The Circassian Question is not Incidental
By: Adel Bashqawi
27 November 2019
Image source: (http://www.artnet.com/artists/franz–roubaud/circassian–charge–ePebr_FKAkv7i8fMajmudw2)
Circassian affairs have never been at anytime, and since the beginning of the Russian Tsarist invasion in 1763, through the year 1864, which witnessed the culmination of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced deportation, an incidental or haphazard, matter; but a fundamental issue that has affected and continues to affect millions of Circassians in large areas stretching between the Circassian homeland in the North–West Caucasus to the Diaspora and alienation in dozens of countries of the world of today.
One of the axioms that cannot be ignored is the fact that the members of the nation who ended up in a wide geographical area of the Circassian world, since approaching the places that their fates has destined them to reach. They have not forgotten their homeland, where their concerns and sensations have aimed at the survival of the flame of freedom illuminated to light up the path. They exerted every effort in order to document, note down and publish what has occurred with their nation after the procedures of deportation from the homeland, which was a one way ticket, with strict measures that prevent return for whatever reasons.
It is not unexpected for such an issue to be explained through what is issued and published in regard to the repercussions of the Russo–Circassian War, and the general situation that has erupted; but yet surprisingly, that can be seen through the Jordanian National Library records (http://www.al–sijill.com/mag/sijill_items/sitem204.htm) concerning the first book that was published and disseminated in Jordan, which took place in 1927 that is entitled: “The Last Year of the Circassian Wars for Independence.” This, if anything, shows interest in declaring and publicizing what happened with the nation that has resisted the brutal invasion forces for decades. The book was reprinted and distributed in 2012 as part of the Jordanian Family Library project sponsored by the Jordanian Ministry of Culture (http://www.culture.gov.jo/node/27753).
I cannot help, while concluding this, but to remember the epitome of deportation (http://www.circassianews.com/2019/09/04/%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B1/) written by Hadji Berzeg Garandoqa, which was conveyed by Hatuqa Qual to the historian Kuba Shaaban:
When we hear this elegy
Let all chitchat stop
Let’s all listen to the lament of our homelessness
And to preserve its deep meaning in our hearts
Even though we lost the battle
We have never tried to lose our humanity
And those who helped the enemies beat us
They are part of us, living among us
From our proverbs:
(The trunk of a strong tree, will split only by a similar trunk)
Those who have idled us are our brothers, they are part of us
If we abandon our homeland, we will never forget it
If we stay in it
We cannot bear what the enemy’s army does to us before our eyes
We are now abandoning our homeland with our dreams stay with us to return
We abandon the homeland forcibly, while looking back towards it
Perhaps we return to it one day
The whole elegy in Circassian:
