REALISTIC POLICY OF THE MUSLIMS?

Sandjak

When nations of the FR of Yugoslavia are referred to, the Serbs and the Montenegrins are implied. When national minorities are referred to, the Hungarians and the Albanians are mentioned. "As if there were no Muslims at all, they are increasingly treated as a religious group" - Safet Bandzovic says for the AIM. He is the President of the Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms in Sandzak, the region which includes parts of Serbia and Montenegro. The majority of its population are the Muslims. In the "remnants of Yugoslavia", Muslims are not mentioned in the Constitution, nor any other document. In former Yugoslavia, since 1967 they had the status of a nation, a constitutional and a constituent people. Therefore, it is understandable that the Muslims lament the former, common state.

According to the figures of the 1991 census, the Muslims were the sixth nation. There is almost 250 thousand citizens in Serbia who declared themselves as the Muslims, and in Montenegro there are about 90 thousand of them. According to the same data, there are 51.5 per cent of the Muslims among the 450 thousand inhabitants in Sandzak. According to the unofficial assessments, about 70 thousand Muslims emigrated from Sandzak in the past few years.

Since the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sandzak is considered as one of the neuralgic regions in the FR Yugoslavia. Primarily, there is a feeling of fear that the war might spread into this region. It might sound absurd, but the Muslims fear the end of the war in the neighbouring Bosnia - they believe that a new center of conflict will not be opened until the conflict in that former central Yugoslav Republic ends. The fear is instigated by frequent visits of members of various paramilitary units which abuse the Muslim civilian population.

The increase of the tensions was provoked, among other, by a trial of 25 Muslims in Novi Pazar accused of subversion against the constitutional system of the country and the attempt of secession of the region. Some of the Belgrade newspapers proclaimed them guilty in advance.

The Secretary of the Party of Democratic Action for Sandzak (the largest Muslim national party), Rasim Ljajic, claims that this trial is a political process aimed at intimidating the Muslims and thus inducing their emigration in even larger figures. Since arms were found in possession of a few of the accused, he believes that they should be tried pursuant to the Law on Arms and Ammunition, and not for subversion of the system. The only reason for the acquisition of arms by these people, according to Ljajic, was fear of paramilitary units which "paraded through the towns of Sandzak". Safet Bandzovic from the Commission for Human Rights wonders: "How can a man protect himself when the legal state does not operate, when innocent people are kidnapped and killed only because they are Muslims? Should they sit back quietly and wait for similar fate to befall them, or protect themselves?"

A year has passed sinde the kidnapping of 21 Muslims at the railway station in Strpci, and since the one in Sjeverin even longer (18 Muslims were kidnapped there in October 1992). All the promises given by the official authorities in Belgrade that the perpetrators would be found remained unfulfilled. There are still no news about these people, and their families keep requesting any explanation from the state institutions in vain.

Bandzovic is especially concerned about the thesis of some of the Serbian politicians and intellectuals that the Serbs and the Muslims in B&H cannot continue living together anymore.

-If, according to their opinion, they cannot live together in that Republic, do they refer to this space too? I am convinced that the Muslims in Sandzak wish to remain living here on equal terms with the others. But, their wish alone is not sufficient for such joint life.

Our interlocutor does not belong to any party, and he is equally critical of some of the Muslims who are not making wise moves, as he is in criticizing the authorities for not resolving the status of the Muslims. - Let me take as an example the Muslim review, "Sandzak" - Bandzovic says

• edited by a group of peoople. The purpose of the review is to stir up nationalistic feelings, which suits the regime. It does not reflect the actual state of the spirit prevailing in Sandzak. Extremism has no foundation in Sandzak, since no military force stands behind it. We know what the Muslims in B&H experienced although there were 43.7 per cent of them there. There are only 3.14 per cent of us in Serbia and Montenegro. This fact speaks for itself.

The authorities are without any doubt annoyed by political organizing of the Muslims in the FR Yugoslavia. Most of them are gathered around the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), established in Sarajevo in 1990 with the aim to gather all the Muslims who used to live in the space of former Yugoslavia. After that, Boards of SDA were established in Sandzak, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, its objectives were redefined in compliance with the new political circumstances. So, the SDA of Sandzak became a separate party, but its links with the "parent party in Sarajevo" remained close.

In the beginning of its operation, the party was in favour of preserving of a united Yugoslavia, believing that it was the best solution for the Muslim nation, as well as for the others.

Rasim Ljajic says that there is no difference between the SDA of Sandzak and that of B&H, and that the Muslims he represents consider that Republic their parent country:

• B&H should remain a sovereign independent state. It is our parent country and we wish to maintain all cultural, spiritual and economic relations with it, but this does not mean that we are trying to secede from Yugoslavia. Of course, it is the wish of common people - Muslims, for Sandzak to form a single state with Bosnia, but this is more of a wish, than political reality. We are aware of it."

The authorities in Serbia have attempted to ban the Party of Democratic Action way back in 1991. But, this did not happen for several reasons. The primary objective of this party is to prevent a mass departure of the Muslims from this region and to secure their survival by political means.

According to Ljajic, creation of a certian degree of autonomy comes second, with full respect of territorial integrity of the current Yugoslavia. A Memorandum on Establishment of the Special Status of Sandzak was offered. Judging by the political climate, it will probably not be stablished in the near future.

The autonomy implies broad local self-management, respect of cultural values of the Muslim ethnic group, proportional participation in the authorities - from the minicipality to the federal state - and dual citizenship of Serbia and B&H.

The fact that the majority of the Muslims did not participate in the 1992 and 1993 elections contributed to the tension in the relations between the official authorities and the SDA (the same was done by the Albanians who do not recognize Serbia and Yugoslavia as their state).

Muslim national leaders remind that the Muslims voted in great numbers in the 1990 elections and that almost 95 per cent of them voted for the SDA. Two years ago they did not participate in the elections because military and police forces were concentrated around the towns in this region at the time. Last year, as they say, they were faced with mass emigration of the Muslims, so they were handicapped because of that. It was at the same time a protest of the SDA addressed at the authorities for not resolving the status of the Muslims. In the end, Ljajic concludes:

• We can realize our political objectives only in peace. By peaceful resolution of all existing misunderstandings and disputes it is possible to guarantee the survival of the Muslims in these regions. That is why we are constantly appealing to our people not to respond to provocations. It must be kept in mind, however, that the keys of war and peace are in Belgrade.

On the other hand, on the occasion of a recent visit of a state delegation to Prijepolje, the officials from Belgrade sent a message to the representatives of the SDA that "not a single citizen who expresses loyalty to his/her state is, nor will be threatened". This sentence is a warning to some of the Muslim national politicians who are accused for not recognizing Serbia as their state. That is why the explicitly expressed stance of Rasim Ljajic that he does not deny territorial integrity of present Yugoslavia is extremely significant.

In spite of everything, Sandzak is peaceful, the streets and the cafes are not divided into Serbian and the Muslim ones. Novi Pazar does not resmeble Pristina at all. Therefore, there is hope that peace will be preserved, despite the vicinity of the war in which the Serbs and the Muslims are mercilessly killed.

EJUB STITKOVAC