BOSNIAN FEDERATION TV ACCUSED OF BIAS IN FAVOUR OF MUSLIMS
BBC Monitoring International Reports - October 30, 2004
Text of an article published by Croatian newspaper Vjesnik on 26 October
Sarajevo: The beginning of this year's Ramadan fast in Bosnia-Hercegovina was
marked by an interesting discussion of how the public television should cover
this important event in the lives of Muslim believers. The case assumed a much
broader importance than that of simple polemics between a religious community
and the leadership of an entity, that is, state television, and pointed out
numerous problems in the attempts to create a European-style secular society in
Bosnia-Hercegovina.
More importantly, the dispute over broadcasting Ramadan programme and its final
outcome again showed that the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina has been
constantly trying to procure for the Bosniak Muslims in this multiethnic country
a special, privileged status, and for Islam to win the position of some type of
state religion.
The dispute over broadcasting or not broadcasting Ramadan programme began with
the Islamic Community's protest over none of the public television stations in
Bosnia-Hercegovina broadcasting special programmes on the occasion of the ending
of the one-day fast at the time of the evening meal.
Since no one realistic expected the Radio-Television of the Serb Republic (RTRS)
to broadcast a Ramadan programme, leaders of the federal and the state
televisions responded, stating quite reasonable arguments.
Jasmin Durakovic, director of the FTV (Federation Television), said that the FTV
had special programmes that were related to the month of fasting, but that they
could not accept the demands made by the Islamic Community that would turn the
public service into a semi-religious television. Namely, the FTV offered the
Islamic Community the broadcasting of the time of the evening meal within the
framework of the regular programme, but the Islamic Community rejected this
offer, demanding that a special programme be broadcast. The state-owned BHTV1
also used rational argumentation in its reply. They said that the state
television would follow all the main religious events while additional events
would be covered in the regular news programmes.
However, the reactions were bitter and heated, and this time political parties
joined in. The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) made an open threat: "We warn
the editorial collegiate bodies of BHT, FTV, and the TVRS (RTRS) that Bosniaks
are a constituent people in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the month of Ramadan is part
of the Bosniak Muslim tradition and culture, and the time when the tradition
could be ignored and discriminated against has passed". The Bosnian Party
officials said that "the FTV decision not to broadcast a Ramadan programme is
unfounded and illegal". Finally, the "most powerful argument" arrived, which was
that it was mostly Bosniaks who paid the television license fee and that this
was the reason their religious programme simply had to be broadcast.
Many dangerous messages were sent in the course of this campaign against the
editorial offices of the television stations, but the most dangerous is the
latest, which leads one to believe that the Bosniaks, as the largest people
(which leads to the conclusion that it is mostly them who pay the television
license fees), should have special rights. This implies that, for instance,
Catholic Croats, of which there are fewer and consequently fewer pay the
television license fees, should have fewer programmes.
This position, which is suitable for a market place, is fatal for the future of
Bosnia-Hercegovina as a country of equal peoples and citizens. Why it is
necessarily assumed that someone who is a Bosniak and who pays the television
license fee necessarily wants the public television to broadcast religious
programmes is a separate issue. However, the Islamic religious leaders' visions
evidently do not allow space for the Bosniaks who see the issue of religion and
its role in everyday life differently. This is also a huge problem for Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Nevertheless, bearing in mind that the leader of the Islamic Community in
Bosnia-Hercegovina no longer conceals the desire for Bosniak political
domination in Bosnia-Hercegovina even in his public appearances - he recently
quite openly stated that the Bosniaks should have a privileged status in the
authorities because there are more of them than there are Croats and Serbs - it
is clear that the latest "television case" speaks about the same thing.
Unfortunately, the leaders of the FTV did not have the strength to resist the
pressures. With apologies and remorse, they began to broadcast the Ramadan
programme with several days' delay. We should wait and see whether they will be
equally principled when the time comes during which Christians re-examine their
relationship with God through self-denial.
The public televisions in Bosnia-Hercegovina have never broadcast Lent
programmes, but we will see if this changes or else in Bosnia-Hercegovina "all
the religions are equal but some are more equal than others".
Source: Vjesnik, Zagreb in Croatian 26 Oct 04 p 10
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