I support the existence of multi-ethnic, democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am Bosnian and Yugoslavian.
On my wall, in my room, I have posters of soccer legends, two tapestries of Ernesto Che Guevara, and one portrait of President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia. The middle of the wall is dominated, however, by the flag of Tito’s Yugoslavia. The flag of the country that has been dead for many years. The one with the red star, forged in gold.
I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina. And while that may lead many to think they know who I am and what I am in a religious or ethnic sense, I know as a fact that most of these assumptions will be wrong from the start. Most people do not even understand what it means to be Bosnian. And I mean Bosnian, stripped away of all propaganda or political agendas. Or even, what it means to be Yugoslavian, for that matter.
Well, I shall teach you what it means.
I have no other homeland and want none other. Everyone has something. But when you are from Bosnia, you only have this flag.
YUGOSLAVIA = BOSNIA
BOSNIA = MINI-YUGOSLAVIA
This flag is not just the flag of Tito's Yugoslavia, but the flag of Bosnia. No not officially of course, but in the actual unrecognized and ignored reality.
It is the only flag under which my Bosnia and Herzegovina was ever free.
To be Bosnian is to be a Muslim, an Orthodox, and a Catholic. To be a Bosnian means that you celebrate two different Christmases and two different Easter, and celebrate Ramazan and Bajram. You worship Jesus Christ and Allah alike. You hate no one, you discriminate against no one, and you accept every good hearted person. You believe in multi-culturalism, democracy, freedom, justice, the rule of law and order, benevolent and egalitarian co-operation amongst citizens, and unity.
To be Bosnian is to listen to the songs of Bijelo Dugme, Bosnia and Yugoslavia’s eternal and greatest musical group ever. Listening to these songs, reminiscing on the glorious and beautiful past and the good old days. Singing at the top of one’s lungs songs such as “Djurdjevdan”, “Lipe Cvatu” , “A I Ti Me Iznevjeri” , “Pljuni i Zapjevaj Moja Jugoslavijo” , “Hej Slaveni” , “Lijepa Nasa, Tamo Daleko” , and of course “Ruzica Si Bila”, singing to the good old days of peace and prosperity, ethnic and religious tolerance. Trampling upon backward fundamentalism of religious fanaticism. Trampling upon inter-ethnic mistrust and hate. Trampling upon hatred, upon intolerance, upon authoritarianism. Supporting freedom and pluralistm, law based, constitutional liberal democracy.
To be Bosnian, to be Yugoslavian, means to oppose the darkness and the irrationality of hatred. To promote love between people. To promote a bright future. To heal wounds of war. To have hope, to have courage to stand up and fight for a better tommorow. To not be a weakling who says "we are cursed, wars will always happen." NO, wars will NOT ALWAYS happen, this is why you have to stand and fight. Fight so that further wars do not happen. If you are a coward, then get lost! Get lost and do not poison the younger generations with your weak and pathetic pessimism! Go, get lost!
To the pessimists: You chose to run before the nationalists and the mafia-criminals. We, Bosnians and Yugoslavs, we the free-thinking and liberal-minded, educated people, we choose to fight for a better tommorow for our children, for a future of religious and ethnic tolerance, no matter what side we come from. For a prosperous Balkan of the future, within the European Union. Free, democratic, economically stable, and united. This is what we want.
This is what it means to be Bosnian. And anyone who claims that he/she is Bosnian, is in a wider sense, Yugoslavian.
And this is why I am holding the flag of Yugoslavia, and my Besa to Yugoslavia and Bosnia are eternal with every drop of blood in my body.
No, it is not because I am a communist. The Red Star on the Yugoslav flag does not symbolize communism. The symbol of communism is the hammer and the sickle; the Red Star symbolizes struggle for freedom. So how can anyone, in their rightful mind, oppose the Red Star?
Yes, I am loyal to Josip Broz Tito. He was the only one in the Balkans who had a vision of unity, brotherhood, inter-ethnic and religious co-existence. He was the only one who was able to create the kind of tolerance that exceeded even the tolerance that exists here in the Western World. Oh yes, I’ve heard all the stories, that he was a dictator, that he oppressed his political opponents. No, no, let me set it straight for you: he oppressed neo-nazis and neo-fascists. He oppressed the successors to those who stood side by side with Hitler and Mussolini in 1941. He oppressed those who led our Balkan peoples into ethnic bloodbaths in World War 2. I am talking, of course about Croatian and Serbian fascist-nationalists. He oppressed them so that the rest of the normal people, who wished to not be raped, tortured, and slaughtered, would have a chance at freedom. After all, is this not what is done in the west? Do we allow Holocaust deniers to freely deny that Holocaust happened? We do not, and Tito did not either. The man was a genius, a hero, a humanist. And a communist. So what? He was a greater democrat than any “democratic” politician I have ever beheld in the West. And yes, I am loyal to him. Does anyone have a problem with that? How can they have a problem with that, in their rightful minds?
