Yugoslavia's Moslem Problem

Author(s): K. F. Cviic
Source: The World Today, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Mar., 1980), pp. 108-112
Published by: Royal Institute of International Affairs
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40395176
Accessed: 25-01-2016 13:19 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Royal Institute of International Affairs is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The World
Today.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Yugoslavia's Moslem problem
K. F. CVIIC

A little over a monthbeforehe was struckdown by illnessand had to have

his leftleg amputated,PresidentTito paid a visitto Bosnia and Herzegovina,a
Republic of the Yugoslav Federationand a key strategicarea rich in mineral
resourcesand containingthe bulk of the Yugoslav armamentsindustry.At a
meetingwithpartyand governmentleaders in his countryseat in Bugojno on
25 November,PresidentTito touched on the Republic's nationalityproblems,
condemningparticularlythe 'underminingactivityof some clericalistcircles'
which,he said, had to be 'nipped in thebud, by takingseveremeasuresif neces-
sary'.1He did not say which'clericalistcircles'he had in mind,but everybodyin
Bosnia and Herzegovinaknewthathe meantthereligiousleadersof theMoslem
communitythere.
These leaders had already been criticizedat an importantconferenceon
nationalityquestionsheld in Banja Luka, also in Bosnia, earlierthatmonth.Mr
Hamdija Pozderac, who sitson the24-memberpartyPresidiumin Belgradeand
is himselfa Moslem fromBosnia, attackedthemfortheirfailureto condemnthe
'manipulationofreligiousinstitutions and of religionitselfin thename of theso-
called defence of Moslem national interests'.2Pan-Islamic nationalism, Mr
Pozderac argued,was againsttheParty'snationalitypolicybecause it envisaged
brotherhoodand unitysolelywiththeIslamicpeoples.
For overa decade, Bosnia's Moslems(1-5 millionin thelast 1971census,with
another200,000 livingin other Yugoslav federalrepublics)had been a prize
exhibitof theTito regime,especiallyin itsrelationswiththeMoslem countriesof
theThirdWorld.How did theycome underfire? How did theybecomea separate
nationalityin thefirstplace?
The bulk of today's Bosnian Moslems are the directdescendantsof the old
inhabitants ofBosnia beforeitwas overrunbytheTurksin 1463. Thesewereeither
Catholics or belonged to the Bogomilsect which had become widespread in
Bosnia and was heavilypersecutedby the CatholicChurch.The bulk of today's
Orthodox in Bosnia are descendantsof migrantswho came to Bosnia under
Turkishrule,or ofCatholicswho embracedOrthodoxyundertheinfluenceofthe
well-organizedOrthodoxChurch. Bosnian Moslems are Slavs, unlike theirco-
religionistsin today's Yugoslavia- theAlbanians (1 -3 millionin 1971,of whom
just under 1 millionlived in Kosovo, theautonomousregionof the Republic of
Serbia) and theTurks(just over 100,000in 1971,livingin theRepublic of Mace-
donia).
During Austria-Hungary's rule in Bosnia, whichbegan in 1878 when Turkey
was obliged to withdrawand lasted till 1918,the Croats livingin the monarchy
demandedthatBosnia should be unitedwiththe otherancientCroat lands also
1 Borba,26 November1979. 2 ibid.,6 November1979.
The authoris on thestaffofTheEconomist.
108

