STRATEGIC MISTAKES

Bad Timing of the Memorandum on Autonomy of Sandzak

It is much more important to stop emigration of the Muslim population than to publish a document which, to be realistic, cannot be implemented

AIM Belgrade, 18 June, 1997

Publication of the "Memorandum on establishing special status for Sandzak within the remainder of Yugoslavia" in Sandzacke novine which are controlled by the president of the Muslim National Council, Dr Sulejman Ugljanin, caused much more agitation among the Bosniacs-Muslims in this region and in whole of Serbia than reactions of the authorities. The opinion of a citizen from Sjenica, who wishes to remain anonymous, is typical: "He will just provoke them to raise the army against us again and increase repression of the police against the Bosniacs. Ugljanin does not know what he is doing nor what he wants any more. I am also in favour of the autonomy of Sandzak, but I do not think it should have its own army and be a state within a state". This is simply impossible in this situation. Who does not understand this is leading us to ruin...". Such opinions can also be heard in Novi Pazar, Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities. Among the Bosniacs-Muslims there are a lot of speculations that in this manner Ugljanin is in fact "drawing water to Milosevic's mill", because by publication of the mentioned Memorandum he is opening the question of secession again, about which the international community has a well known, rigorous stand not only concerning Sandzak, but Kosovo as well.

Distribution of the Memorandum was banned in Yugoslavia four years ago "because it provokes hatred and stimulates national and religious intolerance". For the sake of the truth it should be said that many other documents and proclamations in which stirring up hatred was on the verge of fascistoid ideology have not been banned. In this document, among other, full autonomy is demanded which would imply control of police, education, health servive, radio, tv, banks

• practically all institutions. Accoridng to this document, the autonomous province would consist of the following municipalities: Novi Pazar, Priboj, Nova Varos, Pljevlja, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Bijelo Polje, Tutin, Ivangrad, Rozaje and Plav. Out of these eleven municipalities, five have majority Muslim-Bosniac population. In the section of the Memorandum describing the executive power, it is said that "the persident (governor) represents Sandzak, nominates candidates for the prime minister, coordinates the work of the government and state administration... The president and his deputy cannot be members of the same nation". This satisfies the form of representation of the Serbs. None of the members of this nation have supported the Memorandum, though, so that the conceived future multiethnic authorities are in fact pure fiction.

Apart from that, the document states that the borders of Sandzak cannot be changed without approval of all signatories of the Memorandum, which, according to the conception, should have included representatives of the International Peace Conference on Former Yugoslavia, B&H and the Muslim National Council of Sandzak. At this moment the Memorandum appears to be too anachronistic and it is not quite clear who it was in fact addressed to. Its publication at this moment, when efforts are being made to normalize relations between Belgrade and Sarajevo, as certain unbiased analysts claim, means putting spokes in the wheels of this process. This is the source of speculations that Ugljanin decided to make this move in order to relieve the issue of Kosovo of the burden for some time and draw attention to the document whose implementation is simply unfeasible in this form and according to the map which is enclosed to it. Not only because this region to two republics - Serbia and Montenegro - but also because the authorities in Sarajevo are too preoccupied with problems of B&H and the attempts to dismember it, so that they have neither enough strength nor international support to deal with the essential issues of Sandzak at this moment.

It is a historical fact that during the Second World War Sandzak had full autonomy with its own anti-fascist council which was a kind of state administration. After the war this region was divided according to the principle applied in 1913. The idea about the autonomy of Sandzak, in recent history, was publicized in 1991 when the leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Sulejman Ugljanin, literally said: "In case of the change of borders and departure of any of the republics from Yugoslavia, or union of two republics, that is, any change of borders in the country, we will demand and fight for full political and territorial autonomy of Sandzak". Such a demand was sent to the then Presidency of the SFRY.

In the meantime, the known developments took place and the autonomy was discussed on certain occasions when it was considered to be necessary, and Ugljanin himself made a few big shifts, stressing for instance after he had returned to the country that for him it was the destiny of the Bosniacs-Muslims to live in present Yugoslavia and that there was no question about its possible annexation to B&H. Nobody can, however, deny the fact that there have been cases of heavy repression against the Bosniac-Muslim population in this region, evictions and many other things which were completely contrary to conventions on protection of human rights.

Besides, neither the republican nor the federal Constitution mention the Muslims as a nation, and textbooks are full of poisonous statements about them. Geography textbook for the eighth grade of elementary school labels the Muslims-Bosniacs as "Allah worshippers, Serbian-Croatian renegades" who are fighting for "Balkan Muslimania". This textbook was approved by the Ministry of education and culture of Serbia, so that this stance towards a nation can in fact be considered to be the official attitude of the state.

Ugljanin may be drawing his political rhetoric from such an attitude when he is insisting on the autonomy of Sandzak, but the impression is that the one and the other extreme cannot resolve the essential issue: the position of the Bosniacs-Muslims in FRY. In a statement for AIM, the president of the moderate faction of the SDA, Dr Rasim Ljajic, says: "Our main concept is regional autonomy which must be achieved step by step. The most important thing is to stop emigration of the Bosniacs from Sandzak, and then talk about autonomy".

Ejub Stitkovac (AIM)