Yugoslavia, his creation, is now gone. Many say: So what? Let’s get on with our lives. Yeah, good one, easy for you to say, sons of Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, Podgorica, and Prishtina.
But we, the sons of Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and Mostar...we have no other home. No other home except for united Bosnia and Yugoslavia.
It is easy for the other South Slavs and non-Slavs too. Yugoslavia is gone; so what? They have alternatives don't they? Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and now independent Kosovo.
People of Serbia and Croatia have their homelands; my homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is crucified between the extremist nationalism of the those two. Both Serbian and Croatian nationalists want to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bosnians themselves.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is once again standing on the edge of ethnic violence. And as Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania are on the doorstep of entry into the European Union and a brighter future, my Bosnia is on the edge of collapsing upon itself, surely as its greater version - Yugoslavia did 16 years ago.
The world is focused on the Kosovo question, whether or not it will remain a part of Serbia or truly become an independent state. Neither solution is accepted by all sides, and this leads to much worry from the international community, as well as the peoples of the Balkans themselves.
No one is even realizing that an even greater problem lies in Balkan's eternally most volatile gunpowder keg: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia's problems are far more complex. In Kosovo, two drastically different natioanalities are at odds with each other. They have a clear definition of who they are, what they want, and what they differ on.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the three "ethnic sides" are not ethnic sides at all, but the same one people, foolishly divided by religion and mafia-politics of war criminals.
Bosnian Orthodox (Serbs), Catholics (Croats), and Muslims are all the same people: They are Bosnian Slavs, divided by the concept of "Religion=Identity" which only goes to serve the imperialist-nationalist interests of Croatian and Serbian expansionist extremists, who use vague, illogical, ill-conceived, and historically incorrect arguements to lobby for the partition of Bosnia along ethnic lines. And the biggest lunacy of all is that Bosnian Orthodox and Catholics do not have much of a say, because they are forced to follow the ideology of their leadership, for the simple reason that there is no other alternative way anymore.
There are of course, those few Bosnians who do not feel themselves to be Bosnian-Serbs, Bosnian-Croats, or Bosnian-Muslims, but simply Bosnians, regardless of religion. I find it amusing, in a very horrible way, when people (and they are many) think that “Bosnian” = “Muslim”. No, Bosnian DOES NOT = Muslim, get that through your head once and for all. No, no, don’t tell yourself “Oh whatever, so many people say that Bosnian = Muslim, so I’ll believe the same thing.” Those “so many people” are blindfolded sheep who follow blindly, without their own minds, what they are told.
Is that what you want to be? An uneducated, ignorant, pathetic excuse for a human being? A sheep, which is told what to think, believe, and feel? No. You do not want to be this. So get it through your head, this what I am telling you.
So Bosnian DOES NOT = Muslim. The same way that “Yugoslavian” DOES NOT = Serb. Serbian nationalists tried to exploit Yugoslavia for the advancement of their own nationality’s interests. The Bosnian Muslim nationalists are trying to exploit Bosnia for the advancement of their own nationality’s interests. Both are crimes. Crimes against truth, justice, and humanity.
Yugoslavism is an idea of multi-ethnic co-existence, in which no religion or ethnicity has the right to dominate others in the Balkans. All are equal, all are recognized, all are democratically free. Is that such a hard pill to swallow? Is the medieval ethno-centrism that is all the rage now in the Balkans really superior to multi-ethnic co-existence? Is it? Really? I mean seriously, really?
To be Bosnian does not mean you are Muslim. It means that you descend from Bosnia, whether you are Muslim, Orthodox (Which many people see as “Bosnian Serb”), Catholic (Which many people see as “Bosnian Croat”), or atheist. Bosnian means that you descend from the country of Bosnia, that your family, regardless of religion or ethnic affiliation, descends from Bosnia. If they do, then you are Bosnian.
The idea of Bosnia is the same idea that is the foundation of Yugoslavia, in a reduced form.
