Fehmi Ajvazi, an eminent author from Kosovo, has shared his book ‘In the Kingdom of Death’ published in Albanian in 2012 in Pristina, and in Romanian in 2019, and was translated from Albanian to English. Sindh Courier is starting its episodes for the readers
[In March 1999, the Serbian regime blanketed Kosovo with a contingent of 120,000 regular police, military, and civilian paramilitary forces. Just about two weeks before NATO’s intervention in Kosovo began, the region was surrounded on all sides, while pockets of the interior (villages and towns) were hit with arrests, liquidations, and massacres. Kosovo became a reservation. A kingdom called the “Kingdom of Death” established authority everywhere! However, some areas were controlled by insurgent liberation forces, and in some places, Serbian forces couldn’t penetrate. Well, the hatred between Serbs and Albanians was the same, but the bullets were the same too: they brought death to everyone, and it was no problem for the “bullet” whether the target was Albanian or Serbian. I mean, the forces of the Kosovo Liberation Army held some territory and kept it free! But about ten days before NATO planes launched their attack in their battle for Kosovo, Albanian insurgents managed to have the world’s most powerful force as their ally: the NATO alliance. However, no one had managed to master a pact with death. Just a few days before March 24th, the “Lady of Death” was the ruler of Kosovo, in reality, she was the ruler of the Albanian citizens of this extremely small territory! And for the third time in history, the state of Serbia wanted nothing more and nothing less than: the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo. Over 1 million residents before March 24, 1999, challenged “this kingdom” by saying, “Here we are, your power is not the power of God!” I had decided to stay, not to leave. I was a journalist, but also a creator. And so, I had no idea what dilemmas lay in this direction, despite the open threats from the Serbs, and I knew well that they would try to wash their hands of us like Pontius Pilate! Regardless of every situation and circumstance, I sacrificed to be a witness to a time and a history without parallel! Yes, a witness…! And everything I have said and written about literary-historical conditions is in this book – a testimony. Therefore, this book is a source and my personal experience of a time I pray will never be repeated – anywhere. Just as I pray for the souls of those who did not come out alive in this “kingdom of death” in the third millennium! Read the truth about Kosovo… Author]
NATO began to prepare for war. On the other hand, so did Serbia. Before NATO’s bombardment began, for the people who had not abandoned Kosovo, there were two to three distressing weeks. Violence escalated everywhere, while Belgrade reinforced its military and police forces in Kosovo. Various threats, increased repressive measures, massacres against the civilian population created an unbearable, absurd situation. The fighting between the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) and Serbian forces multiplied. Serbian terror spread increasingly in the streets, markets, various localities, neighborhoods, villages, and towns. On the other hand, even the few neighborly relationships that were still alive between Albanians and Serbs ceased completely. Contacts became extremely rare, greetings between Albanian and Serbian civilians, trade relations, and business dealings, etc. The situation dramatically deteriorated. The war or its shadow began to approach areas where there had previously been no fighting (villages and towns). The mobilization of civilians and various paramilitary groups, the gathering and stationing of police and military forces in Kosovo, removed any doubt even for the most hopeful optimists (both locals and internationals) that Serbia would be able to reflect and secure any political solution to the Kosovo problem at the negotiating table.
The beginning of March came starkly: either massive war between Albanians and Serbs, or NATO bombings. There was no “middle ground” left, no “reference point” from which one could hope for things to go differently. Kosovo entered the month of March (1999) with all the miseries and fears of the world. March is a symbolic month in mythology. In ancient times, March was known as the “God of War” (Ares). We, too, began to understand this month in that way: as the “God of War”! Amidst the war, terror, and the chaos that seemed to engulf Kosovo beyond recognition, people anticipated all possible evils, increasingly convinced that something “big” and difficult would happen precisely in this month. It was only a matter of what would happen specifically, on which day, how it would happen, how long it would last, what the consequences would be, and so on. There was nowhere worse to go! In this vicious cycle of questions and dilemmas that plagued people’s minds, collective fear was inexplicable. We, who in one way or another had decided not to leave, found everything difficult: thinking and existing. We, who were in Kosovo, in this wild and bloodstained end of winter, above all, saw nothing else but darkness and the chaos of war and blood. The truth is, we posed endless questions and sub-questions about the situation in silence, that is, in our heads. But this was the terrifying monologue created by the “questions and sub-questions,” in other words, it was our psychological inner debate, composed of thematic substance and the gruesome images of blood.
The Serbian state and non-state machinery employed all the skills, methods, means of violence, and terror against the Albanians. Thousands of people have been terrorized, taken in for interrogations, imprisoned, forced to leave Kosovo; hundreds of thousands of others have been liquidated and killed, etc.
