The decision came from Rugova, from the president and from other bodies as well, that it was absolutely necessary to organize a nationwide, popular protest [against the expulsion of Albanians from school]…The Teachers’ Union proposed that I serve as the chairman of the protest, yes…The decision, the proposal of the late great Rugova was that the protest should be held, but that it must not cause bloodshed…We held about three meetings a day so that the protest would be exemplary, one that would make the enemy nervous and keep us disciplined. […] That’s how we held the meetings… Fetah Bylykbashi was the chairman. And quote and quote at the end is Fehmi Rexhepi—Fehmi Rexhepi is a doctor of science. Because we had planned that if Fetah Bylykbashi were arrested during the protest, and first wounded, or second, killed, the protest should not stop, and then this Fehmi would come and continue… It was a miraculous organization.
Fetah Bylykbashi was born in 1941 in Bainca, Drenica. He graduated from the Shkolla Normale. He was a teacher and also director of the Pedagogical Entity of Pristina. During the Milošević regime he managed the transition to the “parallel system” of schools through the Albanian Teachers Association (LASH) and the Financial Council for Education. After the war, he was an adviser on pedagogical matters to UNMIK and the Ministry of Education.