Caco and Batko

Kožo called me once at two past midnight to tell a joke. He has this habit of calling in the dead of night from the pub to tell a joke.

Well, Sulja got tired of Mujo mentioning every now and then how everything is relative, and relative this, and relative that, so he stopped him to explain to him the theory of relativity, as they say. "Be careful like this," Mujo began to explain to him, "it's the same as if I stuck a finger in your ass." "Listen", Suljo shifted in his chair, "how is that?" "Well, that's nice," Mujo explained to him, "so I stick a finger in your ass, so I have a finger in your ass, you have a finger in your ass, only I'm in a relatively better position."

Muja's old theory of relativity came to my mind at an inconvenient time and for an inconvenient occasion, reading how the infamous Unknown Perpetrators destroyed the memorial plaque to the civilian victims of the crimes committed in besieged Sarajevo, which the activists of the initiative "Because it concerns me" had placed in the At Mejdan Park near Bistrik. The plaque was supposed to be a reminder of the forgotten and silenced victims, mostly Serbs from Sarajevo, who were liquidated and thrown into the Kazan pit by members of the 10th Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the command of Mušan Topalović Caca during the siege of the city: it was therefore a memorial to the civilians, the citizens of Sarajevo who were innocents killed in the war, dragged from their homes, robbed, tortured and liquidated with a bullet in the back of the head, in short - Sarajevo victims of war crimes.

At the same time - remind the activists from the initiative "Because it concerns me" - not far from the park where the memorial plaque to the innocent victims of the 10th Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the command of Mušan Topalović Caca was smashed, there is the Elementary School "Edhem Mulabdić", on the school memorial plaque with the names of the fallen soldiers of the Army of BiH from that Sarajevo municipality, and the name of Mušan Topalović Caca on the plaque. The memorial plaque on the school building "Edhem Mulabdić" has been in that place for years, but no one touches it, even though it bears the name of a man who not only killed innocent civilians, citizens of Sarajevo, dragging them out of their homes, robbing them , torturing and liquidating with a bullet to the back of the head in Kazan, but also the man who killed nine Bosnian-Herzegovinian policemen and defenders during his arrest, in short - a war criminal who killed Sarajevo citizens and Sarajevo defenders.

How is it possible that in the middle of the city of Sarajevo, untouched and polished for years, there is a memorial plaque to a war criminal, a murderer of Sarajevo citizens and defenders of the city, and a memorial plaque to his victims, the innocent citizens of Sarajevo, cannot last one night? How is it possible that Caca's funeral, the funeral of a war criminal and murderer of Sarajevo citizens and policemen, was a televised spectacle with ten thousand Sarajevo citizens and Bakir Izetbegović, and his victims - it bears repeating: for the citizens of Sarajevo - there is no grave, no bones, no mention?

Finally, how is it possible that the name of a man who was killed by Bosnian police officers, Sarajevo defenders, is found on the plaque at the "Edhem Mulabdić" primary school in Bistrik, among those who died in the war - those who were killed by members of Mladić's and Karadžić's armies?

The matter, Mujo would say, is relative. Mušan Topalović Caco and his soldiers from Deseta Brdska brought Sarajevo's Serbs over Kazan and put a barrel to the back of their head: Caco had a barrel to the back of the head, the civilians had a barrel to the back of the head, only that Caco was in a relatively more favorable position. In that, relatively more favorable position, Mušan Topalović Caco remained, well, until today, when he - unlike the Sarajevo men he killed - has a historical and moral right to a grave, memorial, honor and glory.

After all, it was neither the first monument to innocent Sarajevans killed in the war, nor was Caco the only murderer. In the city on Miljacka, there are countless intact, guarded and carefully maintained memorial plaques to the innocent victims of the siege of the city, on which wreaths are placed and Fatiha recited on every anniversary: ​​there are, for example, also in Grbavica, where during the war there was horror, among others , also recently sentenced to forty-five years in prison, Veselin Vlahović Batko, the infamous "monster from Grbavica", which, just like Caco, dragged the citizens of Sarajevo out of their homes, robbed them, tortured them and liquidated them in cold blood. And yet, for some reason, no one in Grbavica thinks of erecting a memorial to Veselin Vlahović Batko, just as no one thinks of breaking, for example, the memorial plaque to the murdered innocent citizens of Sarajevo erected near the Grbavica Shopping Center.

The thing, you understand, is relative: Caco has his finger on the trigger and the innocent citizens of Sarajevo on his soul, Batko has his finger on the trigger and the innocent citizens of Sarajevo on his soul, only that Caco is, so to speak, in a relatively more favorable position.

After all, the activists from the initiative "Jer me se zako", after all, tried to put up a similar memorial plaque two years ago "for the victims of war crimes committed in the area of ​​Foča", and the plaque lasted several hours. If the same memorial plaque is equally undesirable in Foča and Sarajevo, does that mean that the victims are the same? If the victims are the same, and it turns out that they are - both in Sarajevo and in Foča we are talking about innocent civilians - were the killers the same? If they are, and it turns out that they are - both in Sarajevo and in Foča we are talking about wanton killers of innocent fellow citizens and civilians - why are the Sarajevo victims identified with wanton killers in Foča, and the murderer Mušan Topalović Caco with their innocent victims?

Why - this interests me - is there no memorial plaque in Grbavica with the name of Veselin Vlahovića Batko? Why in Grbavica, taking the Sarajians from their houses, robbing them, torturing and killing them is a war crime for forty-five years of imprisonment, and the same, just a kilometer or two east, in Bistrik, a heroic act for the memorial plaque at the elementary school and Bakir Izetbegović at the funeral ?

Mujo explained everything to me: both the citizens of Sarajevo and Mušan Topalović Caco were in the crosshairs - Sarajevo citizens in the crosshairs in war, in Kazan, Mušan Topalović Caco in the crosshairs in peace, at the Kovači cemetery - only Caco, you understand, in a relatively more favorable position.

(Liberation)