Transcript · Serbian → English
Discussion on Ethnic Identity and Unity
Yes.
I am Fikret Halilović, and I would like to ask you why you still, in
all your appearances before the Bosniaks in Sandžak, call them Muslims or “that
people”? And I wonder whether the ox you
ate with
Karadžić in Pale was tasty and how many kilos it weighed during the war?
Well, let me tell you, um, unlike
many other oxen I have seen in the meantime, I never even saw that ox.
But…
And that first question is a sensitive question.
I think you have every right to ask it. I will.
I am a very open man, and I have no reason to
say anything diplomatically. That is, I think that when someone tells me
that
you are Bosniaks, it suggests to me that you came from Bosnia,
and then it suggests to me that you are now a national minority in some country where
You haven't always been. I don't think that's good for you.
That is my personal opinion, and my democratic stance is
that everyone can consider themselves
collectively to be what they think they are and no one else has the right to
determine how they see themselves,
but everyone can see that this isn't a matter of fact,
of natural science, but a matter of the feelings of a certain
number of people.
I think that in this country, Serbia, there are people who
are constituent citizens of that country and that they are citizens of that
country with equal rights. And now the de-debate over
whether you're this or that can only drag us all
onto terrain where there is no arbiter, where now it's just some against others,
against third parties. I don't get into that and never have.
I lived in Travnik for ten years and I can say that
I didn't even know there were different religions and nations until, eventually,
until the war broke out. Because we spent time together,
I thought that it was, that it was natural for people to have different
names, that someone
was called Ferid, someone Hasan, someone was called Marko, and that it wasn't anything
that
divides us, but simply what someone is called.
Just as someone is called George, someone is called Hans, and I accept that as
normal, and
it never occurs to me to tell him, now you're a Serb or you're not
German. Accept people as they are, and
don't, let's not
make an issue of it. If you make it
a topic, on the other side you'll have
as partners those same people who make it a topic, but it won't be
me. It'll be those who say, no, you're not
that.
And then you'll have that, that dispute
in which no one can win. I'm a supporter of a policy of, let's
find
things in which we can all win.
Let's not find things to argue over where someone can lose.
There are so many things we can gain through cooperation, let's
do them, and when we've done them all, then let's divide ourselves.
Then, when we've solved all the problems, let's say, let's now
draw the boundaries.
But I'm sure that moment will never come, because life will always put
problems before us that only together can we solve.
I said at, at the beginning, if we don't learn from Europe
that 24 nations can coexist, if Protestants and
Catholics who fought for 300 years can live together and
create a united Europe, if we don't learn that from them, then
we don't deserve to exist as a country.
I've learned
and rest assured that I will never be someone who will
play on differences. Though I know that in this country, the most
votes are won
if you say they're to blame, whichever side you're on.
My problem is that when I tell people, let's do something,
they ask me, against whom?
America, Russia, China? I say no, against no one.
We have no opponents, we have partners.
Then they say, we don't understand that. We understand you saying, brother, who is
against
us so we can see what to do. That's our problem, it's like
we easily unite against someone, but
we find it hard to unite for ourselves. Let's say, let's
do something for ourselves,
and once we've done everything for ourselves that we can do, then let's do something against
someone else. And that moment will never come,
because we'll always have something
to do for ourselves. And you're a young man.
I'm telling you, look to the future, look to the future, and there we will
meet, you and I. Since I intend to keep living in
the future.
Here,
sir…
End of transcript · 784 words · machine translated
Original transcript (Serbian)
Da. Ja sam Fikret Halilović i htio bih da vam postavim pitanje zašto vi i dalje u svim svojim nastupima za Bošnjake u Sandžaku govorite muslimani ili taj narod? I interesuje me da li je vol koji ste pojeli sa
Karadžićem na Palama bio ukusan i koliko je imao kila u toku rata? Pa da vam kažem, ovaj, nisam ni vidio tog vola, za razliku od mnogih drugih volova koje sam u međuvremenu vidio. Ali... A ovo prvo pitanje jeste jedno osjetljivo pitanje.
