EASTER IS AGAIN IN APRIL If EUFOR does not arrest Dodik after the document on the sovereignty of Republika Srpska, Bosniak politics must move towards the Republic

By Rasim Belko

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Easter is again in April. Besides being the happiest day for Muslims, every Easter is also a DAY OF REMINDER for Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks). Because Bosniaks must never forget Kurban-Bajram in April 1992. On that Easter, the shedding of Bosniak blood began in order to cleanse this nation of Islamic faith from these areas according to the fascist dictate of the creators of the Serb-Croat aggressor. Since that day, Easters have been empty in many Muslim homes. Some homes are gone. Some families are gone. In the onslaught of fascism under the banner of hegemonism, Bosniaks were killed indiscriminately on every inch of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in an organized and planned manner. And no matter how much Bosniaks wish to follow the Guidance and be guided by forgiveness, I think no Bosniak should welcome Easter morning without first having inspected every corner of their home and ensured there is no threat. 

Dodik is the political successor of Karadžić

And no matter how much others or we ourselves convince ourselves that we are now free and at peace, we must not forget that they also believed the same on Easter 1992. That is why every Bosniak today must sleep, celebrate, and live always vigilant. 

The necessity of this is shown by the meeting announced for today in Banja Luka, where former and current executors of the Greater Serbian project will gather around the same idea - the Serbian world. That is, around what they once called Greater Serbia, for which the creators of their policies and the RS entity committed internationally adjudicated ethnic cleansing, rape, genocide, urbicide, and culturicide. 

Milorad Dodik, the political successor of Radovan Karadžić, will offer Serbian politicians the independence of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina today in the city on the Vrbas river. 

“I will offer a document that will aim to unite around the necessary degree of RS independence within BiH. That is the form we had with the Dayton Agreement. My proposal will be to reject all acts that have been passed and are not foreseen by the Constitution,” Dodik stated.

And of course, he is lying, because no RS independence exists in Dayton. It did not exist before, nor after it. That independence exists only in the plans of SANU, i.e., Belgrade, and the policies created in those plans, for which Dodik is currently the contractor. 

Necessary Vigilance

The continuity of statehood, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina is guaranteed by Dayton, and it inherently excludes any form of entity independence as sub-state arrangements like entities and cantons. 

Dodik knows that what he will offer today, on Easter, is not a solution, but he is aware that if what he offers becomes a reality, which he will gradually accustom the pro-Bosnian and international policy to, the time may soon come when he will declare de facto independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Therefore, Bosniaks, especially their political leaders, must not be intoxicated by the joy of Easter today. Nor should any Bosniak be lulled by the infiltrated suicidal phrase “let it not break”. But it is breaking, at the seams, on every corner. 

It is not breaking only for those who sit cocooned in the heart of what Bosniaks, part of Serbs and Croats, all Bosnians and Herzegovinians defended in the nineties. Because, only in, for example, the heart of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is there a belief in the possibility of an agreement with Milorad Dodik. Only those who do not know this country believe that Dodik can be someone who changes for the better, for the benefit of all. And they are far from the truth, and Dodik will deny them all today. 

Those who have known his policy since the nineties, then Karadžić's, and now Dodik's, must be prepared. No RS independence, internal sovereignty, or secession is an option. THERE IS NO NEGOTIATION on that. 

Therefore, the actors of Bosnian/Bosniak politics must be prepared for a swift and lightning-fast response. That response requires that after Easter morning, they embark on a political offensive, not towards Dodik, but towards the representatives of the international community. Dodik's document is a prelude to the division of the country, therefore a prelude to war, and if the international community truly wants to preserve peace in Bosnia and the Balkans, then their EUFOR forces must be ready to arrest Milorad Dodik immediately after the publication of his document. 

If, however, the international community does not do so, and we have witnessed their passivity for years, pro-Bosnian/Bosniak politics must be ready, as early as tomorrow, on the Day of Martyrs (those who defended this country), to rally around the idea of abolishing Dayton and returning to the Constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Arrest of Dodik or return to the Republic of BiH

Dodik has delved deep into his secessionism. He neither wants nor can go back, and therefore he has decided to move along the path of shifting borders, in the hope that everyone will get used to it and accept the reality over time. Some have, and that is the danger. Therefore, from Bihać to Goražde, and especially in Sarajevo, PATRIOTIC political forces must gather and send a clear message that the forces that love Bosnia and Herzegovina more than anything are ready to stand on the line of defense. 

Finally, instead of a conclusion, I will share the message from Professor Išerić's text again: “The guardians of Bosnia will defend it with their lives, if necessary. And they will defend it. But if such a scenario, God forbid, occurs, there will no longer be any Daytons imposing solutions contrary to international law and democratic standards, and which will prevent the functioning of the state and its institutions.” 

And I will add, if Dodik dares, and the international community falters in its indecisiveness, Bosnian/Bosniak forces must be courageous and ready to return Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Constitution of the Republic, because it is clearly a prerequisite for this country to move forward. 

May you have a blessed Easter, but we must not celebrate too much, so as not to mourn, like Easter '92.