Bosnian identity should be treated as a given, don't look for problems where there are none!

By: Enver Išerić

These days, the adoption of the Declaration on Bosnia and Bosniandom was pompously announced on Bosnia and Herzegovina's Statehood Day. The media report that the central figure is Prof. Dr. Suad Kurtćehajić.

If they prepared the text of the Declaration as a text, as they say, that will be acceptable to everyone who carries BiH in their heart, without excluding the right of every individual to declare themselves ethnically, or in any other way they wish, the text has still not been published. They also emphasize, "Bosnian identity should primarily be treated as something that implies identification with the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A state that does not need, and must not be, restrictive for anyone.

One of the problems in our identification arose in 1993 when the name Bosniak was established, which had the historical potential to be multi-confessional. Unfortunately, due to the bad moves of the political elite, Bosniak has since then become an identification determinant exclusively for members of the Islamic faith, which plays into the hands of the enemies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the building of a modern civic state."

They are completely right when they say that "Bosnian identity should primarily be treated as something that implies identification with the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina." This means that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Bosnians, i.e., bearers of that Bosnian identity. The fact that someone does not want to be called a Bosnian is another matter. It would be the same if we didn't like our name and asked not to be called that.

And we can only change our name through a specific procedure in the registry books. Likewise, we can only change our affiliation to the Bosnian nation if we change the name of the state. For example, if our entire Bosnia and Herzegovina were called Brčko instead of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then we would not be Bosnians but Brčans.

Since a nation has a common territory, it is completely clear that Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, but also other citizens who do not declare themselves as such, constitute the Bosnian-Herzegovinian nation. Affiliation to a certain nation is linked to a "sense of common belonging and civic pride, which leads to internal unity."

And haven't Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats at least formally expressed this feeling in the preamble of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, among other things, states: "Relying on respect for human dignity, freedom, and equality, Dedicated to peace, justice, tolerance, and reconciliation,... Committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with international law,"

If this is not enough for determining national affiliation, then let the proponents of this declaration propose that a provision be incorporated into the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina that will establish that all citizens, i.e., citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are members of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian nation and are called Bosnians.

The biggest problem for the proponents of this declaration is that they consider the establishment of the name Bosniak in 1993, as they say, to be a problem. But in reality, it was just a return to our old name.

Furthermore, the proponents of this declaration emphasize, "What is not a secret is our desire to enable citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to have national identification by separating people from nationality on the census." Even until now, every citizen could declare themselves as they wished. They declared themselves as Bosnians and as Bosnian-Muslims, Bosnian-Croats, Bosnian-Bosniaks, but also Bosnian-Serbs.

Therefore, it would be good if you stopped throwing dust in our eyes and looking for problems where there are none. We have enough other problems that this country is facing. And do not problematize the name of one people – Bosniak.

Bosniaks are a constitutional category, as are Serbs, Croats, and other citizens. And if you want to emphasize affiliation with the Bosnian nation, propose in the declaration that this be defined by the Constitution of our country, as it will be difficult for you to instill in the hearts of those who not only do not love this country but are working to destroy it. And to us Bosniaks, who are ready to lay down our lives, and many have laid down their lives and built the foundations of this country, stop posing false dilemmas about whether we are Bosnians.

These games are dangerous. Either you are not aware of them, or something else is hidden behind it all.