Albanians and their assimilation in Sandzak (in Albanian and in English)
Shqiptaret i gjen sot kudo në të gjithë rajonin. Siç janë edhe shqiptarët që jetojnë në zonën e Sanxhakut në Serbi. Për ta, është folur pak ose aspak. Dikur Sanxhaku ka qenë pjesë e vilajetit te Kosovës, që së bashku me vilajetin e Janinës, Manastirit dhe Shkodrës përbënin Shqipërinë e viteve të Lidhjes së Prizrenit në 1878-n. Në 1912, kjo zonë u pushtua përfundimisht nga Serbia dhe Mali i Zi.
Shqiptarët nën dhunën dhe masakrat e vazhdueshme u detyruan të shpërngulën në masë, duke u vendosur në Turqi, por edhe Siri e Jordani. Të tjerët të mbetur tashmë nga shumicë e pakicë, iu nënshtruan një procesi përzierje asimiluese me boshnjaket, me të cilët i bashkonte në këtë zone feja, por jo gjuha sllave që megjithatë mbeti alternativa e vetme në kushtet e presionit dhe mungesës së shkollave shqipe.
E megjithatë, në zonën e ndarë mes Serbisë e Malit të Zi, shqiptaret nuk janë shuar. Ata janë sërish aty, të deklaruar nën detyrim si boshnjakë. Rrugëtimi ynë ndalet në Sanxhakun e Pazarit të Ri apo siç quhet ndryshe, Novi Pazarit, që sot ndodhet brenda kufirit serb, një rrugëtim që na duhet ta ndërmarrim me një makinë me targa Serbie e me një kamera gjysmë-amatore. Shqiptarët kanë zgjedhur të jetojnë në zona të thella për të mos humbur identitetin e tyre.
Të grupuar në disa fshatra, ata e kanë shfrytëzuar këtë mundësi për të mos iu nënshtruar procesit të asimilimit. Fshati Uglla, pjesë e rajonit të Peshterit, është i fshehur pas kthesash të ngatërruara, rreth një orë nga Pazari i Ri. Banorët janë mikëpritës, duket se mezi e kishin pritur një vizitë të tillë. Shqipja, sado arkaike, nuk ka humbur mes këtyre mureve.
“Të parët tanë nuk kanë ditur si të flasin serbisht. Të kishim shkollën do të ishim edhe ne kështu, por ne s’kemi shkollë shqip, vetëm serbisht”, thotë Sali Bajri. Latif Huka, një tjetër banor “boshnjak” i Novi Pazarit, thotë: “Zor është me ruajtur gjuhën, se nuk e kemi shkollën. Nuk na lejnë ata neve. Zor, zor. Kush martohet me boshnjake e nuk di gruaja gjuhën, fëmija nuk mund me e ditë”.
Në familje të tilla të lidhura fort pas traditës, gjuha është kaluar brez pas brezi, deri tek më të vegjlit. Jo gjithkund është njësoj. Tek të rinjtë, siç tregojnë të moshuarit, gjërat kanë nisur të zbehen. “Sa për mua, sa për vllazën, ne jemi shqiptarë”, thotë Abaz Huka. Një tjetër banor i këtij fshati, Arif Mujezinoviç, shprehet: “Këtu shqipen.
Kur mblidhemi ne pleqtë që jemi disa, flasim shqip, se këto të rinjtë kurrkush. Nuk e dinë se kanë shkuar në shkollë serbçe”. Të jesh shqiptar këtu nuk është e thjeshtë. Këtu shqiptarët janë komuniteti që gëzon më pak të drejta, më pak mundësi. Për më tepër, këto të drejta nuk mund t’i kërkojnë ose më mirë nuk kanë ku t’i kërkojnë.
Ne Boroshtice, një fshat tjetër jo larg, banorët tregojnë jo pa drojë mbi presionin shtetëror që bëhet. “Qe tash, edhe shqiptari s’guxon as me hy këtu. Duhet me u lajmëru menjëherë kur hyn këtu. Pse? Çka don? Çfarë pune ke? Çfarë ke?”, tregon një banor. Ketu gjen mjaft mbiemra të njohur, si Shkreli, Dukagjini etj.
Një pjesë janë detyruar t’i ndryshojnë, duke u shtuar prapashtesa sllave, si e vetmja mënyrë për të mos patur probleme me autoritetet. “E si mundet me qenë mirë kur ta merr dikush gjuhën e s’të len me fol shqip. Baba dhe nana më kane vdek , e dua Shqipërinë barabar me nënën dhe me babën”, thotë një shqiptar i Sanxhakut. Në fshatra tjera situata është më e vështirë, sepse asimilimi ka qene thuajse tërësor.
Në Arapoviç na presin mbi 20 burra të fshatit, të gjithë shqiptarë, por askush nuk mundet të flas shqip. Ndaj thërrasin një tjetër më të moshuar. “Nuk kemi shkollë shqip. Po martohen me boshnjake e qashtu, fëmijët pas nonave po e humbim gjuhën”, thotë i moshuari. Ne këto zona, shqiptarët janë detyruar të deklarohen boshnjakë, siç e pranojnë edhe banorët e një tjetër fshati, Bashicës. “Tash na thonë bosanec.
