Idiot of the day

That prize goes to this chap on the minaret - Branko Kokić-Robija. Definite small dick syndrome.

A few nights ago, Robija (which means 'slave') decided that it would be so heroic to break into the new mosque being reconstructed in Zvornik, eastern Bosnia, climb up the minaret and wave the Serbian flag to show what a great Orthodox Christian he is and who's boss to those Muslims. Bless! But he's a smart one as he took with him some alcoholic drinks, food and some wooden slats to barricade the entrance to the mosque. Word got around Zvornik about Robija on the minaret and a crowd came to see the spectacle, many of whom were cheering him on.

There's more to this than just some idiot on a mosque. Zvornik has the dubious honour of being the first city in Bosnia to be ethnically cleansed during the Balkan wars in April 1992. In a pattern that was later repeated throughout towns and cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, all of Zvornik's non-Serb population was given 5 minutes to grab what they can and were marched out of the city, most never to return. One of these people to leave was a 10 year old Zuhra Ramizaj, who otherwise is now known as Seka Aleksić, one of Serbia's most popular Turbofolk singers and celebrities. By May 19th, Arkan's Tigers paramilitary forces had fully occupied the city. The new, fully Serb Zvornik started on a 'beautification' programme, a euphemism used to describe the purge of all traces of its Islamic past and present. All of Zvornik's mosques were destroyed and cleared of rubble, and with such zeal.

With the war over in 1995 and a peace deal signed, Zvornik's Bosniak population was supposed to return. However, few of the 37% former Muslim population of the city have returned. A very slow process of rebuilding mosques destroyed in the war in Serb-occupied areas has now been going on for the past 15 years, often with open and vehement opposition by the local Serb population. This is one of those cases. What's so stupid about all this is that Robija, like most Bosnians, most likely has Bosniak relatives, definitely would listen to music by Bosniak performers and pre-1991 lived next door to Bosniaks. So all this display of his Orthodoxy and nationalism is just plain idiotic. So much needs to be done.