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
YUGOSLAVIA 109
underHabsburgrule. But the Hungariansopposedthis,fearing(probably
thatitwouldbethefirst
correctly) steptowards theformation ofthethirdSlavunit
oftheHabsburg empire andtheendofthedualistregime inwhichtheHungarians
wereoneofthetwoseniorpartners. So Bosniawasplacedunderthedirection first
ofthejointAustro-Hungarian ForeignMinistry andlateroftheFinanceMinistry.
TheSerbs,ontheotherhand,agitated fortheunionofBosniawithSerbiaon the
grounds thattheSerbianOrthodox inBosniawerethelargest ofthethreereligious
groups.TheAustro-Hungarian authorities triedtoencourage theformation ofa
separate'Bosnian'nationality takingin all themajorgroups,and theofficial
language wascalled'Bosnian'.
In thefirst,royalist,Yugoslaviawhichwasformed in 1918,theBosnianMos-
lemswerenottreated well.TheBelgrade government sawthemas a chiefobstacle
toSerbia'scomplete controloverBosnia.On theotherhand,itneededtheirvotes
and thiswas something theMoslemleaderslearntto exploitfortheirpolitical
ends.Ofthe24Moslemdeputies electedtothefirstYugoslavConstituent Assembly
inBelgradeon 28 November 1920,22 declaredthemselves Croats,butthechair-
manandsecretary oftheUnitedMoslemOrganization (JMO)clubintheAssem-
blydiplomatically calledthemselves 'Yugoslavs'.Thebitter Croat-Serbrivalryfor
Bosniacontinuedtillthe dismemberment of Yugoslaviain 1941,withsome
members of theMoslemintelligentsia declaring themselves Croatsand others
Serbs.8Dr Dzafer-begKulenovic,who becameleaderof the JMO in 1939,
declaredhimself a Croatand in 1941joinedthegovernment ofAntePavelicin
Zagreb,remaining itsfirst
Vice-Premier tillthatregime's collapsein1945; hethen
madehisescapeto Syriawherehediedin 1956.Rightfromthebeginning ofthe
Pavelicrule,manyleadingBosnianMoslemsprotested againsttheatrocities of
hisregime andgradually moreMoslemsbegantojoin theTitopartisans. Butthe
enmity betweentheMoslemsand theSerbianroyalist cetnikguerrillasendured
tilltheend.
TheTitoregime tooktheviewthattheseMoslemswereeitherSerbsor
at first
Croats,as MrVladimir Bakaric,a member ofboththepartyPresidium and the
collective
statePresidency, explainedin a recenttelevision But the
interview.4
recognition that,as MrBakaricsaid,'notonlythefaithbutthewholewayoflife
determines thesepeople'camemuchlater.To beginwith,theMoslemsweregiven
a chanceofeitherdeclaring themselves as Serbsor Croatsor as 'nationally non-
alignedMoslems'.In reality, thefirst twodecadesof Tito'sYugoslaviawerea
veryuncomfortable timefortheMoslems - as theywerefortheCroatpopu-
lationofBosnia.Thesituation improved radicallyin 1966withtheoverthrow of
Alexander Rankovic,thepowerful secretpolicechiefand a hardliner. The main
targetsofhispoliceinBosniabefore1966hadbeentheMoslemsandtheCroats-
as in Kosovoithad beentheAlbanians, also regarded as 'untrustworthy'.After
1966eventheBosnianSerbleaderssuchas CvijetinMijatovicadmitted thatlife
8 The mostcurious,
perhaps,was the case of the writerand winnerof theNobel prizefor
1961,Ivo Andric,who came of a CatholicBosnianfamilyand startedlifeas a Croat author
publishingin Zagreb,butlaterjoined theroyaldiplomaticserviceand begancallinghimselfa
Serb.
4 Borba,23 January1980.

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
110 THE WORLD TODAY March 1980

