Bosniakisation

Bosniakisation designates the process of ethnic and cultural assimilation of non-Bosniak individuals or groups into the Bosniak ethnocultural corpus. Historically, bosniakisation was directed mainly towards some other South Slavic groups, like ethnic Muslims (Muslimani) in former Yugoslavia.[1] Since Bosniaks are Sunni Muslims, Bosniakisation was also manifested towards some distinctive ethnoreligious minorities within Serbian and Croatian national corpus, mainly towards Serbian Muslims and Croatian Muslims.

History

This process was initiated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, originally during the period of Austro-Hungarian administration (1878–1918), when the first political projects were designed to create an integral "Bosnian", and then a special "Bosniak" nation. An integral "Bosnian" project proved to be unachievable even during the Austro-Hungarian administration, since not only the Bosnian Serbs, but also the Bosnian Croatians gave a determined resistance to the creation of an integral "Bosnian" nation. Therefore, the focus was transferred to a special "Bosniak" project, which acquired a certain foothold in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian governor. The key role in the design and implementation of these projects was played by Austro-Hungarian Minister Benjamin Kalai, who from 1882 to 1903 was responsible for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]

As a foothold for Bosniak ethnogenesis and history, Bogomilism and a non-Slavic origin had been contrived. Then after the direct influence of the Ottoman Conquest, a cultural identity was imposed (through the process of Islamization). This gave to the ultimate expression of a Bosniak specificity, which has led to the religious doctrine of ethnos. The Bosniak project was restarted at the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia, when Yugoslavian Muslims decided to rename themselves ethnic "Bosniaks". This process initially affected much of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then spread to northeastern Montenegro and southwestern Serbia,[3] including the Raška region, as well as parts of Kosovo and Metohija.

Bosniakisation was often manifested through cultural and educational programs. In 1996, the Atlantic Council of the United States noted that "Non-Muslims in Sarajevo, Tuzla, and other areas under Bosniak control feel increasingly alienated in their own communities as a result of a wide array of government decisions, from the "Bosniakization" of the school curriculum".[4] Specific forms of Bosniakisation were also integrated into linguistic policy,[5] and perception of regional history.[6]

Insisting on the imposition of Bosniaks and the spreading of a Bosniak project outside of Bosnia, a controversy erupted on the part of Yugoslav ethnic Muslims primarily in Serbia and Montenegro. In opposing the imposition of Bosniaks, president of the Muslim Matica in Montenegro, Dr. Avdul Kurpejović explicitly stressed in 2014 that the "Greater Bosniak Nationalist, Islamic Assimilation Program" is based exactly on the Islamic Declaration of Alija Izetbegović.[7]

A number of Gorani people were a subject of Bosniakisation in recent history.[8][9]

See also

References
  1. Kurpejović 2014.
  2. Kraljačić 1987.
  3. Чедомир Антић. "Савремени српско-хрватски односи". www.napredniklub.org.
  4. Atlantic Council of the United States 1996.
  5. Lehfeldt 1999, p. 89.
  6. Džaja 2002, p. 245.
  7. Авдул Курпејовић (2014): Муслимани су национална мањина
  8. Nomachi, Motoki (2019). "The Gorani People in Search of Identity: The Current Sociolinguistic Situation Among the Gorani Community of the Former Yugoslavia". Sapporo, Japan. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Dankaz, Musa (2018). The Gorani People During the Kosovo War: Ethnic Identity in the Conflict. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: La Salle University. pp. 51, 52, 75, 77–78.

Literature
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