Oh yes, I know you have heard that Bosnian = Muslim. I know that your parents may have taught you that it is true. I know you’ve known people who called themselves Bosnian, and implied that Bosnian = Muslim. IT IS NOT TRUE. Bosnian DOES NOT MEAN Muslim. It means Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, Bosnian Serb, Bosnian Croat...but it’s all Bosnian. When they say that Serbia and Croatia waged war against Bosnia...NO, once again, they are mislead. Serbia and Croatia did very little themselves. It was the Bosnians themselves who did the fighting among each other. Bosnian Serbs vs. Bosnian Muslims vs. Bosnian Croats. The point is simple: they are all Bosnians. Oh yes, they may try to deny that they are Bosnians. The Bosnian Serbs are notorious for this. But if we ask ourselves why, we may find a few key reasons: 1.) Due to the fact that Bosnian-Muslim nationalists attempt to hijack Bosnian identity as solely their own, the Bosnian Serbs do not wish to associate with an Islamic identity. 2.) Bosnian Serb nationalists are poisoned by the idea of Greater Serbia (“All Orthodox (or Serbs, according to individual opinions) within one, Serbian national state”). The Bosnian Croats are no better, due to the fact that a large majority of them clutch Croatian passports and identify themselves as Croats. The parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control are considered by Croatian nationalists as “Croatian historical territory.”
The fact remains: they are all Bosnians. Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Muslims. Whether the former two are even what they claim to be, remains the question, and this is why: Is it enough for someone to self-identify with one ethnicity, simply because one has the same religion as that ethnicity. I am talking, of course, of the idea that Bosnia does not have any Serbs or Croats within it, but instead Bosnians who are Orthodox or Catholic. Are not Serbs in Serbia? Are not Croats in Croatia? Are not Bosnians in Bosnia? After all, we are all South Slavic. Are not the divisions between us created by the 3 different religions, and not in the fundamentalist sense, but in a sense of identity. It’s not that Balkanites are religious fanatics, because we are not very religious people. It’s that we find in religion the only true factor of difference between us. And we base our ethnic identities solely on religion.
Now tell me: Is this not backward? Is this not anti-modern, anti-democratic, anti-European? Yes, it is. And this is not a matter of opinion, it is a statement of fact. We have stepped backwards in terms of historical development. We have become more backward. All of us. No discrimination in this sense, is there? All of us have stepped back in time. We had a multi-ethnic society of tolerance. Now we have countless mutually-hostile entities, which are ready to war with each other the moment the International Community turns its back. The corporate ruling class of the world prefers this of course. We will become a source of cheap labour in the European Union. Maybe this is what we need. It will be a wakeup call.
But let us return to the concept of Bosnia. Indeed of Yugoslavia itself. Why are both important and mutually correlated? I will tell you why:
While Yugoslavia promotes the multi-ethnic co-existence of all South Slavs and non-Slavs who live on the historical territories of what is Yugoslavia, Bosnia promotes multi-ethnic co-existence of the South Slavs and non-Slavs who reside within Bosnia. It is the same concept, backed by the same idea of co-existence.
I am always eager to hear interesting, albeit pointless arguments against Yugoslavism/Bosnianism. I am always eager to observe to what level human stupidity will lower itself. For the truth remains, there are no concrete counter-arguments against Yugoslavism/Bosnianism, which make academic sense. Whoever opposes them supports Balkanization (“Division into small, weak, poor, and ineffective ethnic enclaves, which are at war with each other, halting all economic, social, and cultural progress and democratic development.”)
Those of us who support Bosnia as a multi-ethnic country, where there is room for all...We are the same people who 17 years ago supported the existence of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia. Allow me to clarify that we still, in 2007, support the resurrection of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, whether as a confederation, or a union of Balkan states. By supporting Bosnia, one supports Yugoslavia. The two are one and the same, the latter being an expanded, more daring, ambitious and grandiose version of the former.
Yugoslavia still exists, believe it or not and not just in my heart. Multi-ethnic Yugoslavia is on the verge of dying its second death in less then 20 years, and this Yugoslavia is contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The very same reasons that broke apart mighty Yugoslavia are breaking apart her smaller clone = Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nationalist ethno-centrism, "inat", the illogical refusal to co-operate with others for no reason at all, mistrust, economic deadlock, political deadlock, lack of a common vision of a common future = The fatal problems of Yugoslavia in 1991 and Bosnia in 2007.
But let me return to my statement: Yugoslavia still exists. It is today's Bosnia. And while the wise international community did not lift a finger to stop Yugoslavia from destroying itself, it invested great efforts into keeping Bosnia alive.
