Of the two official letters accepted by the Constitution of the Republika Srpska (RS), one is, however, protected by law and more official. The Cyrillic alphabet has entered full use in the entity institutions, and the use of the Latin alphabet can even be fined. It is the discrimination of one letter and two peoples.
Bosniak parties have announced the launch of protection of vital national interest.
The deputies of the National Assembly of the RS adopted the Law on the Protection of the Serbian Language and the Cyrillic Alphabet at a special session by the urgent procedure. A special session was organized on the day when RS and Serbia celebrate a joint holiday. The mentioned law was adopted by the votes of all deputies from the parties.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), there are three official languages, and two alphabets – Latin and Cyrillic. However, the Law on Protection, Preservation, and Use of the Serbian Language and the Cyrillic Alphabet, which was adopted on Wednesday, also envisages fines of 1.000 to 5.000 BAM for bodies, organizations, and other legal and physical entities if they do not use Cyrillic in “legal transactions”. Thus, the Cyrillic alphabet is protected, and the Latin alphabet seems to be discriminated against. And with the Latin alphabet, both Bosniaks and Croats live and work in this entity.
“First of all, the Law is contradictory with the Constitution of the RS – therefore, it is unconstitutional, and then it is unfeasible in the true sense of the word. Imagine a man who is a Croat and works in the institutions of the RS entities, uses Latin, writes in the language of the Croatian people and imagine that someone is suing him for that, ” noted journalist and publicist Dragan Bursac.
Articles 7 and 34 of the RS Constitution clearly describe that the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets are the official alphabets of the entity itself and give the freedom of choice to the resident whichalphabet will he use. With this law, that freedom ceases. Students in schools of BiH learn and know how to use both equally. But, it is clear that Latin dominates in the Federationand Cyrillic in RS.
Nevertheless, citizens believe there is no need for legal divisions. However, there are some citizens who support the adoption of this law.
Member of the National Assembly of the RS, Begija Smajic, one of the two who voted against the adoption of the Law, clearly said – the problem is not Cyrillic, the problem is the ban on the second alphabet: “We cannot allow the exclusivity of the Serbian language and Cyrillic alphabet, to the detriment of Bosniak and Croat people. The languages of all peoples and both alphabets are equally used. I write Cyrillic better than all of you, maybe I write it more often than all of you who sit here.”
This view is shared by citizens across the country. In fact – they are proud since they have been writing Cyrillic and Latin since they were little. But politicians, instead of being proud that young people know two letters, make political divisions – one letter is protected, the other is excluded from use. Now, there is only a deeper gap, greater divisions, but also a feeling of discrimination just because someone uses the letter that is accepted by the Constitution but is not protected by law, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
