FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF

THE ISLAMIC CENTRE IN SARAJEVO

THIS REGIME IS NOT IMMUNE TO BUILDING MEGALOMANIAC MONUMENTS OF ITS RULE

As soon as news got around that an Islamic Centre, called the "Cemalusa" would be build in the place of the House of the Scouts in Mejtas, and that the building estimate was eleven million dollars and Alija Izetbegovic mentioned as its future head, the first negative reactions also began to flow in. The highly esteemed Dr. Mustafa Imamovic was the first to react in a loud protest. The distinguished and authoritative professor whose opinion is respected and listened to carefully around here, claimed that "those to whom it occurred to build an Islamic centre in Sarajevo now, just show that they know nothing about Islam and the historic and present situation Bosnian Muslims are in", that the gentlemen from the Steering Committee for the construction of the Centre "obviously do not see that it is not oil flowing around Bosnia, but blood", but also that these "new, so-called democratic authorities, did not draw a single lesson out of the errors, failures and behavior of the previous regime, which gave priority to luxurious bureaucratic mansions and megalomaniac monuments, various phony activities and whims of its main protagonists, over the needs of health service, edication, science..."

AIM, SARAJEVO, November 15, 1994 Besides with their worries how to prepare and survive the coming winter in newly deteriorated conditions of living, when after more than six months of "peace", grenades began to hit Sarajevo again and claim innocent human lives of the civilians, citizens of Sarajevo are preoccupied with other accompanying topics which are causing ardent discussions in the media. One of them is certainly the Islamic centre "Celamusa" which is planned to be built in the city and which is expeced to be the central Islamic building in Sarajevo, the political and cultural centre of Bosnian Muslims. It is planned to be a luxurious, complex building consisting of a mosque for five hundred believers, a multi-purpose hall for two thousand people, a business club, a Muslim primary school and kindergarten, a series of small centres for foreign language teaching, training in ancient crafts and similar. The idea is based on a wish to revitalize tradition, that is, on the fact that three mosques existed in this space with a Muslim primary school, a pious endowment and various other religious institutions which were all the endowment of their founder Kemal, after whom the people called it "Cemalusa".

The contruction of the centre, according to building estaimates of experts, is expected to cost eleven million dollars. Promotion of the Centre is, therefore, in full swing both in Sarajevo itself, but in many foreign countries too, especially Islamic ones which are believed to have certain interest to finance such a project. A fund for construction of the Islamic centre was established, which operates as a citizens' association and which is engaged in raising money. The President of its Management Board, Mehmedalija Dukatar, stresses that "with everything that such a facility implies, it would make an annual income of a million dollars". What significance is attached to the construction of this facility can best be illustrated by the datum, although unofficial, that Alija Izetbegovic himself is mentioned as the possible future head of the Centre.

But, in the past few days, voices speaking against the construction of the Centre could also be heard. The first to step forward and speak directly and openly against it, was Dr. Mustafa Imamovic, the esteemed and authoritative professor whose opinion is respected and attentively listened to. He based his objection on two important footings. First, that such centres are usually built in places where the Muslims are in diaspora, and in Bosnia they are living in their own land and, according to D. Imamovic, there is no need to build an Islamic centre in Sarajevo "which is an Islamic centre in itself". The second argument refers to the costs and the need to direct world donations towards more urgent and more important needs of the population:

• There are no Islamic centres such as the Turks are building around German cities, in Istanbul, because Istanbul, just like Sarajevo, is an Islamic centre in itself. Therefore, one can rightfully say that the idea to construct such an Islamic centre in Sarajevo, with so many of its damaged and destroyed mosques and other Islamic buildings which need to be repaired and restored, is nothing but kitsch and lack of all feeling for reality. Those who had the idea to build an Islamic centre on the slopes of Mejtas, show that they know practically nothing about Islam and the historical and the present situation Bosnian Muslims or the Bosnians are in. The gentlemen from the Steering Committee for the construction of the Islamic Centre obviously do not see that it is not oil flowing around Bosnia but blood. Therefore, it can be assumed that this is not a wish to preserve and promote Islam in this space, but rather mere business and profiteering, or pure spite of some kind, Dr. Imamovic stresses.

