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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Oleksandr Tkachenko Will Fight for the Land Just Like Bohdan Khmelnytsky Did for Pyliavka

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Participation in the festivities commemorating the 350th anniversary of Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s Battle for Pyliavka inspired Speaker Tkachenko to draw an historical parallel: “After proclaiming independence in 1991 we found ourselves in a much better position than Khmelnytsky...” It was here at Pyliavka that the Ukrainian Hetman made the Polish szlachta retreat. Mr. Tkachenko is obviously determined to fight with Khmelnytsky’s zeal to prevent the land from becoming yet another commodity. He added, “God forbid us or those who will be in Verkhovna Rada after us to have the nerve to pass a law allowing trading in land. We must not allow this to happen.”

He said all this after a meeting at Trebukhivtsi, a village where he stopped on his way to the historic site. He talked to people and learned that there were no energy resources for sowing winter crops, harvesting sugar beets, and fall-plowing. The Speaker looked very concerned and assured those present that “Verkhovna Rada and the government are looking for ways out of this difficult situation.” In another village, Letychiv, one of the locals told Mr. Tkachenko that people no longer trusted those in power. How could they be looking for ways if the government was for reforms and the Speaker was convinced that the “state form of management is best”? During the festivities some historians recalled that Cossack and peasant detachments had fought shoulder to shoulder at Pyliavka and there had been no differences between their views on the strategy of the war of national liberation against the Poles. They further agreed with the Speaker that “there is no greater wealth in Ukraine than the land.” Precisely, but who is going to put it to good use now that every deadline is past?

 

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