33 years have passed since the tragedy of April 9, 1991. Since the day when the Georgian people sacrificed a lot to fight for freedom and bring Georgia its independence. Today is April 9th and once again the world is shaken by the brutality of war. Now, Georgia’s friendly country, Ukraine, is fighting for its freedom, and the enemy is the same.
There are many bloody dates in the history of the Georgian nation. Let’s not go back to the distant centuries, XX century is enough to recall the tragedies connected to Russia.
Recall 1921 – annexation of independent Georgia by blood-thirsty Russia; 1924 – Suppression of the uprising of Georgians fighting for the freedom of the country and mass shootings; 1937 – Mass repressions of prominent people of the nation; World War II, in which 24% of the Georgian population participated and more than half did not return; April 9, 1989, when brutal acts were carried out against unarmed, innocent people on and around Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. On this historic day, the Georgian nation united around one idea. Georgia demanded freedom and demonstrated peacefully against the unjust regime of the Soviet Union. The protest of the Georgian people did not go unanswered by the Soviet army and on the night of April 9 the citizens were severely beaten.
These years were a genocide of the Georgian people, carried out by a foreign and ruthless force – Russia.
Despite the strong enemy, the rivers of blood and pain, Georgians have never slowed down their longing for freedom and independence. National awareness has always been present among the people, which has intensified especially since the 70s of the XX century. It was from this time that Georgian society became more active. In 1988-89, numerous demonstrations addressed issues of national independence, identity, socio-economic and political issues. They demanded the protection of the Davit Gareji monastery complex, the cessation of ecologically unjustified constructions, the violation of the sovereignty of the republic, the discrimination of Georgian soldiers in the Soviet troops and the violence against them.
Georgians took to the streets to protest against the regime. The main issue on the agenda was the question: whether the future existence and development of the Georgian people is guaranteed, whether we are in danger of extinction, why the state language does not get its legal, constitutional rights to the maximum and why we are gradually losing Georgian land and water.
Georgians took to the streets to protest against the regime. The main issue on the agenda was the question: whether the future existence and development of the Georgian people is guaranteed, whether we are in danger of extinction, why the state language does not get its legal, constitutional rights to the maximum and why we are gradually losing Georgian land and water.
These issues became particularly clear during the demonstrations in November 1988 and February 1989. Authorities opposed the protest with all available police forces, special services and the army. The government asked Moscow in November 1988 to introduce a curfew in Tbilisi. The situation was aggravated on March 18, 1989 after a provocative rally in the Abkhaz village of Likhni, on which an unconstitutional resolution was adopted on the secession of Abkhazia from Georgia.
On April 4, a student rally was held in the yard of the Medical University, in which about 2000 students took part. Zviad Gamsakhurdia delivered a speech and called on the protesters to facilitate mass rallies on the “Abkhaz issue”. At 7 o’clock on the same day, a resolution was adopted in the Assembly Hall of the University. Concerning national disobedience to the Government of Georgia, the formation of an interim government of Georgia and the abolition of autonomies.
The protest lasted till April 5. The issue of Abkhazia took second place and the demand for the restoration of Georgia’s lost independence as a result of Russian violence in 1921 and its secession from the Soviet Union took the front stage. People went on a hunger strike to support this demand.
On April 6, the number of protesters increased, and on April 7, the presidents of the United States and France appealed to Russia to recognise the act of aggression against Georgia in the early twentieth century.
On April 8, it was reported that the Interior Ministry was planning to disperse the rally, so people blocked the streets around the rally with buses and trucks. Five hundred women went on hunger strike that day. At the same time, at the initiative of the rally organisers, a joint committee of the Georgian National Liberation Movement was established.
The protesters had decided to end their movement on April 14. Of course, the local authorities knew about it, but it was necessary to intimidate the people in order to suppress the unity and national spirit. As early as April 7, the fourth day of the famine, four tanks appeared in the central streets of the city, moving at high speed to intimidate people. The next day the tanks repeated the maneuver again, but after firing a few young men stood in front of them, the movement did not continue.
On April 9, at 4 am, an attack on peaceful, unarmed people began. Authorities mobilised an entire army for this. The protesters met the soldiers with their heads bowed. People were attacked by tanks, batons, chemicals, poison gas. They did not care if they were attacking the youth or the elderly. Soldiers chased the fleeing people, ransacked the sheltered citizens in the buildings, beat and stabbed the fallen, women and minors.
As a result of the dispersal of a peaceful demonstration demanding the independence of Georgia, 21 people were killed and 427 injured. Among the dead was one 16-year-old. The people who sacrificed their lives for this great idea of freedom were: Nato Giorgadze, Tamuna Dolidze, Aza Adamia, Natia Bashaleishvili, Eka Bezhanishvili, Tina Enukidze, Nino Toidze, Zaira Kikvidze, Manana Loladze, Tamar Mamulashvili-Svanidze, Manana Melozadze, Mamuka Samulkadze Shalva Kvasroliashvili, Eliso Chipashvili, Tamriko Chovelidze, Marina Chkonia-Samarguliani, Nodar Jangirashvili, Mzia Jincharadze, Venera Metreveli.
The events of April 9 played the role of a divider in the Georgian National Liberation Movement. Both the dead and the living heroes have gone down in history for giving us a future and freedom that we must never forget. 33 years ago, the Georgian people were able to defeat the enemy together. The time will soon come when Ukraine will surely win and, like us, thank the heroes for their sacrifice and freedom.