Analysing what should have priority in Sarajevo according to Islam, Dr. Imamovic emphasizes further on that "if some sufficiently rich Arabian and Islamic countries really wish to help us, their governments could reconstruct and equip at least one school, like the Italians did with the Catholic school", and ending his statement on the occasion of the "Cemalusa", he stresses the conclusion that "its construction would just show that the new, so-called democratic regime has drawn no lesson from the errors, failures and behavior of the previous regime which gave priority to luxurious bureaucratic mansions and megalomaniac monuments, like the one in Vrace, and various phony activities and whims of its main protagonists over the needs of health services, education and science".

After Imamovic's statement in the national journal "Ljiljan", architect Tanja Najthart stood forward in the independent daily "Oslobodjenje". For the reason that the "Cemalusa", according to the presented model, was expected to assimilate the existing House of the Scouts designed in 1954 by her father, the famous architect, Juraj Najthart, his daughter protests against this usurping of the copyright of her father: "There is no House of the Scouts on the model of the Islamic centre and the mosque Cemalusa, it is covered and extinguished by cubes and domes from the 1001 night". Finally, Ms. Najhart declares: "If Sarajevo and my fellow-citizens should renounce Najthart, then I would renounce Sarajevo. It would not be the city and the people I loved so much any more!"

Finally, the Committee of the Islamic Religious Community and the Meshihat of Sarajevo gave a statement claiming that "the Fund for the Construction of the Islamic Centre operates as a citizens' association which has no right to collect money in the name of the Islamic Community". But the Management Board of the Fund, headed by Mehmedalija Dukatar, in the text titled "There will be Cemalusa after all", claims that the idea about the construction will not be abandoned and that a presentation of the project in Kuwait is just being prepared with the assistance of the Ambassador of B&H in that country, Naim Kadic.

What will happen to the Centre in the end, it is difficult to say, but it is interesting that this issue was triggered off now and in this manner. The fact that the first to object to it was the highly esteemed Dr. Mustafa Imamovic, and what's more, in the national weekly, "Ljiljan", which is considered to be carry the stances of the current authorities, and that it is influenced mostly by the Minister of Education and Culture, Enes Karic, who is considered to be one of the leading ideologists of the new regime, opens a number of questions in connection with reexamining the national self-esteem of Bosnian Muslims. Minister Karic often likes to stress that "Bosnian Muslims will never again, in no way, especially not spiritually, be colonized by anyone". The dispute about the Cemalusa gives the impression of an awareness within the structures of the authorities that foreign investment into this facility could be a financial investment into a new spiritual colonization, even if it did come from the East. Many neo-colonists seek their opportunity on the ruins of this country devastated by the war. The inhabitants who have suffered greatly in the war, who are hungry of everything, can easily be "bought" with a minimum investment. It is not easy in such a situation to distinguish whose interests are involved and resist the negative influences. The mentioned Ambassador Naim Kadic recently verified that, for instance, the Government of Kuwait is neither the patron nor does it have any influence or information about any of the humanitarian societies which act here under the title of Kuwait aid! And there is an enormous number of such societies here, from both the East and the West. It will, therefore, be extremely difficult for the long-suffering Bosnian people to distinguish true friends from those who are like vultures circling over their pain bringing "the gifts of Danaoi". But, it is also clear that the future of this people is being decided now and that an error in judgment could cost it new suffering in the future. That is why the entire Bosnian people is on trial, especialy its spiritual and political leaders.

True enough, there is no verified evidence that "Cemalusa" could actually be an instrument of any new spiritual colonization of the Bosnians, but a profound assessment of all argumants pro et contra its construction before it starts can harm noone. Direct or indirect opposition which exposed itself can be just an attempt of critical reconsideration of all the elements before it becomes too late to react, without superfluous emotions, patiently and wisely.

STRAJO KRSMANOVIC