Sabina Silajdžić, a full professor at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, published a reflection on social media which she titled: Address to the “pro-Bosnian forces” – questioning and testimony to the truth.
– Respected ‘pro-Bosnian’ officials, allow me to address you with the intention of, by testifying to the truth regarding important dates in the recent history of this state, calling you to sound judgment and morality. It is about truths, thus historical facts regarding March 1st and January 9th, which it is crucially important to recognize before you continue to proclaim that ‘aggression on BiH was committed’, and to celebrate your carefully chosen national saviors as peacemakers and saints, states Sabina Silajdžić at the beginning.
We convey her publication in its entirety:
– If there were any inclination towards truth among you, in the political discourse you would have ceased deceiving the public by celebrating pre-war ‘pro-Bosnian’ forces as just, as protagonists of the enlightening spirit of the statehood of BiH which establishes rights for everyone, all its peoples and citizens. How, why? Simply read as follows:
You would understand that marking March 1st as the Independence Day of BiH is a thorn in the side of one people in BiH, just as marking January 9th as the Day of RS is a brand on the wound to other peoples in BiH! You would realize that both these dates inexorably testify to ONE thing – that back then, in ’92, both (and the third) CHOSE WAR, as a means to achieve two legitimate, albeit completely opposing political goals: secession and the path to an independent BiH vs. staying in Yugoslavia and the path to annexing a part of the territory of BiH with the goal of joining Yugoslavia. Both paths, due to their opposition, led to the same – fratricide and bloodshed of unprecedented proportions.
You would understand that the ‘Resolution on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serbian people in the territory of BiH’ was an expression of the legitimate political will of one people in BiH to live in Yugoslavia, and that, in a territorial sense, a part of that country becomes a federal unit within Yugoslavia! You would understand that this Resolution was a ‘political measure of last resort’, representing the expression of the political will of the Serbian people in BiH – it was made by the legitimate representatives of the Serbian people, elected by the people’s will at the first democratic parliamentary elections in BiH. Made within the framework of ‘new’ institutions, because within the then institutional framework of the SRBiH, they were overruled, ‘removed’ by the will of the majority, they did not have at that time a mechanism for protecting ‘vital national interest’, everyone turned a deaf ear to their ‘will’, to ‘warnings’, and to ‘threats’, do you not remember!?
You would realize, with very simple logic, that the political organization in the wake of ethnos, which was ardently advocated by those
‘saints’ whom you celebrate as ‘peacemakers’ and ‘just’, celebrating the personality cult of Alija Izetbegović, created political conditions of the inevitability of an agreement about the future of BiH in the vein of respecting the will of each of the three ‘peoples’. The right to self-determination of each people, the right to choose the character of the state’s arrangement, the obligation to negotiate and agree in the spirit of consensus, thus became the fundamental backbone of satisfying justice. Instead of justice, both sides chose ‘arbitrariness’, thus WAR! Some reached for the Referendum and the declaration of independence, where they wanted to achieve the goal by the force of ‘right’ – an Independent civic republic of BiH, organized on the principle of one man, one vote – with which they consciously, with premeditation and regardless of the consequences wanted to IMPOSE on Serbs in BiH in what kind of state they will live. The political representatives of the Serbs were able, without doubt, ‘skillfully’ to respond to the mentioned impositions. We know the sad truth about that.
You would realize that the Decision on the Referendum followed after the adoption of the aforementioned Resolution, on January 9th, and that the mentioned Decision represents an explicit legal-formal commitment of the other two peoples in BiH to deviate from peace negotiations and ignore the will of the Serbian people! I would like to remind you that all important decisions from that time were made by the method of outvoting or voting in the absence of a ‘quorum of the people’, because it did not exist at the time! I would like to remind you that, regarding the statistics relating to the outcomes of the voting on the Referendum, there is no political legitimacy of the majority will of the citizens in terms of ‘representativeness of the people’, because it did not respect the principle of justice based on the equal rights of peoples! The fragmentation of data in the vein of ethnic affiliation of voters, speaks in favor of insufficient representation of citizens from the Serbian people, which is not surprising at all, because the Serbian people in BiH were called to boycott the Referendum. In other words, you can freely hang the political legitimacy of the Referendum ‘by the tail of a cat’, on the trail of which the Decision on the Proclamation of independent RBiH was made, because by that act, the principles of justice of the three peoples in BiH were trampled. It was done by the then representatives of the ‘pro-Bosnian’ forces, by the way of the Resolution adopted on January 9th, by which they consciously entered into conflict, and into a war of ‘extermination’.
