In the Name of the Father

No one will ever be able to assess the political, ethical, moral, and every other imaginable damage that the "Asimagate" (male) affair has caused to Bosniaks and Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of it may be visible in the October elections this year, and another part in October 2022. But even that is not a reliable indicator. On the one hand, if elections could change anything, they would never have allowed us to vote, and on the other hand... well, for God's sake, is there anyone left who thinks that any election so far has been a regular and credible expression of the people's will?

The political damage – however and to whatever extent it is represented and remedied – is immeasurable and incalculable: Bosniak political representatives within their national corpus, if they had any seriousness before, will never again enjoy any seriousness, let alone credibility and relevance. There is no longer any "Dodik" or "Čović" who, with their destructive actions, can sufficiently seriously obscure the shame inflicted on the alleged Bosnian-Herzegovinian policy of the largest and most numerous party among Bosniaks, nor any vital national interest that will be taken seriously, there is no Bosniak politician who will not be subjected to ridicule, there is no move or event, not even a virus – except war(!) – that will overshadow the embarrassment, belittlement, and insult inflicted on any decent person, whether Bosniak or anything else.

The ethical damage will be assessed – if it is assessed at all – by the Islamic Community. No matter how much the meaningless, unnecessarily "greeting" bothered and grated on the ears, this invocation of God, the Almighty, in any – as it has now turned out, even openly criminal act – has undoubtedly put not a stone, but a club in the hands of all those who have ever opposed any, let alone such an arrogant, rude, and primitive religiosity. And it will not be a wonder at all if they all unite against it and, in doing so, do not exaggerate even in verbal condemnation nor be guilty of any political or any other move. Alibi for any kind of action has been given precisely by the arrogant, rude, and primitive behavior of those who
acted and spoke either in the name of religion or with religious officials behind them. And the moral damage is, only proportionally, comparable only to that which a semi-anonymous national representative in the Sarajevo cantonal assembly inflicted on all veiled women with her chauvinistic posts on social networks.

Only veiled women and their closest relatives certainly know that. To be fair, the Bosniak political elite did not particularly try to avoid or prevent the damage, especially in the last five to seven years. There are more causes and reasons for such a development and culmination of events than any journalistic text can bear. The at best unclear ideological, unconvincing state-building, questionable kinship-based personnel, suspicious economic-privatization, empty egoistic-leadership... policy, it was futile to say: force does not ask God, and God does not love force!

Innumerable questions arise; two are worth highlighting. The first is: Was it really worth it, not to mention was it profitable? A few people got rich, a few more fulfilled their dream of not living "on earth" and "from the earth," many more bought cars and other things... Many who never cared about anything now care about "state affairs," but even that didn't help... emancipation ended with learning to tie a tie; everything else remained at the level of kicking people out of the agricultural cooperative. Unfortunately, even that did not make them wiser, let alone emancipated. 

The second question is: What would the late Alija say to all this? 

"If there is no God, everything is permitted." ("My Escape to Freedom", 1999.) "I value a good Christian more than a bad Muslim. I cannot defend something just because it is Muslim (and not Islamic) nor ignore some good just because it is someone else's." ("My Escape to Freedom", 1999.) "... what is coming are extreme inequalities – you will have rich people, war profiteers who will, to use that term that is completely justified here, exploit the ordinary people who will not have jobs. And then, of course, the inevitable questions of justice and injustice. So, you who will have to lead this nation in peace, prepare yourselves well for it! May God help us." (SDA Convention in Sarajevo, March 25, 1994, published in the book 'The Miracle of Bosnian Resistance', Selected Speeches, Interviews, Statements (December 1993 – December 1994)" "No one can hold two or more positions that, by their description or nature, require full-time engagement (full-time job and permanent employment).

This has sometimes been the case. The only exception can be university professors for a limited number of hours. No one can receive full salaries for two positions, which has also been the case. A person who has (or whose immediate family member has) a private company cannot hold any important state position. Let them deal with the company. Individuals should not be allowed to be on the boards of multiple companies or institutions. Also, it would be useful to involve pensioners in supervisory boards, experts from relevant fields who have the time and experience to help executive bodies in studying some... The behavior of directors of some companies regarding the employment of veterans should be reviewed. Those who did not employ veterans, and could have, cannot remain in their positions.

Propose veterans (fighting men who have their views and defend them), not clerks, for positions." (Address to SDA committees and personnel commissions, October 20, 1998, from Sarajevo) "Push these people out of the party. And, when it comes to opening the party (opening SDA to new members), do not leave so many doors open that even the dishonest do not sneak in. I think we did not have criteria in that regard, and they rightly scold us, criticize us, try to gain political points, and say that this and that person is in SDA." (January 12, 1994.)

"I listened to her because I knew she was right. Few people can defend their soul when they enter politics. Power intoxicates them, and even their closest relatives cannot recognize them." (according to Sead Omeragić's column, late 2015, for NAP, Alija Izetbegović told him this sentence back in 1992, commenting on the displeasure of an elderly Bosniak woman who did not want her son to be a minister) This is how Alija spoke. In other words, fortunately or unfortunately, he has already said it. And it is written down, but people don't like to read. As far as I understand politics, paths, and Bosnia and Herzegovina... that is, as far as I am concerned, in these few short quotes lies "Alija's path." All the questions we may or may not ask could fit into just one: How many Alija Izetbegovićs are there in Bosniak and Bosnian politics in 2020?

Far be it from me to say that Bosniaks do not need their party... of course they do. Far be it from me to say that Bosniaks do not need national institutions... of course they do. Far be it from me to say that Bosniak Muslims do not need a central religious institution... of course they do. But, none of the mentioned instances in this form, in this function, in this capacity, and in the way they are! Why? Because all these institutions and organizations believe that the people exist only to secure positions, functions, and influence, i.e., power and might for them, and not that they exist to lead the people towards affirmation, progress, and betterment. I don't even know how many times I have written: equating a party, a community, any organization with the people is destructive to the point of bordering on collective suicide.

The fate of any organization – and especially a political one – is mostly one-time, temporary, short-lived, and uncertain... a party can be created and disappear, be disbanded or transformed, be in power or move to opposition... and the fate of a nation should not be subject to such fluctuations. 

And under no circumstances should it be left to the will of one man.