Who is ready to throw a gas bottle at the president’s office?
On November 5, the leader of nationalist Tseghakron party Shant Harutyunyan and his supporters organized demonstration at the Opera House in Yerevan to lead a Guy Fawkes march to the president’s office.
Shant Harutyunyan had been in the Liberty square in the vicinity of Yerevan’s Opera House since October 31. He came to the square with a poster reading “I have launched a revolution” and promised to finish the revolution he was going to start in 15-45 days.
The march in Guy Fawkes masks tells the way Shant Harutyunyan is going to make a revolution.
Guy Fawkes planned to assassinate King James I of England and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plan was failed as the authorities discovered the plan and prevented the revolution by arresting people. Guy Fawkes had to burn explosives in the basement of the parliament to explode the building. However, he was arrested and gave out the names of organizers. In 1982 Alan Moore wrote comics consisting of ten pieces, based on which a movie was shot called “V for vendetta.” The lead of the movie called himself as Mr. V and wore the mask of Guy Fawkes. Mr. V wanted to follow the example of Guy Fawkes in order to end injustice in the country through exploding the building of the parliament.
The film shows future in Britain under a fascist’s regime, which has pressed down all freedoms and rights, as well as vindicated martyrs of freedom. Mr. V succeeded in killing the tyrant and exploding the parliament building. People, who were afraid of going against the ruling regime, put on the masks and due to the campaign of Guy Fawkes went out to streets to legitimate Mr. V’s power. The army that had been doing all orders of the power by killing their opponents did not shoot at the people who went out to streets.
After this movie people around the world started using this mask to symbolize struggle against regimes. Anonymous – this is how the groups that go out to streets around the world wearing such masks on November 5 are called. Shant Harutyunyan organized such march in Yerevan, too.
Shant Harutyunyan is not going to end his movement and is definite to fight till the end and make a revolution. Instead of the parliament building he wants to explode the president’s office by throwing burning gas bottles at the building. He is going to do it on the day of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to Armenia. Shant Harutyunyan recruited people who came to the square to support him. Whoever wanted to join his movement Shant Harutyunyan asked, “are you ready to throw burning gas bottles at the president’s office?” He agreed to accept in his group only people who said they were ready. He confirmed his decision by saying, “it means you are one of us.”
One may ask why the government does not arrest these people like they did with many who publicly supported revolution. Maybe they think that by arresting Shant Harutyunyan they will make his slogan “I am starting a revolution” sound serious.
On the other hand, Shant Harutyunyan believes that by arresting him Putin will show that he is afraid of his actions. “He considers himself the head of a super-state; how can the head of a super-state say that he will not come here unless I am arrested?” said Harutyunyan and added that he believes there will be no harm to him and nobody will want to kill him either.
Shant Harutyunyan wants to challenge the Armenian society and political powers as they have always been skeptical about the government’s response and leaders of opposition movements sent them home from the streets.
“I have made public announcement and commitment that I will go till the end. Let them kill me with the gas bottle in my hand, but I will not step back. If there are people who are ready to go till the end, let them come and stand by me instead of complaining why leaders did not go till the end. Let them show that they are capable of doing things other than demonstrations in the square only,” says Harutyunyan. Shant says with his initiative he will open the faces of all political powers. “After my movement political powers will not be able to say that they are struggling against the regime and they want change because everyone whose active participation is limited with rhetoric and complaining only should ask themselves why they did not join Shant. They have made participation in rallies and demonstrations a profession but many of them are not capable of doing anything when it comes to action,” says Shant.
By Avetis Babajanyan
