GIVE THEM A SHOVEL, WHAT ELSE DO THEY NEED TO THINK ABOUT. It will be easier for the efendi Mahić to deal with the Serbian police and mythology than with a condescending Sarajevo!

By: Rasim Belko

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Bura. The mythology, as some Orthodox Serbs have done for centuries, started after the views and opinions expressed by the chief imam of the Islamic Community in the Prijedor town of Kozarac, Amir ef. Mahić.  

He said that Saint Sava is a "very controversial figure, one of the officials of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a false enlightener". 

"What about that man from the perspective of Orthodox Christians from other parts of the world? He is a man on whose teachings and ideology a sect was founded, which we know well here. It is the Serbian Orthodox sect." He also said that the two basic ideological postulates on which Saint Sava's cult is based are nationalism and fascism, and Saint Sava is "the originator of the ideology of hatred towards others".

I will not interpret how accurate ef. Mahić's statement is; let historians interpret it based on available facts. Of course, if they dare to speak up, because every similar situation has shown the blind fear of self-proclaimed academics who know everything but dare not say it out loud. 

However, another fact in the case of Mahić and similar cases is quite visible, yet no one points to it. This fact is reflected in the complete vigilance of Serbian and Greater Serbian forces when something of theirs is even suspected. Regardless of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the suspicion, they are thunderous in their reaction, and where they are the majority and in power, they are ready for the complete persecution of anyone who dares to doubt "Serbian" or even show allegiance to something other than Serbianness. 

Today it is Mahić, yesterday it was Sejfudin Tokić and Adnan Bajrić, or people who were prosecuted in court for praying in public places and were finally acquitted by the court, or those who carry the internationally recognized flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina with lilies through the Republika Srpska entity. Serbs and Orthodoxy do not recognize history there, because it is not pro-Serbian.

Much could be listed, and the result is always the same – non-Serbs are persecuted even for the smallest details; there is no evidence against Serbs. 

For example, it is the case with Milorad Dodik, who persistently calls Bosniaks Muslims, calls out imams for their calls to prayer as shouting, and uses every opportunity to belittle and insult Bosniaks and Muslims, and every report against him ends with dismissal because the prosecutor, fearing for his position, has not found sufficient evidence.
When an imam in Kozarac expresses his opinion, he is crucified in public after a media hunt, turned into an Islamic radical, threatened, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska launches an action and criminal proceedings at the speed of light. 

On the other hand, no one, not even the Interreligious Council and the Islamic Community, nor historians or defective intellectuals in Sarajevo, dare to utter a single word about all these situations, not even about Mahić's. In fact, in Sarajevo, there are mentally defective armchair politicians who only think about their own piece of the tram line and effectively crucify anyone who might threaten that comfort. 

And while there is silence in Sarajevo about everything, in Serbia, examples of public figures who, like efendi Mahić, expressed their views on Saint Sava can be easily found. 

The former Minister of Agriculture in the Government of Serbia tried to open the eyes of Orthodox Serbs about Saint Sava. 

"Saint Sava was not a Serb, nor a Greater Serb, nor did he ever call himself a patriarch or archbishop, the archbishop of all Serbian lands, he never called himself an Orthodox Christian. All that is said by people who participate in building the cult of 'Saint Sava' or use it today or try to build upon it. Saint Sava is essentially not what is taught in schools, he did not create education, he did not build any school or create a school system, he did not educate the people, he did not even educate his father Stefan Nemanja. He is not a writer, he was not a theologian. He was a Christian nationalist, he belonged to that people in Europe," Veselinov stated. 

One of the most famous journalists in Serbia, Milojko Pantić, shares a similar opinion. 

"Saint Sava was not a Serb, he was a Greek! Because Stefan Nemanja's wife was Greek, and he was in Greece, in Hilandar, translating because he knew Greek. He never wrote anything, no book. He is not in church documents. He only wrote 'The Life of Stefan Nemanja', his father. He didn't even educate his father, and he is the first Serbian teacher, so wait... Let alone founding a school," Pantić told the Croatian media at the time. 

Wait, Serbs, two of them, publicly say that "Saint Sava is a myth and a fraud", and no one has crucified them, Dodik's Ministry of Internal Affairs has not prosecuted them, the Interreligious Council has not called for an investigation... 

Of course not, because it is not a problem when Serbs, Orthodox Christians, expose what they consider to be a lie sold to them as a historical fact. So, it is clear, only Bosniaks are not allowed to talk about history. Neither their own, nor others'. They should, as in the past, in the former state, stick to shovels and pickaxes, and let others decide and shape their destiny. Anything else is an opportunity to hit them on the head to make them stop. It is a shame that even the Islamic Community, which according to media reports, is initiating proceedings against Mahić, does not see this. 

And finally. What is the hate speech in Mahić's words? Have we not witnessed in the past three or more decades the violence of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which blesses convicted criminals and butchers during wartime, and in peacetime serves as an extended arm of hegemonic (read nationalist and fascist) regimes that want to oppress everyone around them. 

Mahić's biggest mistake is actually shaking the ground beneath condescending Sarajevo with his statement. He will deal with the Serbs. He is a Bosniak, and Bosniaks are used to that.