Academic Under Fire for Historical Revisionism in Bosnia

A recent article criticizes prominent Bosnian historian Professor Husnija Kamberović for his public statements, accusing him of downplaying the suffering of Bosniak victims and misrepresenting historical facts. The author highlights Kamberović’s assertion in a documentary that politician Mehmed Spahi died from hypertension, contrary to the widespread belief he was poisoned. More controversially, ahead of the Srebrenica genocide commemoration, Kamberović reportedly stated that Bosniaks cannot mention their own victims without acknowledging that other groups also suffered at the hands of Bosniaks during the last aggression.

The article strongly refutes Kamberović's perspective, arguing that he equates victims with perpetrators and absolves aggressors of responsibility. It questions why Kamberović does not address atrocities such as Chetnik and Ustaša concentration camps, the rape of Bosniak women, multiple mass graves, and brutal torture methods.

The author demands that Kamberović and his colleagues address numerous historical injustices faced by Bosniaks. These include laws for the expulsion of Bosniaks from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and later, Socialist Yugoslavia, without similar measures for other groups. The article points to the exchange of Bosniaks for livestock with Turkey and the confiscation of 93 percent of Bosniak-owned land during the agrarian reform unique to Bosnia. It also highlights the Austro-Hungarian abolition of the Bosnian language and national identity for Bosniaks, alongside the demographic shift caused by settling 280,000 Catholics in Bosnia after its annexation.

Furthermore, the article calls on Kamberović to champion the ancient statehood of Bosnia, referencing the 30,000-year-old Visočke pyramids and genetic research showing a strong presence of a specific ancient gene among people in the Tuzla, Maglaj, Sarajevo triangle. This research, conducted by major European centers, is reportedly ignored in the Balkans.

The critique also extends to a Bosniak colleague who recently wrote a foreword for a book by a Serbian author, which the article claims is full of "mythomanic lies" about Bosnia, thereby legitimizing it. The author warns Kamberović to change his academic direction, suggesting his current path is "treasonous" and will lead his work to be discredited.