– Gjon Bruçi –
After several months of restoration, on August 16, 2024, the 300-year-old tower of Çun Mula was inaugurated in Hot, Malësia e Madhe. The organizers and donors of the restoration and inauguration of the tower in question were the local government of Malësia e Madhe and patriotic associations of the diaspora in America and other countries around the world. The old tower was repaired in honour of the renowned warrior Çun Mula, but it will also serve as a museum of the identity of this famous Albanian region, which spans two countries, Albania and Montenegro.
But who is Çun Mula?
According to oral accounts as well as authentic documents, Çun Mula was born in 1818 and passed away in 1896. He came from the renowned Lucgjonaj family, which had long ago settled in Junçaj of Hoti. From a young age, Çun was involved in the struggle of the highlanders to defend the northern borders from the Serbian-Montenegrin and Turkish invaders, especially after the Congress of Berlin. Distinguished in these battles, he quickly earned the right, according to the Canon of Lekë Dukagjini, to carry the flag and lead his fellow highlanders in the wars to defend their lands. His contributions to the defence of the Albanian territories in the north were particularly notable. He was one of the 15 Albanian delegates from northern Albania sent during the negotiations of the Congress of Berlin (June 13–July 13, 1878). He joined the Albanian patriots of the League of Prizren. Due to his patriotic activities, the League of Prizren appointed Çun Mula as the commander of the volunteer forces for the entire Malësia e Madhe, where in the Battle of Zhamica he defeated the regular military forces of King Nicholas of Montenegro, who sought to take Albanian lands. He also engaged in a fierce battle with the Turkish forces in Bajza-Kastrat, when the Ottomans openly sided with Montenegro, intending to give them Hoti, Gruda, Plava and Guci. In this victorious battle, he collaborated with Kapidan Hodo Beg Sokoli, who was the commander of Shkodra. However, the most authentic document regarding Çun Mula’s patriotic activities is “Lahuta of Malcisa” by Father Gjergj Fishta. The Homeric-style poetic verses of Fishta best illustrate who Çun Mula of Hoti was. There is no doubt that Gjergj Fishta created the most remarkable portrait of Çun Mula in our national culture. Çun Mula was a great patriot, a brave and strategic leader, generous and eloquent. All these high human qualities are etched in the masterpiece of our national poet.
Given this very brief overview, the act of restoring Çun Mula’s Tower and turning it into a museum for the region is an action that should be applauded. In fact, it should have been done long ago. However, one very important detail caught our attention during the inauguration ceremony of the old tower. Those who presented the historical moments not only added outdated and unnecessary terms but also attempted to give political colours with false and malicious facts, which do not honour the ceremony or its many participants.
In all the speeches and presentations during the ceremony, it was repeatedly mentioned as “The Tower of the Bajraktar of Hoti and Malësia e Madhe, Çun Mula!” Historically, Albanians have always had warriors who have led the popular masses in defence of freedom and their Homeland. These warriors were called “leaders” by the people, a completely Albanian term. This is how Gjergj Kastrioti and his generals were referred to. Until the complete occupation by the Turks, those who led the war on a national scale were called “leaders” by the people, while those who carried and defended the flag in battle were called “standard-bearers.” In fact, it was customary that at the end of the battle and victory, whoever held the flag would be named “standard-bearer” and would lead his comrades in future battles. Around the 17th century, the Turkish occupier, unable to advance towards Europe, established and strengthened the state administration in the occupied lands. In the mountainous areas of northern Albania, they organized the bajraks, a Turkish term for “flag.” In form, this organization resembled the local military organization, but in reality, the “bajraktar” was not chosen by the Albanians, nor did he rise due to bravery and skills in battle, but was selected by the Turkish occupiers themselves. And it is understood that the occupier would choose those who supported them and acted as their tools in the occupation. Worse still, by granting the right of inheritance, these “bajraktars” passed down the title to their descendants, regardless of their military or patriotic level. This completely deformed and degraded the position of the former “standard-bearer,” which was replaced by the “bajraktar” of the Turkish era. I am convinced that if Çun Mula were alive, he would refuse the Turkish title of “bajraktar,” just as he had refused and fought the occupier himself until his last breath.
The same misrepresentation was also evident in the phrase that described the activities of Çun Mula’s family and clan which, according to the orators at the ceremony, were persecuted by the “communist regime.” The tower indeed belonged to Çun Mula, but many of his descendants lived there, and they may not have properly upheld the traditions of their ancestors. We know today of many families and clans that, despite their illustrious patriotic traditions at their origins, later descendants have degraded from their family’s and clan’s heritage. For example, Isa Boletini is one of the greatest leaders of the Albanians during the early 20th century. But his son, Adem Boletini, became a lieutenant colonel in the gendarmerie serving the German occupier.
Nevertheless, “this issue of politics” can be overlooked, but the return to past titles, especially those left to us by the occupier, such as “Kapedan,” “Bajraktar,” “Çifligar,” etc., is absurd, even dangerously absurd. Especially when these “titles” are endorsed by local and central government officials.
In the novel “November of a Capital” by Ismail Kadare, which was also made into a film titled “The Radio Station,” the author presents us with a very interesting fragment: One of the characters of the system that was overthrown on November 29, 1944, Mrs. Mukades, who, along with some of her friends, was hiding in a basement to escape the partisan rifle liberating the capital, in an attempt to encourage her peers, says, among other things: “The longing for the overthrown lords is in human nature. A day will come when, following our example, after our massacred faces, they will try to create their own lords. When such a desire arises, it will be the first sign that they are finished. Then we will return…” (Ismail Kadare, November of a Capital, p. 143).
Kadare’s prophecy has now come true. We have almost completed the full “portrait” of the new landowning, bajraktar and bourgeois class. And we have begun to openly name them, as in our medieval past. One of the reasons for this return to the past is the absence of the state, not to mention “democracy,” which is nowhere to be seen.
And this is a national tragedy!
(Translated from the Albanian original and first published in “SOT” on August 23, 2024)
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