How the Bosniak Party Stumbled After Srebrenica Over the Šahovići Case

By: Nevena Kovačević

The Reis of the Islamic Community in Montenegro, Rifat Fejzić, and historian Šerbo Rastoder are the authors of the resolution text condemning the mass and unprecedentedly brutal crime committed in the Kingdom of SHS in 1924, in the place called Šahovići, today Tomaševo.

This bloodthirsty crime was committed by the forces of the occupying Karađorđević dynasty, which illegally and illegitimately ruled Montenegro at the time. Although the alleged motive for the treacherous terror against Montenegrin Muslims was the murder of the head of the Kolašin district, Boško Bošković, it appears to have been a systematically and thoroughly planned crime, aimed at the persecution or disappearance of the Muslim population.

The murder of Boško Bošković was merely an excuse to carry out a supposedly retaliatory act, but in essence, a bloodbath of innocent civilians. A false motive, a fabricated and sacrificed culprit, hidden criminal intentions.

Estimates vary, ranging from 100 to several hundred, even over a thousand victims. Exact figures have never been established by historical data. Perhaps the answer to why the exact numbers remain unknown even today lies precisely in the loud silence that long hovered over the crime in Šahovići. And it still hovers today.

Recent events in the Parliament of Montenegro have shown us this. Although the Bosniak Party had triumphantly announced months before the anniversary of the crime in Šahovići that they would pay tribute to the victims by adopting a parliamentary resolution. However, this did not happen. Moreover, the draft resolution was not even included in the agenda, let alone voted on.

And it is important that we mention this precisely today, on the day when Montenegro, at the intergovernmental conference, will not close Chapter 31, related to foreign, security, and defense policy, due to Croatia's blockade. The occasion is the unanimously adopted resolution on Jasenovac, supported by all government MPs, except for one from the Europe Now movement. Admittedly, the BS was not part of the reconstructed majority at the time.

And while Montenegrin citizens suffer the consequences of the subservient actions of the pro-Vučić government and while destructive Greater Serbian resolutions are insidiously imposed on Montenegro, there is no time to confront its own past. The Montenegrin parliament is a flow-through boiler for Vučić's fantasies.

Hindering the European path was the first item on the wish list presented to the obstructionist Andrija Mandić, and as we can see, the leader can be more than satisfied with Andrija's performance.

Let's return to Šahovići. The proposal to include the resolution in the agenda was supported by the Democratic Party of Socialists and Dritan Abazović's URA. BS's coalition partners were either against it or abstained. And that is all one needs to know about the current government's attitude towards Montenegrin Bosniaks and the once principled Bosniak Party, which agreed to become a desirable mimetic screen for the finalization of the project of ethno-federalization of Montenegro in exchange for ministerial seats.

Just as the motive for the Greater Serbian aggression against Montenegrin Muslims was a perfidiously crafted lie, the kind that only creators of Greater Serbian policy can devise, so the Bosniak Party falsely swore that it would do everything to have the Parliament condemn the genocide in Šahovići. And it would be natural for this issue to be a matter of coalition consensus.

Unless you decide to make compromises with neo-Chetniks who not only will not condemn the crime in Šahovići but will glorify its perpetrators. Just as they glorify Pavle Đurišić, Draža, Mladić, and Karadžić. The Bosniak Party has voluntarily renounced the foundations on which it was built, contrary to the interests of its own people, as well as civic Montenegro – an idea to which the honorable Rafet Husović was dedicated until his last day.

Ibrahimović is completely different. He recently said that he would not stumble over Srebrenica, then he skipped Srebrenica and quickly entered the Chetnik circle, from which it is not easy to escape.

Ervin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said about two months ago that Montenegro, in 1918, learned the value of freedom and democracy in a harder way. The violent annexation, the seizure of Montenegrin statehood, years of persecution, poverty, displacement, and bloody terror against the non-Serb population, those who remained loyal to their homeland until the last drop of blood, are democratic values for Ibrahimović.