Bosnia = Yugoslavia. How could they oppose the existence of one but support the existence of the other. This paradox eloquently illustrates the degree to which the international consciousness is so ignorant of the realities of the Balkans. Yugoslavia was the Balkan version of the United States of America and Canada: a multi-cultural state in which we were all "E plubirus unum" (From many, one). And both America and Canada quietly watched the demolition of a federated multi-cultural society, which was identical to their own in many respects. But they, in a self-contradictory way, supported the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia's diminished version?
No. They were and still are, simply confused and under-educated.
Today's Bosnia is rump Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's borders have diminished, and are formed by the great rivers of Drina, Sava, Una and Neretva. It is the land of Bosnia, the blood-drenched and fiercely beautiful land, in which history, myth, reality, truth and lies all come together in a melting pot.
So why am I standing, holding the flag of Yugoslavia, which "no longer exists." Because I am Bosnian. And this is the flag of Bosnia. The true flag of Bosnia, the only flag under which Bosnia was simply what it was. The flag of Bosnia's only ever true protector. I am holding this flag because Yugoslavia has retreated from its 1990 borders, and its borders are now the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
And those borders are under nationalist-extremist siege once again. In my own home city, Banja Luka, 10 000 Orthodox (Serbs) are protesting a new reform, which is attempting to give Bosnia more unity as a country. They are instead trying to break apart Bosnia, and are calling for the Serbian part of Bosnia to become independent of Bosnia. For this pretext, they are using the Kosovo arguement; they claim to be like Kosovo, and that they too should be given the same right to secede, just like Kosovo.
Why? Is Bosnia so horrible to them? After all, this situation is nothing like Kosovo; in Kosovo, the Belgrade government committed atrocities and ethnic cleansing against its Albanian citizens. But in Bosnia, the Sarajevo government did not largely commit atrocities against its Orthodox and Catholic citizens. (It was often vice-versa).
I hardly know anymore whether to weep in agony or to laugh like a crazed lunatic. Croats, Serbs, Montenegrins, they all have a place to belong. But they wish to take what little we Bosnians have left, and claim as their own? Once again, I wish to be advised: should I weep or just laugh at it all?
Oh dear Tito, if you could only see what they have reduced your Bosnians to! If you could only see how your proud Bosnians, your best Partisan fighters, your fiercest and proudest and most honourable Yugoslavs, how low they have been beaten? If you could only see them now, as they kneel on their knees, unable to stand up and fight back against the vultures who are seeking to feast upon the corpse of Yugoslavia once again, and upon the only part of it that is still somewhat intact, that of her most tender child Bosnia?
It is better that you cannot see it. The heartbreak would be too much for you, Father...
Rest In Peace, Father Josip Broz Tito 1892 - 1980
Dear Yugoslavia...Dear Mother...May you rest in peace and know that you were not betrayed by all of your children. Some of them are still holding your proud banner, people like myself. I am in exile, far away from your grave, but I am keeping a pure heart and an honourable soul, and am doing exactly what you have raised me to do. And while I am no great man at all, and am far from accomplishing truly magnificent, great things, I am doing what you taught me to do. I am trying to make a difference.
Oh mother, if you could only see your son...
Rest In Peace, Mother Yugoslavia 1943 - 1992
And you, my Bosnia? When is your dzenaza, your funeral coming? What flag shall I bear then? Your ancient, medieval, historic flag, the white one with the Ljiljani and Sword Banner of the Kotromanici Dynasty of King Tvrtko? The blue and yellow one of the international colonial administration?
Or perhaps your only true flag, the one that I am holding, the one that I am refusing to set down? The Red Star Flag?
Let them kill you, if they are able to, mother Bosnia. They already killed our mother - Yugoslavia. And Father Tito is dead and unable to protect us anymore. What difference does it make anyhow? Do they not understand that they cannot destroy us, and that no matter how many times they change the borders, change names, ethnically cleanse your territories and try to anex you to Serbia or Croatia...Do they not understand that you will always remain what you are...Bosnia and Herzegovina, one and only, indivisible and indestructible, before the eyes of God's justice...
Let them kill you. I will laugh upon them, as I laugh upon the killers of Yugoslavia. And when and if they kill you, I will add your banner to the banners of Yugoslavia and Tito, the banners that I carry written upon my soul, every single day of my life...They cannot take any of you away from me, even if they take my life, you are forever a part of me and I a part of you and nothing shall ever change that.
I am Titoist, Yugoslav, and Bosnian. These three concepts are mutually inter-related and indistinguishable. They give each other life, they give each other strength, they give each other hope.
Long live Tito, Yugoslavia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina!
Your exiled son still speaks for you, and will be your voice forever, until the end of my time.
Anynomous