had been toughforMoslemsand Croats in Bosnia. In a speechat a partyconfer-

ence on 19 June1971, Avdo Humo, one of the top Moslem leaders,said: 'The
worsttreatedweretheinstitutions of theCroat and Moslem people. Those people
werenationallyoppressedand understrongpressurefromtheunitarist-centralist
authorities.In the policy of assimilationand decentralizationof the Moslems
therewas alwayspresentan attemptbytheauthoritiesto turntheMoslemnational
institutions into Serbian Moslem institutions'.5
However,in January1968,theBosnian Moslems wereofficially recognizedas
a separateethnicgroup and wereaccorded thestatusof a fullnationality.That
statuswas extendedonlyto Moslemslivingin Bosnia, Serbia (withoutKosovo),
Montenegroand Croatia. Albanian-speakingMoslems of Kosovo remained
Albanians and Macedonian-speakingMoslems in Macedonia Macedonians. By
1971 the Moslems of Bosnia had gainedthenumericalmajorityin theRepublic:
therewere 1,482,430Moslems (39-6 percentof the totalpopulation); 1,393,148
Serbs(37 •2 percentof thetotal); and 772,491Croats (20 •6 percentof thetotal).6
At thepreviouscensusin 1961,the Moslemswereonly25-7 per centof thetotal
populationwhiletheSerbswere42 •9 percentand theCroats 21 •7 per cent.The
reason for the enormousincreasein Moslem strengthwas partlythe Moslems'
highbirthrate.There was also thefactthatmanyof the Moslems who had pre-
viouslydeclaredthemselves to be Serbsor non-alignedYugoslavsnowcame out as
Moslems.The figurefor'non-alignedYugoslavs'was 8 •4 percentin 1961and only
1 -2 per centin 1971. The Serbs' proportionof thetotalpopulationwas 42-9 per
centin 1961, 5 •7 percentmorethanin 1971.
Parallelwithrecognitionas a separatenationality,theMoslemsreceivedother
formsof encouragement.Many wereallowed to studyat Arab universities. They
also regularlymade the pilgrimageto Mecca: of the 2 million or so Moslem
pilgrimsto Mecca in 1978,some 1,500came fromBosnia. About 50 percentof all
Moslemchildrenreceivereligiouseducationinmanyofthenewmosquesthathave
been built since 1966 with some help fromfriendlyIslamic states but largely
throughtheeffortsof the zealous Moslems in Bosnia's townsand villages.The
highertheologicalschool in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, can accommodate
each year only a fractionof those who would like to studyto become Moslem
imams.Yugoslav diplomacyhas made good use of theseMoslemsin recentyears
and hardlya delegationhas goneto a Moslemcountrywithoutsome Moslemfrom
Bosnia belongingto it. Conversely,leadersof Islamic statesvisitingYugoslavia
wereregularlybroughtto Sarajevo wheretheywouldreceivea big welcomefrom
local fellowMoslems.
As partof thenew policyof favouringtheBosnian Moslems,a strictban was
imposed on any expressionsof old rivalry.When the partisan war hero and
Ministerinthepost-warTito government in Belgrade,GeneralVeceslavHoljevac,
referred to theemigrationof CroatMoslemsfromBosnia in the1878-1918period
in a book publishedin 1968,7he was severelycriticizedin thepress.

6Vjesnik,5Julyl971. • Statisticki
Bitten(Belgrade),April1972.
7 VeceslavHoljevac, Hrvati izvan domovine(Croats Outside Their Fatherland)(Zagreb:
Maticahrvatska,1968).

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
YUGOSLAVIA 111

The firstsignsof officialdispleasurewiththe Moslemscame in 1978 whenMr

PozderacattackedMoslemnationalistswho,he alleged,wishedto turnBosnia and
Herzegovinainto the 'exclusivefatherland'of the Moslems on the pretextthat
Serbs and Croats who live in thesame Republic alreadyhave theirhomelandin
Serbia or Croatia. He also accused Moslem nationalistsof wantingto exercise
control over theirfellow Moslems in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.8The
clearestsignalof thecomingstormwas thepublicationin themainSarajevo daily
Oslobodjenjefrom6 Augusttill9 Septemberof last yearof extractsfroma forth-
comingbook by a Moslem writerand formerTito partisan,Dervis Susie. The
extracts,publishedunderthetitleOd Vidovdanskog ustavado Pavelicevogkabineta
(From the St Vitus Constitution to Pavelic's Cabinet), provokedan enormous
interestin the Republic, because in themthe authorcriticizedthe Moslem reli-
giousand politicalleadersbothbeforetheSecond WorldWar and duringit,some-
thingthathad not been done in Bosnia forpoliticalreasonssince 1945.
On 15 September1979,Mr Susie was attackedinPreporod,thefortnightly organ
(circulation: 31,500) of the Association of the Islamic Clergy in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.Preporod9seditor,Mr Hilmo Neimralija,reproachedMr Susie for
representing thepre-warand wartimeMoslemleadersas 'plunderers'and 'traitors
to theirown people' and fordepictingthewholeofBosnia's Islamicpastfrom1463
till 1878as a 'kingdomof darknessand stupidity'.Preporodalso complainedthat
Mr Susie exaggeratedthedegreeof theBosnian Moslems' collaborationwiththe
Nazis duringtheSecond WorldWar and largelyignoredtheirprotestsagainstthe
atrocitiesofPavelic'sregimeand theirparticipationin thepartisanwar.The paper
also surmisedcorrectlythatthearticlescould not have been publishedand given
extensivepublicityon radio and televisionwithoutthe prior approval of the
higherauthorities.The subsequentattacksin Novemberconfirmedthis.But the
reprisalshave so farat anyratebeenmild,perhapsbecause theauthoritiesdo not
want to offendthenon-aligned Moslem countries.There have been meetings
of pro-regimeimams criticizingPreporod,and in December its editorswere
changed.It is now editedby thechairmanof theIslamic communityforBosnia
and Herzegovina,Dr AhmedSmajlovic,a regimefigure.Significantly, thepaper
underits new editors sporteda new mastheadwithits titlePreporodnot only
in Arabic and (Croat) Latin scriptas beforebutalso in the(Serbian) Cyrillic.Still
morecurious,the Cyrillicinscriptionwas droppedafterthefirstissue- presum-
ably in responseto protestsby Moslem readers.But whywas thisaction against
Preporodand its editors,both of themseniorofficialsworkingforthe supreme
Moslem religious leader in the whole of Yugoslavia, Reis-ul-Ulema,Haim
Hadziabdic, takenat all ?
The officialexplanationis that,as theleadingpartyideologistin Sarajevo, Dr
Fuad Muhic,told theZagrebmagazineStartof28 November1979,theseBosnian
Moslemreligiousleadershad fallenfora formofKhomeini-style fundamentalism
and thattheirviewsrepresented a facetof thenewideologicalRightthatis emerg-
ingin Yugoslavia. The fundamentalist chargeis not easy to accept because, over
the years,Preporodand other Moslem publicationsin Yugoslavia had prided
8 Borba,11 May 1978.