Tash jemi shkru boshnjak”, thonë në Bashicë. Edhe pse shumë kujtojnë mbrojtjen që patriotët Haqif Blyta e Shaban Polluzha bënë nga çetnikët në qytetin e Pazarit të Ri, andej nga viti 1941 shqiptaret janë asimiluar në masë. “E kemi humbur gjuhën. S’kemi patur asnjë mundësi”, shprehet me keqardhje një banor i zonës.
Edhe myftiu i Komunitetit Mysliman në Serbi, i njohur si një mbështetës i fortë fortë i të drejtave të boshnjakeve, pohon se ka rrënjë shqiptare. “Fakt është se edhe nëna ime vjen nga Shkreli, ka prejardhje nga veriu i Shqipërisë, sikur edhe fisi i babës që është diku nga Gucia. Nuk e shmang e nuk e përjashtoj dot që të kem prejardhje shqiptare.
Boshnjakët nuk kanë dashur të asimilojnë askënd dhe nëse kjo ka ndodhur, është bërë prej presionit të tjetërkujt”, thotë Muamer Zukurliç, kryemyftiu i Komunitetit Mysliman. Ka shumë të tjerë në qytet, që druhen të pohojnë apo e kanë humbur identitetin e tyre.
Kështu ka ndodhur edhe në shumë fshatra tjerë të Sanxhakut ku jetojnë sot shqiptarët. Dhjetëra shqiponja fluturojnë mbi këto fshatra. Shqiponja kufitare i quajnë banorët e zonës, sepse dikur këtu ka qene kufiri. /Top Channel/
The history of Albanians is a story divided between different parts of the Balkans. At times familiar, but also unknown, visible, but also invisible.
Albanians are found all over the region today. As are Albanians living in the Sandzak area of Serbia. To them, little or nothing has been said. Sandzak was once part of the vilayet of Kosovo, which together with the vilayets of Ioannina, Bitola and Shkodra constituted the Albania of the Prizren League in 1878. In 1912, this area was eventually occupied by Serbia and Montenegro.
Under constant violence and massacres, Albanians were forced to relocate, settling in Turkey, but also Syria and Jordan. The rest of the minority, already subjected to a process of assimilation with the Bosniaks, with whom religion was united in the area, but not the Slavic language, which remained the only alternative in the face of pressure and lack of Albanian schools.
And yet, in the divided area between Serbia and Montenegro, Albanians have not disappeared. They are again there, forced to declare themselves Bosniaks. Our journey stops at the Sandjak of the New Bazaar, or as it is called, Novi Bazaar, today within the Serbian border, a journey we need to take with a Serbian license plate and semi-amateur camera. Albanians have chosen to live in remote areas in order not to lose their identity.
Grouped in several villages, they have seized this opportunity not to undergo the assimilation process. The village of Uglla, part of the Peshter region, is hidden behind twisted curves, about an hour from New Bazaar. The residents are welcoming, it seems that they had been looking forward to such a visit. Albanian, however archaic, has not strayed between these walls.
“Our ancestors did not know how to speak Serbian. If we had school we would be like that, but we don't have Albanian, only Serbian, ”says Sali Bajri. Latif Huka, another "Bosniak" resident of Novi Pazar, says: "It is difficult to maintain our language because we do not have school. They don't let us. Hard, hard. Whoever marries a Bosnian does not know the woman's language, the child cannot know the day. ”
In such tightly knit families, tradition has passed from generation to generation, even to the youngest. Not everywhere is the same. In the young, as the elderly point out, things are starting to fade. "As for me, as for the brotherhood, we are Albanians," says Abaz Huka. Another resident of this village, Arif Mujezinovic, says: “Here is Albanian.
When we gather as elders who are some, we speak in Albanian, that these young men never. They don't know that they went to Serbian school. ” Being Albanian here is not easy. Here Albanians are the community that enjoys fewer rights, fewer opportunities. Moreover, these rights cannot be claimed or, rather, have nowhere to claim.
In Boroshtice, another village not far away, residents show no fear of state pressure. "From now on, even the Albanian will not come here. You should be notified immediately when you enter here. Why? What do you want? What work do you have? What do you have? ”Says one resident. Here he finds many famous surnames, such as Shkreli, Dukagjini, etc.
Some have been forced to change them, adding Slavic suffixes as the only way to avoid problems with the authorities. “And how can it be good when one gets their own language? My father and mother are dead, I love Albania equally with my mother and my father, "says one Sandzak Albanian. In other villages the situation is more difficult because the assimilation has been almost complete.
In Arapovic we are greeted by over 20 men from the village, all Albanians, but no one can speak Albanian. So they call another older one. “We don't have an Albanian school. They are marrying Bosniaks and so, the children behind the nave are losing their language, ”says the elder. In these areas, Albanians have been forced to declare themselves Bosniaks, as is acknowledged by residents of another village, Bashica. “Now we are called Bosnian.
We have written Bosnian now, ”they say in Bashica. Although many remember the patriots Haqif Blyta and Shaban Polluzha made by the Chetniks in the New Bazaar town, from 1941 Albanians have been massively assimilated. “We lost our language. We had no chance, ”said one resident of the area.
Even the Mufti of Serbia's Muslim community, known as a strong strong supporter of Bosniak rights, claims to have Albanian roots. “The fact is that my mother also comes from Shkreli, she comes from the north of Albania, as well as the father tribe that is somewhere from Gucia. I do not exclude or exclude that I have an Albanian background.
Bosniaks did not want to assimilate anyone and if that happened, it was done by pressure from others, ”said Muamer Zurlic, the head of the Muslim community. There are many others in the city who are afraid to claim or lose their identity.
Albanians are found all over the region today. As are Albanians living in the Sandzak area of Serbia. To them, little or nothing has been said. Sandzak was once part of the vilayet of Kosovo, which together with the vilayets of Ioannina, Bitola and Shkodra constituted the Albania of the Prizren League in 1878. In 1912, this area was eventually occupied by Serbia and Montenegro.
Under constant violence and massacres, Albanians were forced to relocate, settling in Turkey, but also Syria and Jordan. The rest of the minority, already subjected to a process of assimilation with the Bosniaks, with whom religion was united in the area, but not the Slavic language, which remained the only alternative in the face of pressure and lack of Albanian schools.
And yet, in the divided area between Serbia and Montenegro, Albanians have not disappeared. They are again there, forced to declare themselves Bosniaks. Our journey stops at the Sandjak of the New Bazaar, or as it is called, Novi Bazaar, today within the Serbian border, a journey we need to take with a Serbian license plate and semi-amateur camera. Albanians have chosen to live in remote areas in order not to lose their identity.
Grouped in several villages, they have seized this opportunity not to undergo the assimilation process. The village of Uglla, part of the Peshter region, is hidden behind twisted curves, about an hour from New Bazaar. The residents are welcoming, it seems that they had been looking forward to such a visit. Albanian, however archaic, has not strayed between these walls.
“Our ancestors did not know how to speak Serbian. If we had school we would be like that, but we don't have Albanian, only Serbian, ”says Sali Bajri. Latif Huka, another "Bosniak" resident of Novi Pazar, says: "It is difficult to maintain our language because we do not have school. They don't let us. Hard, hard. Whoever marries a Bosnian does not know the woman's language, the child cannot know the day. ”
In such tightly knit families, tradition has passed from generation to generation, even to the youngest. Not everywhere is the same. In the young, as the elderly point out, things are starting to fade. "As for me, as for the brotherhood, we are Albanians," says Abaz Huka. Another resident of this village, Arif Mujezinovic, says: “Here is Albanian.
When we gather as elders who are some, we speak in Albanian, that these young men never. They don't know that they went to Serbian school. ” Being Albanian here is not easy. Here Albanians are the community that enjoys fewer rights, fewer opportunities. Moreover, these rights cannot be claimed or, rather, have nowhere to claim.
In Boroshtice, another village not far away, residents show no fear of state pressure. "From now on, even the Albanian will not come here. You should be notified immediately when you enter here. Why? What do you want? What work do you have? What do you have? ”Says one resident. Here he finds many famous surnames, such as Shkreli, Dukagjini, etc.
Some have been forced to change them, adding Slavic suffixes as the only way to avoid problems with the authorities. “And how can it be good when one gets their own language? My father and mother are dead, I love Albania equally with my mother and my father, "says one Sandzak Albanian. In other villages the situation is more difficult because the assimilation has been almost complete.
In Arapovic we are greeted by over 20 men from the village, all Albanians, but no one can speak Albanian. So they call another older one. “We don't have an Albanian school. They are marrying Bosniaks and so, the children behind the nave are losing their language, ”says the elder. In these areas, Albanians have been forced to declare themselves Bosniaks, as is acknowledged by residents of another village, Bashica. “Now we are called Bosnian.
We have written Bosnian now, ”they say in Bashica. Although many remember the patriots Haqif Blyta and Shaban Polluzha made by the Chetniks in the New Bazaar town, from 1941 Albanians have been massively assimilated. “We lost our language. We had no chance, ”said one resident of the area.
Even the Mufti of Serbia's Muslim community, known as a strong strong supporter of Bosniak rights, claims to have Albanian roots. “The fact is that my mother also comes from Shkreli, she comes from the north of Albania, as well as the father tribe that is somewhere from Gucia. I do not exclude or exclude that I have an Albanian background.
Bosniaks did not want to assimilate anyone and if that happened, it was done by pressure from others, ”said Muamer Zurlic, the head of the Muslim community. There are many others in the city who are afraid to claim or lose their identity.