Only the dead could be far from what was happening and what was expected to happen. Above all, an inscrutable drama loomed before us. And we were living in a divided way: between reality and unreality. In the midst of reality and unreality, there was a question that sounded as if from another world: would Belgrade be bombed? The question of bombings came into focus as soon as the Rambouillet negotiations concluded (or failed, as they did). In silence and openly, we all said: let it be bombed! This would be the historic news: the order for bombing. It would also be the long-awaited news, the exhilarating news, the festive news, the historic news, the divine news.
The intervention or the presence of a military force in Kosovo had been loudly demanded thousands of times during our protests and demonstrations for several years. However, “beyond the intervention or intervention,” in the middle of March (when the possibility of military intervention seemed one hundred percent likely), a vital question was occupying people’s minds, a question that no one wanted to answer: what would happen within the territory of Kosovo once the bombings began?
Oh, it was a question, a half-question, composed of millions of sub-questions, and those sub-questions were made up of millions of micro-questions: what would really happen? Although it was a normal and necessary question to ask, its essence was terrifying. Undoubtedly, amidst the burning desire for the bombings to start as soon as possible, the fear of what would happen to the people and their fate was great, not to mention terrifying and inexplicable. We all knew that the Serbs would show no mercy. We historically know the Serbs, and there’s no need for comment on everything they’ve done in Kosovo over these twenty years. There is no doubt that they will seek revenge in their own way. We were aware of and are aware of the Serbian “ways” of hatred, revenge, and crime.
Above all, for several years, the Albanian people of Kosovo had been praying for Serbia to be bombed by NATO forces. Why not be bombed because there was nowhere worse to go. And whatever happens next, happens! I, too, prayed incessantly. It had been enough with everything: with imprisonments, killings, looting, deportations, poisoning, liquidations, ignoring, differentiation, discrimination, etc. It had been enough, even with peaceful challenges of the movement in Kosovo, led by Dr. Ibrahim Rugova. In fact, it had been enough with waiting, disappointment, migration, Serbianization, etc. It had been enough with everything. I myself was a fourth-year high school student in 1981 when our well-known revolt in Kosovo erupted, related to the discriminatory social and political situation, and when the demand for the political status advancement of Kosovo was also made. Since March 11 of that distant year, Serbian brutality never stopped. Serbian brutality has spread everywhere and has spread in such a way that the people could not endure it indefinitely.
Read: Tale of a Heart Shaped like a Stone – A Bouquet of Poems from Kosovo
The Serbian state and non-state machinery have employed all the skills, methods, means of violence, and terror against the Albanians. Thousands of people have been terrorized, taken in for interrogations, imprisoned, forced to leave Kosovo; hundreds of thousands of others have been liquidated and killed, etc. I, like thousands of others, fervently prayed day by day (like in Sunday Mass or Friday prayer) for NATO to one day strike Serbia. To strike it powerfully. And, let it be as it may, afterward! I prayed earnestly. In silence and openly. I always wanted to experience a kind of decisive moment, that “hour” of NATO’s strike or, the hour of damnation, coming as if from heaven, for Belgrade. But this act, meaning intervention, was not easy: neither politically nor militarily. The West had internal and external challenges ahead. Several times, attempts were made to somehow solve the Kosovo problem through political means, but it was not possible. A staunch opponent of NATO intervention in Serbia was Russia. Several European countries such as Spain, Greece, and Romania were not in favor of intervention either. China did not approve of such a thing, just like dozens of Asian, Arab, African, etc., countries, which, even though no one asked them about it, did not want Serbia to be bombed. Among this crossroads was also the Rambouillet Conference.
The Serbian side remained entrenched in its positions, without a stance. Belgrade did not sign the agreement. The conference also had historically tense actors who disagreed on almost everything: the Western bloc, led by the United States, which advocated for military intervention if Serbia did not sign the agreement, and the Eastern bloc, led by Russia, which opposed military intervention even if Serbia did not sign the agreement. The Albanians, with minimal internal disputes (mostly political), were ready to proceed. Amid international contradictions and geopolitical and geostrategic disputes, amid strained international relations, amid the bipolar system that had not yet dissolved, as well as amid the political and ideological aspects of regimes and societies worldwide, it could be understood that some states had their stance in this direction. However, Serbian violence could not be tolerated indefinitely, and even Serbia could not hide its violence indefinitely. In large measure, Serbia had never concealed its violence against the Albanians! Here, now Serbian violence has been exposed. The Serbian state has completely lost control. I, silently and openly, during this month too, have been praying incessantly: to bomb Serbia. I wish, with all my heart, that this happens, even as soon as possible. Who asks about the consequences? We who are in Kosovo, the majority, want this to happen. More than anything, I want to witness the beginning of a military-destroying hurricane bearing down on Serbia. There is no third way left in Kosovo: bilateral hostility has reached its peak. In this situation that is getting worse and worse, there is a difference: we (Albanians) have the tag of freedom on our shoulders, and they (Serbs) have the tag of the occupation of Kosovo on their shoulders. (Continues)
Click here for Part-1,
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