Jovan Divjak may be retired from the military but he remains very active in an organization he created to help orphans and children who were victims of the war. He is considered a hero for defending his Muslim neighbors during the nearly four years Radovan Karadic’s Serbs bombarded Sarajevo. The following is from an interview with Jovan Divjak at the International Human Rights Film Festival (FIFDH) in Geneva.
General Divjak, many people find it surprising that you, a Bosnian Serb, have remained in Sarajevo despite the increasing Muslim majority and ethnic tensions.
First of all I’d like to say that in my family we never spoke of being from one (ethnic) group or another. I am a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and sometimes it angers me when people ask ‘how is it that you, who was born in Belgrade, have remained with the Muslims of Sarajevo?’ I’ve lived in Sarajevo for 43 years. I don’t think of myself as a symbol. I am who I am. Perhaps I am a symbol of those citizens of Sarajevo who are proud of being so.
But isn’t it true that Sarajevo has become more Islamic since the war ended?
It’s not only Sarajevo that has changed. All three groups, Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks are content today to live in towns where they are in the majority – all three groups have done their own ethnic cleansing, not only the Serbs. Today everything is divided by three: education, language and religion. It is a problem mostly caused by the Rais Ulema (Grand Mufti, Mustafa Ceric), the leader of Bosnia’s Muslims who speaks only about Islam and not about civic matters for everyone.
There is a small minority of Muslims in Sarajevo who are of a foreign strain of Islam: Wahabism. Neither they nor the 20 or so new mosques they have constructed are welcomed by the majority of Bosniaks (Muslims) who are either of the Sufi strain or secular. In fact their mosques are mostly empty. It’s true that you see more veiled women and more men with beards and short pants but they are few and I don’t believe they are dangerous.
Why do you say Bosnia is more ethnically divided than ever before? Is this because refugee return hasn’t quite gone as hoped and people aren’t returning to the villages from where they were ethnically cleansed?
Well, take Srebrenica where the international community is building houses for refugees who return. But even if the women want to return (over 8,000 men having been massacred), there are no schools for their children and no jobs for them so they prefer to be internal refugees in the suburbs of Sarajevo which of course increases the Muslim population. The real problem as we saw in the film ‘Mostar United’ [see box] is the school system. Whether in Sarajevo, Banja Luka or Mostar, the students follow different instruction!
When you walk the streets of Sarajevo you are greeted with genuine affection by the people but how do the city’s politicians treat you?
Look, you must realize that our politicians are voted in by a small percent of the electorate. During the last election only 50 percent turned out to vote. In 2006 Silajzic won at the federal level but lost in the municipality of Sarajevo [Haris Silajzic was elected as the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years in the rotating presidency]. He continues to create conflict with Republiks Srpska. Why don’t we talk to them (the Serbs)? We have the same language. The result is that Bosnia is a country dominated by Bosniak (Muslims) with (Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad) Dodik trying to unite with Serbia and the Bosnian Croats with Croatia.
So you are never worried about being a Serb in a Muslim majority country? Are you ever threatened?
Never in Sarajevo although I do fear going to Banja Luka (in Republika Srpska) where I am considered an enemy and a war criminal
Is there a chance that real conflict could erupt again?
No, there may be a lot of noise because we’re preparing for the next elections in 2010. As for real war, that is no longer possible. The Bosnian army is actually three separate divisions, each in its own garrison and none have access to all the weapons. For example the tanks are in one garrison, the shells in another. There can be minor flare-ups but the majority of Bosnian citizens want nothing to do with more fighting. When I speak to young people, they definitely want no more war.
Isn’t one concern about the future, the fear that so many young Bosnians are leaving or trying to leave the country?
No because there are many who are also returning. Take Emina Ganic who is also here in Geneva. She is the daughter of (former Bosnian Vice President Ejup) Ganic and returned from many years abroad to become executive director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. The young know they must leave to get a proper education because our diplomas are not recognized by anyone or even by each other. A diploma from Banja Luka is not recognized in Sarajevo and vice-versa. Perhaps because they love Bosnia as much as I do, many of them are returning to help rebuild a better country.
