Czech Republic: statistical disobedience
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 09:10:00 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: Czech Republic: statistical disobedience
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Avinty Lanaikey <[email protected]>
Czech Republic: statistical disobedience
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>From the moderator: Let me remind that the MINELRES team must not
necessarily share the views expressed in the list postings.
Boris
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I would like to introduce a special unprecedented form of civil
disobedience as a protest against unrecognition of a nationality.
Unrecognized ethnicities need an effective precaution against state
authorities and against forced assimilation!
This is a motion which we may implement in connection with
denationalization of the Moravians and the Silesians in the Czech
Republic during the next census if we obtain enough support. I would
like to appeal also to other nations which are not officially
recognized as ethnicities to consider it in their own conditions.
At first about the present situation:
Moravia-Silesia is East part of the Czech Republic, about one third of
its inhabitants declared themselves Moravians or Silesians in the
census in 1991, despite the methodical ubiquitous propaganda and
pressure. The Czech Establishment has expressed no interest in
recognition of the Moravian and Silesian national identity, citizens
of Moravian and Silesian ethnicity are subject to pressure of
denationalization propaganda, manipulated statistics which include the
Moravians and Silesians in Czechs incompatibly with the Charter of
Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Czech Republic, our nations are
threatened with extinction.
We can organize various activities against the "unrecognition" of our
nations, including exercising constitutional provisions.
There has appeared new possibility which actually means a reaction to
the statistical manipulation by state authorities using manipulation
by citizens.
The sense of this campaign is to disturb and subvert statistical data
on ethnicities in such a way that in a census some citizens will
declare themselves a completely alien ethnicity (best non-European, at
least one not represented in the Czech Republic). In short: as a
protest, we can declare ourselves Japanese or Koreans or others ...
This protest would have an effect only provided that thousands of
citizens joined it in order that it can be significantly shown in the
results of the census. In case of success the authorities would be
persuaded eventually to consider the ethnic situation.
An example: 10,000 citizens (Moravians and Silesians) declare
themselves Japanese, i.e. about 0,1% of the population, which would
clearly show unreal situation, give rise to some "statistical
confusion" and could arouse even foreign attentiveness... And the
authorities would have no other possibility but to reflect on this!
This wuld be a form of civil disobedience, completely lawful, aiming
against the fact that the statistics mention the Moravians and
Silesians as Czechs or mention "Czechs + Moravians + Silesians" in the
meaning of one ethnicity. This campaign is unprecedented, as far as I
know it has never been tried, it would be a unique protest, so it's
difficult to estimate whether it would bring any effect. In any case
it would be indispensable to attract thousands of citizens to join
this protest and to catch up with the preparations and arrangement by
the next census in 2001, which is, however, nearly impossible under
the present-day situation.
At any rate, this campaign should be at least discussed. I reckon that
also some other unrecognized nations could use this manner. It's a
completely non-violent form of protest and usually in accordance with
the laws which guarantee the right to declare oneself any ethnicity.
Any comments and observations are welcome.
--
E-mail: [email protected]
Kind regards,
Avinty Lanaikey
--
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