Mislim i imate pravo da ga postavite. Ja ću. Ja sam jedan vrlo otvoren čovjek i nemam nikakav razlog da bilo šta govorim ni diplomatski. Znači, ja mislim da kad meni neko kaže da ste vi Bošnjaci, onda meni to asocira da ste došli iz Bosne
i onda mi to asocira da ste vi sada nacionalna manjina u nekoj zemlji u kojoj vi niste oduvek. Ja mislim da to nije dobro za vas. To je moje lično mišljenje, a moj demokratski stav je da svako može sebe da smatra kolektivno onim što on misli da jeste i da niko drugi nema pravo da ga tako,
da odredi kako on sebe smatra, ali da svako može, da to nije neka stvar činjenična, prirodne nauke, nego da je to stvar osjećanja određenog broja ljudi. Ja mislim da u ovoj zemlji Srbiji žive ljudi koji
su konstitutivni građani te zemlje i da oni jesu građani te zemlje sa podjednakim pravima. I da sada ra-rasprava o tome da li ste ovi ili ste oni samo nas može sve odvući na jedan teren gdje nema arbitra, gdje sad samo jedni protiv drugih protiv trećih. Ja u to ne ulazim i nikad nisam ulazio.
Ja sam živio u Travniku deset godina i mogu da kažem da nisam ni znao da postoje te različite vere i nacije dok nisam na kraju, dok nije izbio rat. Zato što smo se mi družili, ja sam mislio da je, da je prirodno da se ljudi zovu različitim imenima, da se neko
zove Ferid, da se neko zove Hasan, da se neko zove Marko i da to nije nikakva stvar koja deli, nego naprosto neko se tako zove. Kao što se neko zove George, neko se zove Hans i ja to prihvatam kao normalno i
ne pada mi na pamet da ja sad njemu kažem e sad ti si Srbin ili ti nisi Nemac. Prihvatimo ljude onakvi kakvi jesu i nemoj, nemojmo od toga da pravimo pitanja. Ako vi pravite od toga temu, vi ćete na drugoj strani imati za
partnere iste one koji će da prave tu temu, ali to neću biti ja. To će biti oni koji će da kažu e niste vi to. I onda ćete imati to, taj spor u kome ne može niko da dobije. Ja sam pristalica politike ajde da
nađemo stvari u kojima svi možemo da dobijemo. Ajde da ne nađemo stvari, da se sporimo gde neko može da izgubi. Ima toliko stvari gdje možemo da dobijemo u saradnji, ajde da njih uradimo, pa kad sve njih uradimo, ajde onda da se delimo.
Pa kad sve probleme rešimo, ajde onda da kažemo ajde sada da se razgraničimo. Ali ja sam siguran da taj trenutak nikada neće doći, jer život će uvek da stavlja pred nas probleme koje samo zajednički možemo da rešimo. Ja sam rekao na, na početku, ako mi ne, od Evrope ne naučimo
da može dvadeset i četiri nacije, ako protestanti i katolici koji su tristo godina ratovali da žive zajedno i da prave jedinstvenu Evropu, ako od njih to ne naučimo, onda nismo ni zaslužili da postojimo kao zemlja. Ja sam naučio
i budite sigurni da ja neću nikada biti neko ko će igrati na razlikama. Mada znam da u ovoj zemlji se najviše glasova dobije, ako kažete oni su nam krivi, bilo na koju stranu. Moj problem je što kad kažem ljudima dajte da nešto uradimo,
pitaju me, a protiv koga? Amerike, Rusije, Kine? Ja kažem ne, ni protiv koga. Mi nemamo protivnike, mi imamo partnere. Onda oni kažu mi to ne razumemo. Mi razumemo da nam kažeš brate ko je protiv
nas pa da mi vidimo šta da radimo. To je naš problem kao da mi se lako ujedinjujemo protiv nekoga, a teško se ujedinjujemo za sebe. Hajde da kažemo dajte da mi uradimo nešto za sebe, pa kad sve uradimo za sebe što možemo da uradimo, ajde onda da uradimo nešto protiv
nekog drugoga. I taj trenutak neće nikada doći, jer uvek ćemo imati šta da uradimo za sebe. I vi ste mlad čovek. Ja vam kažem gledajte u budućnost, gledajte u budućnost i tamo ćemo se sastati vi i ja. Pošto ja imam nameru da još živim u
budućnosti. Evo, gosp...
