“Covered” Scanderbeg and the uncovered Academy

“Covered” Scanderbeg and the uncovered Academy
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Skënder Minxhozi

Those who later joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq, had started with Scanderbeg nearly two years ago. A monument of our national hero in Kaçanik, Kosovo, had been publicly desecrated by the Islamic followers of Lavdrim Muhaxheri, the Jihadist commander who has been killed in the conflict of Syria. The video that was distributed showed several youngsters who attacked the monument, mocking and insulting the name and religion of Gjergj Kastrioti, whom they hated because according to them, he had “sold out to the infidels”!

The news on that episode which was more bizarre than outrageous, would be later followed by other public acts, where not only our national hero, but also other great historical figures such as Mother Teresa, Ismail Qemali, etc., would be given all sorts of vulgar names, which started with their religion, the work that they left behind and continued with details which were immediately targeted by newspapers and portals.

On the outside, this phenomenon which was packaged as a “review” and “re-dimensioning” of the old historiographical and propagandistic standards, was often an outrageous act of desecration and vulgarity. We’re taking the heroes down on the ground, we’re making them human, they say when they’re asked, although nobody has ever asked them to do such thing. At least not in a humiliating way, which we have often see and read!

“Do you know that Scanderbeg was only 1.63 meter tall?” “Do you know how long his sword was?” “Do you know that Mother Teresa was not that much of a saint? Do you know that she didn’t love her country?” This sort of banquette where details mix with gossips of people who spend all their day in cafes, because they have nothing else to do, has turned into a national sport for years now. And then we protest against Scanderbeg “the slave” that the Hungarians exposed in Budapest!

The culture of contesting official historiography in relation to great national figures, in order to oppose the sublimation that has been made to them in the past, is being mixed with all sorts of isms. Among them, religious radicalism is the most active component which is interfering in the process of the evaluation of history and its figures.

In this amalgam of malignancy, hatred and ignorance, there’s also another important circumstance, which has been a common denominator of the entire transition period: the absence of the state and institutions.  A delayed debate on the Academy of Science reminds us what a fragile nation and state we are. We don’t have institutions, we don’t have an independent stance, away from political influences and the ignorance of social networks and the media. If we want to evaluate the Second World War, we refer to TV studios. If we want to understand the big events of our national history, we attack each other on Facebook, as if we were the worst football fans that could ever exist. The most serious topics are discussed in forms lacking all sort of seriousness. Institutions are either absent or they keep quiet…

The Academy of Science, for which there’s a long conflict lasting for over 25 years, was initially left in an apathetic inertia in the ‘90s, to then be massacred in 2005, when the network of institutions that comprised it, was amputated in the blink of an eye. The academy saw the fate of many decent things that we inherited from the past and which, after the fall of communism, were simply demolished as a building without construction, without saying what was intended to be built on these ruins.

All the governments, including the one which is expected to assume office, saw the most renowned institution of science and thought with the ideological eyes of Sali Berisha or the indifferent stare of Edi Rama on the mobile screen.

This is why it’s been years that we’re in such dire situation. When earthquakes hit the country, nobody tells us how and where we should build. When rivers flood us, we have no institution to measure the level of waters and rain falls. A situation in which 25 years later, we’re still trying to find what will drive agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and our natural resources. A situation whereby we don’t have experts who can offer their opinion.  And then we complain that we have fallen in the improvised hands of politics and business, which have caused much harm to this country deserted by greed, militancy and political ignorance.

“Why is this not being done”, a wise man was once asked about something good which was not happening. “You don’t know, because if it is done, it will be done properly!”, he answered with utter cynicism. This seems to be the morale of the Albanian fable, with the (allegedly) covered National Hero and the Academy of Science, uncovered and with no roof over its head!

Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy

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