YOUNG PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO POSE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Novi Pazar, November 10-12, 2006

12/08/2006

The 20th in the series of seminars “Life and Living in Multiethnic Environments”

The project “Building up Democracy and Good Governance in Multiethnic Communities,” realized thanks to the support of the European Commission – Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights

Students, members of political parties’ youth clubs and NGO activists partook in the seminar. Turnout was beyond organizers’ expectations – over 40 young people applied for the seminar.

The topic Pavel Domonji, coordinator of the project’s Novi Sad branch office, opened on the first day was titled “Tolerance and Minorities.” The issue itself is both topical and significant for a heterogeneous and multiethnic region such as Sandzak. This way yet another reason why the ensuing discussion was lively and constructive.

Later in the day, Prof. Mirko Djordjevic, sociologist of religion, spoke about “Political and Religions Conflicts.” The topic itself was more than hot and interesting bearing in mind well-know conflicts between political parties on the one hand, political parties and the Meshihat of the Sandzak Islamic Community on the other, as well as splits in the Islamic Community itself. “If there is such thing as individual sin, there also must be, so to speak, structural sin. Religious systems, churches, communities, etc. can fall into the traps to politics that forge and idealize a religion, which is a sin by itself, though a sin no one is much eager to talk about. We daily witness conflicts both within the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Community,” said Prof. Mirko Djordjevic. Young participants in the seminar testified once again that they knew how to pose right and well-argued questions. They proved they would not back up in the face of problems, or, as Mirko Djordjevic put it, “They perceive a grain of sand in their brother’s eye, but also in their own eyes.” The participants mostly posed questions about the relations between religions and politics, the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the developments in Sandzak and the incident that recently took place in Novi Pazar. That was for the first time that students-believers the media call “Vehabits” showed up at a public gathering. In a dialogue with the keynote speaker and other participants they tried to explain the trend of Islamic thought they followed and remove a number of stereotypes about them. According to the keynote speaker, their coming public was most welcome for that was the only way for them to show themselves in their true light and possibly take off the label of extremism that makes people afraid.

On the seminar’s second day, Dr. Latinka Perovic delivered address titled “Political Opponents.” “I am always glad to come to Sandzak. New groups of young people always show up at seminars. They are curious, they are eager to obtain information new to them. Seminars as such should be continued for they widen horizons and perfectly supplement their knowledge. I would always readily support all such initiatives,” says Latinka Perovic. The participants in the seminar showered her with questions about contemporary world, prerequisites for Serbia’s integration into Europe, the Balkans’ prospects, consequences of the wars in the territory of ex-Yugoslavia, etc. They themselves broached local problems to the solution of which, as they put it, they could hardly contribute much in spite of the fact that those problems were deeply affecting their lives.

Sonja Biserko, chairwoman of the Helsinki Committee, lectured on regional security on the third day. “In my view, this seminar proved that young people in Sandzak hunger for knowledge, particularly for information relevant to their everyday life. The recent past has not been properly discussed yet and, therefore, remains in the domain of social ‘subconsciousness.’ Suppression of emotions and truth suppress people’s energy,” said Biserko.

Later in the day, the participants saw documentary “Priboj Lament” produced by the Sandzak Committee for Human Rights. The documentary deals with the abduction of 17 Bosniaks in Sjeverin, ethnic cleansing, torching of villages and killing of Bosniaks in the territory of the Priboj municipality in 1990s.

\"Young people should attend such seminars. I was impressed with all lectures. Prof. Mirko Djordjevic opened a number of questions we should have opened and tackled by ourselves. His expertise not only in Eastern Orthodoxy and Christianity, but also in Islam is exceptional. Dr. Latinka Perovic’s lecture revealed how small progress this society has made due to longstanding rule of populist rather than democratic parties. Finally, I am most grateful to Semiha Kacar, coordinator of the Novi Pazar branch office, for inviting us to the seminar,” says Rijad Hodzic of the Flores NGO.

\"This seminar has met all my expectations, particularly in terms of topics and lecturers’ capturing interpretations. I really appreciate what I’ve learned from Sonja Biserko, Latinka Perovic and Mirko Djordjevic,” said Fahrudin Kladnicanin, student of economics and representative of the Reintegration NGO.

Regional Radio & Television, Radio 100 Plus and Radio Universe carried stories about the seminar.

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