From: kutluk@ccl.umist.ac.uk (Kutluk Ozguven)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna
Subject: The Moslems  and BiH.
Date: 1 Oct 92 23:22:44 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre


  I read the ideas about the religious aspect  of the
conflict. I believe there are extreme cases in both sides. First of all,
the Bosnians are not a single religious entity but the mixture of the
three. Many Serbs and Croats fight together with Muslims. It is also
true that sometimes the less informed of our Islamic brethren often
have misconceptions about the nature of the Bosnian Islam, which is
the descendant of the Islam as the religion of the powerful, which is
more a reactionary and tranquile interpretation than the
interpretation of the suppressed. In a way, Bosnian Muslims, and the
Turkish Muslims, are quite similar. Apart from the identical mosques,
traditions and the ilahis, both have relaxed from their beliefs in
this century while the rural areas had maintained their ancestoral
belief. The recent massacres and the particular treatment of the
Muslims, which is incomparable to that of the others, will accelerate
the Islamic revival of Bosnian Muslims. However they will remain
distinct from other parts of the World in the way they see Islam.

  It may be true that some "Islamic fundementalists" (a phrase used
for a very wide range of practicers) will try to exploit the
situation. But I know very well from our own microcosm of
international donors that the politically concerned part of the world
Muslims will always in the minority. The individual Muslims or muslims
all over the world are making their donations not to create a base in
Europe, but because they know that what is happening to Bosnians can
and is also happening to them. This is the reason why I found the
Kashmiris, the Cypriots, the Palestinians and the Indian Muslims
particularly sensitive of all in our local campaign for BiH civilians,
where we emphasize that the money is going to all and not just
Muslims. We found proud men crying like children when we said the word
Bosnia. I spent a long time in trying to raise money as well as
thousands of garments, basic food, and medicine for the civilians, and
found that the reaction to what is happening in Europe is much higher
among the Asian immigrants.

  Let's be honest. The Serbs and the Croats who are fighting alongside
with their fellow countrymen are not fighting for Muslims but for
themselves as well. They shouldn't feel hurt when the Islamic community
(which is hardly more religious than the Bosnian) is sensitive to the
Bosnian case, and when Muslims fly to Bosnia to fight for a country they
never heard a year ago. The funeral of one of them last Thursday took
place in Manchester. He was not even a fighter but leading an Islamic
Relief (a charity organization) convoy into Bosnia from Zagreb. On the
way they were subject to a rocket fire, it was reported. The convoys
with the supplies from individual Muslims or Muslim countries (with
capital M again) continue to go to Bosnia, and are shared by everyone
when they are there. Had it not been for the first-time-in-1400-years
common action of the Islamic countries the prospects for the Bosnians
would be even poorer. This, on the other hand, does not give anybody
the right to interfere in Bosnian internal affairs and to my
knowledge, there had been no such thing.

  The West knew that time was in favor of the Muslim ethnic group in
BiH, and many pro-establishment papres such as The Telegraph of
London, from the beginning pointed to the hazard of having a Muslim
majority state in the middle of Europe. However if the West had been a
fairplayer, recognized BiH in time, and minimized the catastrophy by a
few bomber sorties around the hills, they would avoid the present
solidarity of Muslim states in an international affair.  It is, in
other words, the lexical ambiguity of the letter m that has triggered
a Muslim revival all around the world. 

  I believe that BiH will not be alone in its righteous struggle
against the army of genocide, and eventually be the victorious side.
Let us not harm this by meaningless discussions of faith and
anti-faith that play into the hands of the barbaric invador. The
Muslims from Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Arabia as well as Europe will
keep sending - until the Bosnian children can play in the countryside
without any fear.

Kutluk Ozguven
  

  
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna