{"id":224520,"date":"2019-04-26T12:43:36","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T10:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/2019\/when-ahmici-and-trusina-meet\/"},"modified":"2019-12-03T12:29:08","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T11:29:08","slug":"when-ahmici-and-trusina-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/when-ahmici-and-trusina-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"When Ahmi\u0107i and Trusina Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

I first heard about Ahmi\u0107i from the <\/span>Ahmi\u0107es<\/span><\/i> themselves, Kenan and others who came to my primary school some 15 kilometres or so away from Ahmi\u0107i, after they were expelled from their village. Three years of getting to know them cannot be filed under <\/span>refugees<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>returnees<\/span><\/i>, but these are the words that frame my memory of the <\/span>Ahmi\u0107es<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahmi\u0107i were the first place outside the world of my boyhood that I knew about without ever having been there, not even in passing. Ahmi\u0107i were the first place I <\/span>adopted<\/span><\/i>, like I would later, through other dear people, come to adopt Vlasenica, Mala Brijesnica in Doboj and Seattle, before ever having set foot in them.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is people who connect you to other places. But then, there are also examples where places, villages, towns become connected through events without the people ever having met. The Bosnian-Herzegovinian <\/span>calendar of pain<\/span><\/i> has thus forever linked Ahmi\u0107i and Trusina, Bosnia with Herzegovina, crime with crime, memory with memory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The untrodden paths of memory<\/b><\/h2>\n

Ahmi\u0107i and Trusina had nothing to connect them before 16 April 1993: \u00a0One is a village in Bosnia, the other in Herzegovina, one is situated in a valley, the other in the hills at the foot of Mount Igman, and it would be safe to assume that the people of Trusina had never heard of Ahmi\u0107i, just as the people of Ahmi\u0107i had never heard of Trusina. On that fateful day of 16 April 1993, members of the Army of BiH committed an atrocity against the (Croat) villagers of Trusina, while members of HVO committed an atrocity against the (Bosniak) villagers of Ahmi\u0107i, thereby connecting these two places with an enduring pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The presence of our mixed group of war veterans from the region at the commemoration in Ahmi\u0107i on 15 and 16 April 2019 completed a year-long <\/span>journey<\/span><\/i> along the untrodden paths of memory.<\/span> Trusina \u2013 16 April 2018<\/span><\/a> Ahmi\u0107i \u2013 16 April 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

A group of some 30 war veterans from the region, former members of the Army of RBiH, HVO, HV, VRS and VJ came to Ahmi\u0107i on 15 April to visit the monument to the killed villagers of Ahmi\u0107i, they met with representatives of the victims\u2019 association, talked with them and visited the memorial room with photographs testifying to that painful day in April 1993. Since the commemoration is attended by some 2000 people, we knew that arriving a day in advance would give us a better chance of having these meetings. We were welcomed to Ahmi\u0107i by representatives of the Organising Committee for the Commemoration on 16 April, Mahir ef. Husi\u0107 and Ned\u017ead Abdi\u0107.<\/span><\/p>\n

