All entries for Wednesday 08 November 2006

Girl attacked for voicing her political opinion

Only days before it’s annual grand feasts, the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona is struck by antidemocratic violence perpetrated against one of her students.

Last Thursday, as a girl walked out of a politics lecture room, she was commented upon and thereafter hit and threatened by fellow students. All of this happened to her because she happened to be wearing a t-shirt in support of a young Catalan party, the “Ciutadans -Partit de la Ciutandania”.

This party has recently gained a few seats in the Catalan Generalitat, and is known to be “a little less Catalanist, a bit more pro-Spain”. For as far as I’m aware, it displays no fascist agenda, but apparently for these intolerant Catalanist morrons it was not leftist-nationalist enough. From another source I have now heard the earlier-mentioned girl is considering switching universities.

Luckily, the faculty was quick to react by sending around an email condemning the violence and assuring the perpetrators would be suitably punished.

Apart from the fact that I have never understood the incredible stupidity of people who feel they need threats and fists to practice politcs, I was even more struck dumb to find out that the module the people involved were taking was called political participation. A cliche, sure, but shouldn’t every self-respecting democratic preach and practice Voltaire famous words to his rival Rousseau: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?

: 08 Nov 2006 09:20 |  Tags: 2006 Defining Catalans Education English Politics Of Our Time |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem