that the Poles in Lithuania do not have a problem with the state language.

http://kurierwilenski.lt/2012/03/17/polacy-mowia-%E2%80%9Enie-polityce-lituanizacji/

Tłumaczenie Małgorzata Juchniewicz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Małgorzata Juchniewicz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.