Dr. Cerić: The Past of Bosniaks Contains Many Painful Lessons

On the occasion of the ninetieth anniversary of the massacre of Bosniaks in Šahovići, the president of the World Bosniak Congress (SBK) Dr. Mustafa Cerić issued a press release, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

- We are aware that the past cannot be changed, but we are also aware that those who have not learned lessons from their past make mistakes in the present and have an uncertain future. The past of Bosniaks in the last hundred years contains many painful lessons, of which the lesson about "investigation of the Turks" is the most painful because its last page ends with the genocide in Srebrenica.

The book titled "Istraga poturica" (Investigation of the Turks) was written by Montenegrin and Serbian writers with the intention of teaching their compatriots about the ethnic cleansing of Bosniaks to their final extermination. Everything happened according to the same scenario ten times, as it happened in Šahovići. Jusuf Mehonjić was blamed for the murder of Boško Bošković... because of that, the Bosniaks from Šahovići were massacred and expelled, every single one... the crime scene was named Tomaševo.

Today, in the middle of Bosnia, Goran Maunagradi is doing the same as his ancestors in Šahovići: writing a book titled "Istraga vehabija" (Investigation of Wahhabis) in Cerska near Zvornik and Vlasenica. And why wouldn't he, when he knows that those who accused Jusuf Mehonjić did not have to prove his guilt, just as those who massacred, killed, and expelled so many people from Šahovići were never held accountable... and when he knows that even the accused war criminal Vojislav Šešelj will soon be free - it is stated.

And where are the surviving Bosniaks and what are they doing? They, i.e., the descendants of the victims of the massacre in Šahovići and their friends, will gather today (November 8, 2014) in Bijelo Polje to remember their loved ones and to learn one of the most important lessons for their present and future, which is that the first and most important condition for the salvation and survival of Bosniaks in the Balkans was and remains wise spiritual and brave political leadership. Bosniaks have had good and bad leaders, like all other nations, but in the future, Bosniaks cannot afford bad leaders because they live in an environment that does not allow negligence, ignorance, indecisiveness, corruption, depravity, and irresponsibility.

More than ever before, the Bosniak people need strong and courageous spiritual, national, and political leaders like some from the past. Much more important than a "great nation" are the will and ability of conscientious and responsible leaders to work for the good of their people. When Bosniaks realize this, and they will have to realize it sooner or later, then Šahovići will not happen to them anywhere and never again.

Therefore, I call on Bosniaks wherever they are to recite the fatiha for the martyrs of Šahovići today and to support these demands of the descendants of the genocide victims in every way:

            (1) that the Government of Montenegro recognize the genocide against Bosniaks and apologize to their descendants;

            (2) that the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia and Montenegro clearly and unequivocally distance itself from the genocide and condemn the crime against humanity committed by Montenegrin and Serbian Orthodox Christians;

            (3) that the Government of Montenegro abolish the name Tomaševo and restore the name Šahovići, as a sign of remorse and a promise that genocide against Bosniaks in Sandžak and Montenegro will never happen again;

            (4) that the Government of Montenegro return or financially compensate the heirs of the genocide victims for their stolen or destroyed material property;

            (5) that the Government of Montenegro, in cooperation with the descendants, erect a memorial monument to the victims of the genocide in Šahovići, it is stated at the end of the press release.