By Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
Minister Saranovic has just redefined what it means – “police state”. It is, let’s remember, simplified: a country where everything, including linguistic issues, is decided by the police. The fact that someone is an expert on batons and prisons makes them, of course, an expert on language issues.
The man heading our state’s police has advocated changes to the Constitution and Serbian as an official language. Without consulting linguists. Or writers. Or playwrights, actors. In this country, the minister of police deals with languages. The only thing remained is to hear what the military minister and the head of the secret service think about it – and the public debate on the issue is practically over.
Here is what Saranovic says. https://www.cdm.me/politika/saranovic-bi-podrzao-inicijativu-da-srpski-jezik-bude-sluzbeni-u-ustavu/
Here’s a question for language-fighters who can’t stand the injustice that Montenegrin is the official language in the country of Montenegro (oh horror, oh dismay).
Montenegro is not a national state. Therefore, it is not a national state of Montenegrins, or of Serbs. Rather, it is a civil state. When that is the case, it is logical that the language is named after the country, and not after any of the peoples living in it. Because other peoples could see it as the supremacy of one ethnic community.
For this reason, Montenegrin as an official language is a solution appropriate to the civil character of the state and the Constitution. But… If you already want to undermine it to the level of language and implement a linguistic ethno-federalist policy…
Then, here’s the question. Why do those who stand for Serbian as an official language seek “human rights” only for themselves and not for everyone else? Why exclusivity? Isn’t a neighbour closer than a brother, and the like…
Since no language in Montenegro has, to put it that way, an “absolute majority”; since the official language in Montenegro is named after the state and not after the ethnic community; if we were to change the Constitution in the “official language” part (which is practically impossible, as Saranovic rightly states), why only Serbian language? Why shouldn’t Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian languages be official? Wouldn’t such a solution be in accordance with the civil character of the Constitution and the inclusive character of the state policy which the government is so proud of?
Is it really necessary to underline the “majority Orthodox” character of our civic Montenegro by naming the language?
Since among the parties in power, everything is bursting with civic and citizens, why is this an unacceptable solution for them?
Is it not perhaps because the fight against the Montenegrin language was never about language, but about politics, imperialism, assimilation and domination, which the language named after the country where it is spoken stands in the way?
(The opinions and views of the columnist are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