You would understand, at least today, 30 years later, that the Resolution, adopted on January 9th, followed after more than a year of failed negotiations and agreements on the future and arrangement of BiH! The mentioned Resolution is the counterpart to the Decision on the Referendum! On paper, two political wills are expressed, which, like in a mirror, reflect their opposites. Both are politically legitimate, but due to their opposition, required COMPROMISE and renunciation of the principles of ‘Maxima’, of ‘ideals’, and obligated all three sides to reach CONSENSUS! Well…
In relation to the latter, it seems crucial to emphasize the fact that the then pro-Bosnian forces, (more precisely, the representative of the ‘Bosniaks’), ardently rejected every proposed solution that implied administrative division of BiH, even under the conditions of a peace agreement proposal that entailed an independent Republic of BiH and the central authority of the state. In the spirit of historical facts that speak about the proposals for the Arrangement for the governance of BiH in case of remaining in Yugoslavia, as well as the proposals and peace Solutions for possible administrative divisions of BiH under the conditions of its independence, much is known. But the then pro-Bosnian forces chose the politics of imposition and ignoring the political will of one people, just as you today meticulously preserve that tradition by celebrating March 1st as the Day of Independence of BiH, while at the same time clicking and denouncing the marking of January 9th as the day of RS. You are preserving the tradition today by celebrating the contributions and speeches that unfolded in the Holiday Inn hotel in ’93. Speeches by which, again, even in the impossible and terrifying war conditions, a proposal to stop the war and a peace solution for the division of BiH was rejected. Holy God!
To understand means to understand with the heart! When in this country there will be rulers who will look truth in the eye, then the peoples and the people in these territories will see a brighter tomorrow!
The epilogue of “understanding” – a question about the sanctity and righteousness of “pro-Bosnian” politics?
Regarding the aforementioned historical facts, much remains to be questioned by today’s ‘pro-Bosnian’ forces, instead of skillfully propagating the sanctity of the political aspirations of the pro-Bosnian forces since time immemorial! Finally, considering the aforementioned historical circumstances, political context, and the nature of the ‘dispute’ that preceded the conflict, I indeed wonder, with what moral credibility do you still claim today that there was an aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina? Sometimes it seems to me that you forget who fought against whom in this war! Military and other support from Serbia, (and do not forget the one from Croatia), must be separated from the fact that the peoples – the political representatives ‘of theirs’, that is, ‘men’ who have lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina since time immemorial, did not understand that they, sadly to say, in that war, spilled each other’s blood!
Leaving morality aside, there has always been ‘an excess of it here’, how do you still dare to invoke international law when you hypothesize ‘aggression’? You well know who made, and where the Resolution on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina was made. Starting from Palama, near Sarajevo, in Bosnia. It was made by legitimately elected political representatives of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who sought to build parallel institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Can you explain to me what ‘aggression’ is really about!?
Should it be ‘drawn and colored’ again for you that the Serbs living in Bosnia did not want to secede from Yugoslavia, did not want a border on the Drina! Not some aliens, not citizens of another state, but our compatriots. They didn’t, why would they!? Finally, you forget that the political representatives of the Serbs were ready to negotiate various forms of political autonomy for the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, under the conditions of the proclamation of independence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they negotiated for months! It was the ‘pro-Bosnian’ forces that legally and formally gave up on negotiations!, and rushed to make the Decision on Independence, regardless of the consequences!
As I see it, instead of seeing the TRUTH with your heart, ‘pro-Bosnian forces’ evolve over time! Today, as I notice, you even refer to ‘science’ with the intention of proving the act of aggression and the planned act of genocide according to the mentioned Resolution and other Decisions. Honestly, on this occasion, apart from populism and kitsch that you lead at that gathering organized on January 9, ’24 at the National Theater in Sarajevo, I wonder, do you have a bit of sense and reason, or is it really so difficult to reach the definition of aggression according to International Law!
Finally, with what moral credibility do we expect and hope for the day when the Resolution on Srebrenica will be adopted in the ‘Assembly’ of Bosnia and Herzegovina and RS? If the ‘pro-Bosnian’ forces do not deviate from ideological indoctrination that speaks in favor of the sanctity of the protagonists of the Referendum and civic Bosnia and Herzegovina against the will of the Serbian people, if they do not deviate from the thesis of the committed aggression, because it is legally and substantively unfounded, then they should understand that they have a legal basis, but neither moral nor political legitimacy to demand the adoption of the Resolution on Srebrenica? Until then, Ces’t la Vie!, everyone is satisfied with the ‘truth’ they ‘preach’.
‘Hope dies last’!?
I wonder, for the sake of the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the sake of our children, can we at least look at the recent history along the lines of a minimum consensus, which is to accept the facts about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina summarized in the Court judgments of the International Court in The Hague (ICJ-YU). When we realize that there were no ‘saints’ in the nineties, that we can all be ‘saints’ by witnessing the truth, calling for good and benevolence instead of disgust, the children of the mountainous Balkans will see the light of our sky, not someone else’s! May God be with us. All the best to everyone – concluded Sabina Silajdžić.
As a “postscriptum”, Sabina Silajdžić added three quotes from the Quran:
“O you who believe, fear Allah and speak the truth.” (Quran, 9:119) “Allah will not guide those who are prone to excess and lies.” (109:28)
“O believers, fulfill your duties to God and bear witness justly! Let not the hatred you feel towards some people lead you to be unjust! Be just, that is closest to righteousness. And fear God, for God is well aware of what you do.” (Quran, 5:8)
“O you who believe, act justly, testifying to God even against yourselves or against parents and close relatives, whether he is rich or poor – for God is more deserving of them. So do not follow passions to the detriment of justice. If you turn away from justice or turn away from it, God is informed about what you do!” (Quran, 4:135)
