The situation in Kosovo became a crisis in the 1981 protests in Kosovo by Albanians who were heard shouting slogans such as "We are Albanians, not Yugoslavs", "Kosova Republic", "Unity with Albania", "Long live Marxism-Leninism, Down with Revisionism" and others. The presence of ethnic and ideological dimensions to the protestors' demands led to Yugoslav authorities deciding to forcibly stop the protests. The president of the Pristina League of Communists, Aslan Fazlia (an Albanian) said that the protests were nationalistic and counterrevolutionary and announced tough police action against the demonstrators. This action failed to quell the protests that instead grew in response with protests by Albanians sweeping across Kosovo, the President of the League of Communists of Kosovo Mahmut Bakalli decided in response to ask the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to bring tanks onto the streets. Police reinforcements from Central Serbia were stopped by a roadblock and then Albanian demonstrators took hostages from thirty-four houses of Serbs and Montenegrins, demanding that these police forces leave Kosovo in exchange for the release of the hostages. Only after additional police forces from Priština arrived were the hostages released. The protests led to vandalism throughout Kosovo including smashed windows of cars, shops, and state institutions. The Yugoslav leadership declared a "crisis situation in Kosovo" and all republics were requested to send their police troops to Kosovo. The Yugoslav leadership was shocked by the extent of the violence used by the demonstrators and the relatively large participation in the demonstrations.