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
112 THE WORLD TODAY March 1980

themselveson theirenlightenedattitudein social matters - towardswomen,for

example.In fact,theyhad consistently stressedtheirpositionas thewesternmost
outpostofIslam.The paperhas certainly beencriticalofMarxismand atheismbut
no more so than the correspondingCatholic and otherChristianpublications,
notablytheCatholicfortnightly in Zagreb,Glas Koncila,whichdoes not minceits
wordsand somehowmanagesto getaway withit.
Anotherpossibilityis thattheauthoritiesmightbe afraidof theemergenceof a
newIslamic block in thesouthof Yugoslavia,whichwould embracenot onlythe
Bosnian Moslems and theirbrotherslivingin the otherrepublicsbut also the
Albanianslivingbothin Kosovo and in Macedonia. Thereis so farno evidenceof
such a block formingbecause the Albanians look to Tirana and have religious
ratherthanpoliticallinkswithBosnian Moslems. Neithertheynor the Bosnian
Moslems- despitea certainsympathy expressedforthecurrentrevivalofIslam in
theworld- have goneoverboardforKhomeini,who inanycase is a Shia,whilethe
Moslemsof Yugoslavia are Sunni.But a Moslem,non-Marxistblock of thiskind
could be a politicalthreatto theregimeifit wereeverto come about.
The likeliestexplanationof the crackdownis thatit is meantto preventthe
coalescenceof thenewlyself-confident Moslems of Bosnia withthe Croats both
withintheBosnianRepublicand also in Croatia itself.In Bosnia,theMoslemsand
theCroats alreadyhave a majorityof 60 percent.The authoritiesare activelydis-
couragingthelinksbetweenthe Moslems livingin Croatia and those in Bosnia.
Afteryears of repeateddemands,permissionhas not yet been grantedfor the
buildingof a newmosque in Zagreb to replacetheone whoseminarets,putup by
the Pavelic regimein 1941, were pulled down by the Tito regimein 1945. The
mosquewas turnedintoa museumof thepartisanwar.The partyleadersmaynot
wantCroatia to becomeonceagain a pole ofattractionforBosnian Moslems.
The Bosnian Moslemsare,however,likelyto wantto keep theirindependence.
But theCroat and Bosnian republicsof theYugoslav Federationdo forma geo-
graphicunit and have strongcommon economic interests.Any futurelink-up
betweenthetwowouldprobablyworryquitea lot ofSerbsbecause theywould see
in it theemergenceof a possiblecounterweight or even a rivalto Serbia. But the
Bosnian Moslems' marchforwardcannotbe stopped: at thenextcensusin 1981,
theyare expectedto have in Bosnia and Herzegovina an absolute majorityof
50 or even60 percent.

This content downloaded from 192.122.237.41 on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:19:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions