'Dodik's political measures' are nothing but institutional terrorism of Bosniaks in RS!

By: Rasim Belko

“Serbs in this century should form a unified state, consisting of Serbia, RS and Montenegro, through democratic means and political measures, not war, and leave it to future generations”, said the president of the RS entity, Milorad Dodik, recently.

And somehow, when we look back over the past decade and a half, we can clearly understand that Dodik's “political measures” essentially represent the persecution of Bosniaks from the RS entity as the last obstacle to the “purity” of Serbian land.

The political measure of expelling Bosniaks from their age-old homes has been ongoing since the post-Dayton era, when attacks on returnees were carried out by hajduk maneuvers of masked individuals. And most of these hajduks were never found, because in fact they were protected by police and judicial instances under the jurisdiction of Banja Luka and Belgrade.

Today, the persecution of Bosniaks is carried out institutionally, through legal provisions that serve the same purpose as post-war hajduks. Because, Bosniaks are forbidden to display symbols of their identity and state identity in RS. And when they dare to display that identity, they end up in Dodik's dungeons on charges of “displaying war symbols”.

One of the symbols that the authorities in RS characterize as “war” is the first flag of the internationally recognized Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which flew over the East River on the day BiH was admitted to membership in the UN.

Today, when a Bosniak displays that flag on 49 percent of BiH's territory, police officers of the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is absolutely controlled by Milorad Dodik, arrest them, and the judiciary prosecutes them.

Such a case was recorded in Kotor Varoš in the last two days, where members of the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs, convicted of genocide, arrested Bosniak participants of the Peace March for the victims of the crimes of the creators of the RS entity.

Because, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only state established by a peace agreement in such a way that followers of criminal policies can arrest the victims of those criminals simply because they do not like the identity markers of those people.

Thus, Bosniaks, whose rights are guaranteed by the state constitution in RS, are stuck in a vacuum between false peace and real danger to their survival. Because the terror has been going on for too long for people with tied hands to resist it, especially in a situation where that terror is carried out by police and judicial bodies.

There are fewer and fewer Bosniaks in the entity projected to be 100 percent Serbian. And while they face Milorad Dodik's “political measures”, perhaps the burden is even heavier due to the fact that they have been left to the mercy of both Bosniak policies and the international community. At the mercy of those who have destined them for extinction.

The fact that they live in the same space as convicted and unconvicted war criminals, that their properties are set on fire, their property and lives attacked, has not seriously interested those who bared their teeth, convincing us that they are there to implement the peace agreement and ensure rights for everyone.

Bosniaks in Republika Srpska are a hunted people, and unless something radically changes soon, they will be an extinct species. Because Dodik does what he says, and everyone else says one thing and does another.

Either Bosniaks in RS, as well as in the rest of the country, will radically change and respond with maximum aggression to every threat to any Bosniak in the smaller entity. Perhaps the latter is the only effective solution, given that all examples and warnings from the past have not yielded results.

Yesterday, Bosniaks were killed for their names and faith, today for their flag, tomorrow they will be finished off because they are a hindrance to the Serbian world. Or Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina will wake up and say enough is enough.

Enough is enough of Nenad Nešić, who reported Bosniaks from Kotor Varoš for flags with lilies, while he himself raises three fingers in the middle of Sarajevo, as a symbol of Serbian Orthodoxy under which Bosnia and Herzegovina was burned and killed.

International peacekeepers must also understand that Bosniaks have had enough of being persecuted on their own land. Because, when Bosniaks rise up and loudly say ENOUGH, it will be unnecessary for them to try to understand.

And Bosniaks are patient, perhaps too much so. However, when patience runs out, there might be a new Nagorno-Karabakh.

The terror of Serbian policy in the entity created on genocide and war crimes has long crossed the limits of tolerance. Patience is running out.