Between these lines, we can also read the relativization of the crime in Šahovići, committed during the reign of terror of the violent Karađorđević regime. An oversight happens, but an apology can also happen. On the contrary, the BS did not even characterize this statement as thoughtless, but instead bombarded the public with accusations of a media hunt against Bosniaks, similar to that of the nineties.

Furthermore, after the resolution on Šahovići was not included in the agenda, there was not even a PR statement expressing disappointment.

The Bosniak Party will not leave the Government, just as it did not leave after the performative exit from the Government session where the erection of a monument to Amfilohije Radović was voted on – the one who, with God's love, re-established the clerical-Chetnik government that is destroying the civic, secular, anti-fascist, and institutional fabric of the state of Montenegro. The Bosniak Party is an illustrative example of unprincipled opportunists, steeped in the desire for as many positions as possible.

Perhaps the best indicator of the attitude towards Šahovići is Minister Ibrahimović's (non)reaction after the President of Serbia, on the eve of the centenary of the Šahovići massacre, told the Greater Serbian version of the criminal myth. Namely, speaking about the case of the double murderer Alija Balijagić, Vučić stated that Vraneška dolina is a specific area where a hundred-year conflict between Orthodox Christians and Muslims is ongoing, because some komitas there killed Boško Bošković, for which a Muslim was accused, and this mutual conflict has not been clarified to this day. Just as he shamelessly lies about Srebrenica every year, he deliberately lied about Šahovići.

Because – as the father of the Serbian nation, Dobrica Ćosić, says, a lie is a form of Serbian patriotism. However, the veil of silence cannot obscure the truth, which is clear, only historically more difficult to prove. The crime in Šahovići was committed by the Greater Serbian regime, in the name and on behalf of an identical policy that would lead to a series of crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the siege of Sarajevo to the genocide in Srebrenica.

Ervin Ibrahimović did not even consider, in accordance with his powers, responding to Vučić and preventing the targeted destabilization, which we later witnessed at a protest through the intervention of a local activist, fueled by inflammatory rhetoric. The calls from NGOs and intellectuals to Ervin were in vain.

They agreed to be Vučić's decor and Mandić's figure. While they are washing others' biographies, they are staining their own with black marks that do not erase.

The Bosniak Party did not leave the Government after the erection of a monument to Risto was voted on, that witness of God's love and peacemaker who called Muslims false people, of false faith, who sow spiritual death, and Montenegrins bastards.

Did the BS really expect that the deniers of genocide would speak about Šahovići. This was an unsuccessful bait to attract voters, to the shame of those who, like their coalition partners, are killing the victims again, instrumentalizing them for political purposes.

The wall of silence about Šahovići must be broken sooner or later. No lie lasts forever, and every truth surfaces with time. Vraneška dolina was an example of coexistence. The local population knows this well. After liberation, the multi-ethnic harmony disrupted by the Greater Serbian occupation was restored. The promoters of the Serbian world are hurt by the unity of Montenegrins and Bosniaks. That is why participation in a pro-Chetnik government is a shameful betrayal of the principles on which that unity rested, but despite Ervin, as Mandić's dove of peace, the common struggle of the two peoples will endure.

The fact that they allowed the Šahovići case to be suppressed by Greater Serbia again is a shame for the Bosniak Party, because they are well aware of the background of this cover-up. Unfortunately, those who were subjected to horrific torture will never be able to speak, but their cry and painful call will at least lead us to the truth. It is unfortunately too late for justice, but perhaps not for accountability for those who, in this time, concealed knowledge of the massacre, persecution, and displacement of Montenegrin Muslims. There are those of us who hope that this crime, covered in deep darkness, will still be illuminated.

Finally, a question for the Bosniak Party – why didn't you ask Andrija – what is the difference between Piva and Velika on one side, and Šahovići on the other. We know what he would answer – and you know it too, gentlemen – the Parliament is overloaded with resolutions. You clearly swallowed that answer and agreed to stumble over Šahovići after Srebrenica, agreeing to a conspiracy of silence.

If there is even a shred of shame, then be ashamed, not only in the name of Bosniaks but also of Montenegrins and the rest of the non-Serb population over whom the Karađorđević regime mercilessly inflicted suffering. You sell honor for petty points, but the shame remains eternal.