They briefly explained what happened in Ahmi\u0107i on 16 April 1993, but also told us about the return to Ahmi\u0107i that started in 1998 with the reconstruction of the first houses and the local mosque, the monument that was erected in memory of the 116 villagers of Ahmi\u0107i killed in 1993.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 16 April, the day of the commemoration, we joined the \u201cTruth and Memory\u201d march that started from Stari Vitez where the victims from Ahmi\u0107i are buried. Veterans laid flowers at the \u201cCisterna\u201d monument and joined the official part of the commemoration by the Donja Mosque in Ahmi\u0107i.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a long hard look inside yourself<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, this is not a lone example, but it is one of the darkest in terms of the victims, and the manner of execution, and when you look at who the victims were \u2013 the elderly, women and children. There can be no justification \u2013 not military or tactical,\u201d said Sa\u0161a Premec, a veteran of HV. He added that on all sides, we must \u201ctake a long hard look inside ourselves and convey our experiences and thoughts to future generations \u2013 our children and grandchildren… and hope that they will have more wisdom than us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Edin Ramuli\u0107, a veteran of the Army of BiH, believes that each side tries to close off even commemorations into its own space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is usually just one religious community involved, it is usually closed off, like here (in Stari Vitez and Ahmi\u0107i) in the yard of a mosque, a memorial, a cemetery. It becomes closed to <\/span>the others<\/span><\/i>. Last year, we were in Trusina on this same day. Because of this tragedy where the two sides committed crimes on the same day. I\u2019m glad we came to Ahmi\u0107i this year \u2013 because of equal treatment of all victims,\u201d Ramuli\u0107 pointed out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The visit by a mixed group of war veterans is an indication that we can and should remember <\/span>other<\/span><\/i> victims, those who are not of our own people, that we should show them the same compassion and respect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to say that there is another way, that we should show compassion and respect not just for victims from among our own people, but for those of others too. That way, we can lay some foundations for peace and coexistence in this region, which is our ultimate goal \u2013 to make sure our children never have to go through what we went through,\u201d said Kre\u0161imir Ivan\u010di\u0107, a veteran of HV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe should honour all victims, meet with people who have lost their loved ones and try to find solutions among the people,\u201d added Ivo An\u0111elovi\u0107, a veteran of HVO.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the commemoration in Ahmi\u0107i, along with the one honouring the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, is the most important commemoration within the Bosniak narrative. This was not always so. For a long time, the commemoration in Ahmi\u0107i was very <\/span>conservative<\/span><\/i>, meaning that it was <\/span>closed<\/span><\/i> to most <\/span>outsiders<\/span><\/i>, including CNA and the war veterans who had wanted to come to Ahmi\u0107i already a few years ago. Its development from a very local commemoration changed over the past few years, probably for two key reasons. One has to do with the needs of the local Bosniak community to be more <\/span>visible<\/span><\/i> in the town of Vitez where the Bosniaks account for almost half the population, but where the community is in a way marginalised, as shown by the fact that the Mayor would not allow the commemorative assembly to be held at the Vitez Municipality building and it had to be moved to a place of worship. The other reason could have something to do with the general political situation in the Federation of BiH and the evident conflict between Bosniak and Croat politicians regarding the manner of electing members to the BiH Presidency, changes to the Constitution and a redefining of relations in this entity. In political conflicts, the past is unfortunately still a significant resource.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who\/what are commemorations for?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Attending commemorations always takes us back to some basic questions: why are we here, why do we commemorate victims, why do we remember a painful past? It may sound harsh, but it is important to ask the question: who\/what are commemorations for?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, responding to similar questions, said that the primary role of <\/span>history<\/span><\/i> was to free us from the <\/span>past<\/span><\/i>. This liberation happens when from a distance in time and with the privilege of <\/span>retrospection<\/span><\/i> that those directly involved in the events did not have, we look at <\/span>past<\/span><\/i> events and try to understand that they were not inevitable, but happened as a result of decisions made by people, through their choices and the circumstances at the time. Such an understanding of the <\/span>past<\/span><\/i> should lead to <\/span>responsibility<\/span><\/i> for the present and future, an awareness that each choice we make, each decision, action and inaction has <\/span>consequences<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

One day, I am certain of it, Trusina and Ahmi\u0107i will <\/span>meet<\/span><\/i>, the mountain will come down into the valley and the valley will climb up into the mountains, and all that without looking to who started first, whether those <\/span>climbing<\/span><\/i> the mountain or those <\/span>coming down<\/span><\/i> into the valley, the two worlds will meet, embrace and cry on each other\u2019s shoulders. The prospect of such a meeting is what brings us to both Ahmi\u0107i and Trusina, to show that there is another way, a path that is not easy but that leads to liberation. A liberation from pain, from hatred, from fear. Many things point to the need for a different kind of remembering, one being the extraordinary<\/span> media interest<\/span><\/a> in the presence of veterans in Ahmi\u0107i.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahmi\u0107i and Trusina were <\/span>not inevitable<\/span><\/i>. But remembering Trusina and Ahimi\u0107i <\/span>is indispensable<\/span><\/i> if we are to take on the responsibility of making sure such violence never happens again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The photo gallery can be viewed<\/span> HERE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The presence of our mixed group of war veterans from the region at the commemoration in Ahmi\u0107i on 15 and 16 April 2019 completed a year-long journey along the untrodden paths of memory. Trusina \u2013 16 April 2018 Ahmi\u0107i \u2013 16 April 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":224253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,72],"tags":[2448,1838,183,2447,1904],"class_list":["post-224520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-excomb","tag-ahmici-en","tag-commemoration-en","tag-enemies","tag-trusina-en","tag-war-veterans-in-peacebuilding"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224520"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226487,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224520\/revisions\/226487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}