Vice President of the entity of Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ćamil Duraković, confirmed to N1 that students in Srebrenica were threatened with a reduction in their conduct grades because they wore jerseys of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team to school. According to his information, it is about three girls, and Duraković told us that this case will most likely end in a lawsuit.
At the beginning of the conversation, Duraković emphasized that he talked about this case with some parents and claimed that students were warned that their conduct grade could be reduced due to wearing the jersey of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.
“This is certainly the case in Srebrenica, because I talked to some parents. These are high-school students, not second-grade primary school children. Therefore, we can’t question their ability to make a rational decision. These are high-school students, children, who were told by a teacher that their conduct grade would be reduced because wearing the jerseys spreads national intolerance and so on,” Duraković told N1.
He particularly problematizes, as he claimed, a different attitude toward jerseys and symbols of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
“When kids come to school wearing, let’s say, jerseys of the Serbian national team, then that is completely okay. With flags of Serbia, that is okay. However, in our own country, from which we all live and in which we live, that is allegedly a problem,” he said.
“Three Girls Are Involved”
Duraković further explained that it is about three students. Apparently, on the day of the Bosnia and Herzegovina – Romania match, they wore national team jerseys to offer support to our football team.
“Three girls are involved. I ask: What would happen if they, let’s say, had worn a Jovo Lukić jersey? In this case, it was Bajraktarević – both symbolically because of Srebrenica, and generally. This was the problem, obviously, and there was a match two or three days ago, so the children did not do it to provoke, but because they love their homeland, their national team,” he said.
He sees the whole case as a significantly broader problem and believes it is about a dangerous phenomenon within the education system.
“That is a very dangerous phenomenon in the educational system, and it probably reflects the overall policy of this entity towards Bosniaks, or all Bosnians and Herzegovinians who love their country,” Duraković said.
He said this is not the first example he heard of. He recalled the case from Gradiška in which, according to him, a student wore an Edin Džeko jersey to a physical education class.
“He was wearing an Edin Džeko jersey, right during PE class. The PE teacher told him that he could not attend the class in that jersey. So this is not an isolated case,” Duraković said.
Duraković: Parents Will Sue School and Teachers
Duraković also announced concrete moves and stated that parents plan to seek justice through legal channels and that, as the Vice President of Republika Srpska, he will help them.
“Parents are moving toward suing both the school and teachers/professors, who affected these children. Therefore, legally, this is a clear-cut case. Look, we are talking about a country we live in. This is probably a unique case in the entire world, that someone in your own country forbids you from wearing the symbols of that country. I mean, where do they live, and what do they think they will achieve by this? So, this is a clear matter, and they will be sued over this,” Duraković said.
He believes this is an attempt by individuals to misuse their positions within the educational system to impose their own views on students.
“It’s just one attempt, more political than systemic, because the teacher is misusing their position to impose personal opinion on children. From a political standpoint, therefore, this is an attempt to influence these occurrences, but it cannot be systemic or institutional because that is impossible. Legally, you cannot protect that in any way,” he said.
Duraković believes that banning symbols of one’s own country has no basis in the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It has no foundation in the Constitution or the laws of this country. They try in vain. You can’t force our children not to love their own homeland,” he said.
“I Don’t Dare Because I Don’t Know What Others Will Think”
Speaking about the atmosphere among the children, Duraković also cited the example of a ten-year-old girl from Banja Luka, passed on to him by her aunt.
According to his words, the girl did not want to go to school in a national team jersey of Bosnia and Herzegovina out of fear of how others would react.
“She said: ‘Auntie, I don’t dare to do that because I don’t know what others will think.’ So, children have been indoctrinated to the extent that they begin to doubt whether it actually offends someone,” he said.
He finds it particularly problematic when children receive such messages from teachers and educators.
“Whatever instruction a teacher or educator gives you, it is a command. Children position themselves that way because they expect educators to give them proper guidance. So, that is very dangerous,” he noted.
He Recalled His Daughter’s Experience
During the conversation, Duraković shared a personal experience from the time his daughter was three and a half years old and attending kindergarten.
He said they were driving through Srebrenica when the local church bell rang, after which the young girl started crossing herself.
“I asked her: ‘Anja, what are you doing, child?’ She said: ‘Well, the kindergarten teacher told us that when the church bell rings you should cross yourself.’ So much for how much regard they have for children of other ethnic and national groups,” Duraković said.
He believes that such examples represent an attempt to impose the dominance of one group within the education system.
“There is an attempt here to impose a systemic exclusivity of one nation, which is neither according to the Constitution nor to the laws. Schools celebrate slavas (patron saint days), which are Orthodox religious holidays. Kindergartens have slavas, universities have slavas, and ministry cabinets have slavas. I mean, where are we heading? This is terrible. I really cannot imagine that in one modern, democratic, legally ordered society such occurrences exist. It doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, only here,” Duraković concluded.
