Open letter to KLA veterans!

By Belul Beqaj

The fact that fake veterans are not ashamed of taking undeserved veteran’s pensions is understandable to me, though unpardonable. The way the Verification Commission consented to the number of veterans being excessively tripled is reprehensible. But what is also completely incomprehensible and inexcusable is how true veterans are ashamed to report fake veterans! Moreover, the artificial rise of the bogus number of veterans leads me to the conclusion that in addition to the members of the Verification Commission, the motive of the war commanders, who are an immediate factor of the pumped-up numbers, was of a questionable nature!

An avalanche of mass protests was launched on Thursday for various reasons. Praise for KLA veterans, the power corporation employees, about 800 health workers, education trade unionists who are constantly announcing the disruption of the teaching process, and an enormous number of young people announcing a mass exodus.

This is all happening due to the exclusionary, unrealistic, and arrogant policy of Kurti’s government, but there’s also a large number of those who believe that this is happening in collusion with the Kosovo opposition, which hindered the work of the Kosovo Parliament on Thursday. One gets the impression that everyone rose against Kurti’s government because the internationally known festival (because of Dua Lipa, who is the symbol of the festival) Sunny hill was moved from Pristina to Tirana! It is too much accumulated dissatisfaction for one to think it is happening – by accident.

But the promoters of this avalanche are KLA veterans who are wholeheartedly supported by the opposition. That is why I am addressing them in an open letter.

Dear veterans, with the intention of you correctly perceiving my good intentions, I will present some arguments that, I assume, not all of you are aware of. During the last war, I was a political adviser to the KLA representative, Adem Demaci, during the war I had the same role at the KLA headquarters in Tirana, and after the war, I was a political advisor to the first prime minister of the interim government.

During the war, I was a freelance reporter in Prekaze, after the mass death of the Jashari family, from Mlecane, where Serb militants killed and threw an Albanian into a well, I reported from Gornje Obrije about the tragedy of the Delijaj family, I reported from Stutice after the Zeqiri family tragedy, with the support and help of journalist Peter Snitzer, (SAT 1) we saved the life of the wounded (Bytyqi) from Orlat, I reported from Golubovac where 13 Albanians were shot by a firing squad, following painstaking convincing, I interviewed the only survivor from that group, whom we evacuated outside Kosovo with the help of the Ambassador (V.P.)…

Dear veterans, my engagement was even greater and more diverse, but I told this short story for the sake of those veterans who think they have an exclusive property and the right to defend the purity of the correctness of the liberation war.

I shared this description for those veterans who do not acknowledge the contribution of others. For those veterans who know about the contribution of others, but nevertheless think that they have a greater right to defend the „purity of the liberation war“ compared to others. For those veterans who are convinced that in our correct war, there were no horrific cases described by the ICJ, that is why, ostensibly, they are not afraid of facing the past.

For those veterans who did not put pressure on the Prime Minister at the time, but accepted his pressure to form the ICJ, while today they are putting pressure on those who were once against the formation of the ICJ.

For those veterans who think that the state of Kosovo can consolidate itself while under the mortgage of the international public. For those veterans who did not sign the petition when the legal sovereignty of the state was threatened (2015) while they signed the petition to „save“ individuals who veiled the Kosovo state with „black clouds“ which have yet to disperse. For those veterans who ignore the consequences and remarks of those we „stab in the back“ because they warn us to open our eyes, so as not to fall into the abyss. For those veterans who, by defending suspects for war crimes and potential criminal acts, cast doubt on all veterans and honorable citizens and the state of Kosovo.

For those veterans who question the indispensable intervention of NATO, while it is publicly known that the signatories of the Kumanovo Agreement with the Serbian Army were NATO officials, not KLA representatives, who today enjoy the status of real and fake veterans. For those veterans who purposefully confuse salary increases with pension increases…

Dear veterans, instead of removing the „black premonitions“ that hang above Kosovo from war manipulators, with the latest protests, you are denigrating all citizens of Kosovo, especially those who sincerely fought for freedom and justice. Finally, you question the ideals of war heroes who gave their lives for freedom. Genuine veterans should not be afraid of truth and justice, on the contrary, they should be afraid of lies and injustice.

In the end, one of the most significant KLA leaders, with whom some other important commanders agreed, once publicly stated that there are 12,000-15,000 veterans, while this number tripled in the meantime?! Therefore, dear veterans, the fact that fake veterans are not ashamed of taking undeserved veteran’s pensions is understandable to me, though unpardonable. The way the Verification Commission consented to the number of veterans being excessively tripled is reprehensible. But what is also completely incomprehensible and inexcusable is how true veterans are ashamed to report fake veterans! Moreover, the artificial rise of the bogus number of veterans leads me to the conclusion that in addition to the members of the Verification Commission, the motive of the war commanders, who are an immediate factor of the pumped-up numbers, was of a questionable nature!