A Report from Kozarusa

Of Mosques and Politics

AIM Banja Luka, October 31, 2000

"Did they really dedicate that mosque?" was the remark addressed to reporters on their return to Banja Luka from Kozarusa near Prijedor on October 30. This must have reminded the elderly among the curious of early autumn 1991 when, with similar disbelief, they asked reporters coming back from Croatia if they were really shooting at each other out there. The answer was soon to be known to all.

A truly odd crowd gathered in the village of Kozarusa near Prijedor on that day: Metropolitan Dabrobosnian Nikolaj, Archbishop Vrhbosnian Vinko Puljic, the leader of the B&H Jewish Community Jacob Finci, reis ul ulema Dr. Mustafa Ceric, ambassadors, envoys, news crews, elegant interpreters in Chanel suits, women in Turkish trousers, policemen, SFOR representatives.... the whole lot assembled in front of a humble white mosque with green windows and ragged outlines of razed houses discernible in the background.

If events had not taken the turn they did in Bosnia in the past eight years, an opening of a modest village mosque certainly would not have turned into a prime media and political happening. But, the dedication of the Kozarusa mosque was the first of its kind in Republika Srpska (RS) - the first to be rebuilt and dedicated with an appropriate opening ceremony in the Serb entity of B&H. And that is a major media event, particularly since it took place merely 13 days before the general elections in B&H.

Apart from those with official invitations - guests and news crews - it was practically impossible for anyone else to get through to the mosque in Kozarusa. All roads leading to the village were blocked by the RS police which, for security reasons, redirected traffic to the opposite end of the village. A sharp-witted and idle villager, a Serb, positioned himself near the crossing in the center of the village warning oncoming reporters and guests: " Hurry up! Take shots of the priest, friar and khoja sitting beside each other, while you can! Who is to say how long the bliss might last."

The ceremony started at 11:00 a.m., in the cramped courtyard of the mosque strewn by white UN jeeps and UN busses. In an atmosphere of surreal peace, the speakers took turns at the microphone. The Egyptian ambassador to B&H addressed the gathering on behalf of the Moslem religious community. While taking off the Banja Luka airport, Mr. Salah el Ashri said, he caught sight of a slender, white minaret of a Moslem mosque and at that instant realized that Islam was being restored to this corner of the world.

Jacob Finci, the head of the Jewish Community in B&H, declared that none should be surprised by the fact that representatives of all four religious communities in FB&H appeared together in Kozarusa, if for the first time since the war: "For centuries, our religious communities have honored joyful events in our respective histories, calling upon each other on such occasions. And this is a fortunate and joyful day", said Finci.

As chance would have it, that very October 30, the day Finci described as "fortunate", was proclaimed by the government of RS a day of mourning over the burial of 100 unidentified Serb soldiers, victims of the recent war. The statement did not provoke a scandal, simply because no RS government officials - not even the Minister of Faith - were present at the dedication of the Kozarusa mosque. The municipality of Prijedor to which the village belongs was represented by the president of the municipality, Muharem Pervic.

Monsignor Puljic and Metropolitan Nikolaj spoke of religious tolerance, each in their own turn and manner. Msgr. Puljic did not omit to mention his trust that, after each prayer in the mosque, the Moslem faithful would feel themselves to be better human beings as that is the main purpose of any prayer. In his lengthy address, Metropolitan Nikolaj, also announced as the chairman of the Intereligious Council of B&H for the year, concluded among other things, that the dedication of the house of worship in Kozarusa represents the resurrection of a civilization of considerable importance in the region. "Let there be no place of worship where hate is instigated, we have no need of such houses of the Lord. What we need are are temples preaching devotion to God and love of one's neighbors. Such is the love of God which forgives a multitude of sins, for none of us are free of sin," said Metropolitan Nikolaj.

Deputy Head of the UN Mission to B&H, Julian Haston, pointed out that all cultures and religions in B&H are part of the European culture and that the international community has pledged to the restoration of religious objects in B&H.

The appearance of Reis ul Ulema Mustafa Ceric on stage gave a dramatic turn to the event. It marked the ending of the up to then prevailing chamber atmosphere of the gathering and finesounding talk accompanying it. Smoothly switching from Arabic to English and, as he called it, Bosnian language, he delivered a couple of clearly political messages. On thanking the representatives of the international community and - in particular, the villagers of Kozarusa - for their presence, he asked the latter to hold up their hands so that he could see for himself how many of them were actually there and then told them: "Bear in mind who came here today and, particularly, who didn't, but should have come."

The sting was addressed not only to the absent RS officials, but probably to the US ambassador to B&H and ORH representatives who failed to show up at the dedication of the first mosque to be rebuilt in RS as well.

Continuing, Mr. Ceric said that the mosque in Kozarusa is being dedicated for the second time so as to make it clear to all that it has in fact been reopened. For, the first postwar prayer in the reconstructed mosque was held two months earlier, but without pomp or ceremony." To my colleagues who are cross with me today for having invited the metropolitan, the archbishop and Mr. Finci, I recommend: have a glass of cold water and simmer down. Appreciate, in particular, the presence of Mr. Ceric among us. He did not tear down mosques which is why he is among us today," concluded Ceric addressing the khojas, at least thirty-odd, present in Kozarusa on that day.

The idea that the elderly orthodox episcope could have placed bombs under the foundations of mosques probably never crossed the minds of effendi Ceric's fellow-clergymen, but they still were not willing to forgive him the fact that he did spend the entire war in the company of Radovan Karadzic in Pale, just as they could not forget the wartime closeness of Msgr. Puljic to HDZ. "It's a political and moral disgrace that politicians, in fear of their voters, still hesitate to give the permission for the reconstruction of the mosque in Banjaluka, blown up in broad daylight. Do not join forces with such-like, follow the example of those who, as we do, tread the soil of Bosnia rebuilding peace and tolerance. For, the future will prove us, not them, to be in the right" declared effendi Ceric, obviously alluding to the (ex) Premier of RS Milorad Dodik and the mayors of Banja Luka and Prijedor, all belonging to the same party as the Reis ul Ulema himself. Reminding the present diplomats of issues concerning them, Ceric, in an incidental manner, spoke of his unsuccessful attempts to gain the approval of the international community - from the UN up to Peking - for the reconstruction of the Ferhadia mosque in Banja Luka.

Wrapping up his address, effendi Ceric described the mosque in Kozarusa as "a mosque of hope", spoke of the beauty of the scenery and land in which "there is room for everyone, just as our Lord willed it" and ended his speech by a prayer spoken in Arabic, English and Bosnian.

Thrilled by Ceric's rhetoric skills, the audience awarded him with a huge applause, bid their farewells and parted company. The Moslem faithful were invited to a belated afternoon prayer. And all went their separate ways. The colorful Turkish trousers and red fezes to the newly reconstructed mosque, the news crews and cameras, UN brief-cases and Channel suits to Sarajevo or Banja Luka, depending - leaving behind the savagely damaged homes of the returnees to Kozarusa and the Serb refugees from Croatia awaiting eviction and having no other place to go to. And a fierce winter in store for all of them, without exception.

The event received a highly incongruous treatment in the RS media. While some failed to notice that the dedication ever took place, the Nezavisne daily dedicated the entire front page to the gathering in Kozarusa, while the Alternative Banja Luka TV net covered the happening as the "breaking news" of the day. In the central (evening) news of the day, the dedication of the mosque in Kozarusa was made known to the viewers of the state-controlled TV RS in the twentieth minute of its duration.

Tijana Tadic

(AIM)