Bosnia's Islamic Community has accused the government of
discrimination, as approval of a hoped-for concordat continues to be subjected
to delays.
 |
| Muslim believers in Sarajevo. Photo: Kashfi Alford / Creative Commons - |
Bosnia's official Islamic Community, IZ, is accusing the
government of discriminating against the community as authorities continue to
delay approval of a long-awaited concordat which should define the rights of
Muslims in Bosnia.
The draft of the concordat has been under examination by the
country's Presidency for months, but no progress has been made, Irham Ceco, an
advisor to the Bosniak member of Bosnian Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, told
BIRN.
BIRN asked the Bosnian Presidency to provide details about
the delay but failed to get an answer by time of publication.
While the other two main religious communities of Bosnia,
the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, have both signed concordats with
the authorities, the IZ is left without an official agreement regulating its
relations with the state.
Dermana Seta, a member of the IZ, told BIRN that the Bosnian
authorities have so far proven unwilling to approve the concordat.
"The Bosnian authorities seem very reluctant to approve
this concordat since it will legalise some behaviour... that is prohibited by
law in some European countries," Seta said.
She noted the right to wear the hijab for Muslim women,
Halal ritual slaughter, the circumcision of boys, and certain forms of fasting
or praying.
"The IZ has been submitting different drafts for years
but for some reason, it's like every time the proposals are just ... not good
enough," Seta concluded.
Opposition to the concordat has come especially from
political representatives of Republika Srpska, Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity,
who claim the agreement would discriminate against non-Muslims.
While the President of RS, Milorad Dodik, said the agreement
would represent "the total insertion of religion inside
institutions", the Serbian member of the Bosnian Presidency, Mladen
Ivanic, said the agreement needed merely to be adjusted to preserve the
equality of Bosnia's three main religious communities.
Muhamed Jusic, a Muslim theologian and columnist, told BIRN
that the approval of the agreement had been regretably delayed for political
reasons. "This kind of topic shouldn't be manipulated in this way,"
he said.
The leader of the IZ, in an interview with Sarajevo-based
Faktor last week, meanwhile called such attitudes clear evidence of
discrimination against Bosnian Muslims.
"We are awaiting the solution of several issues which
concern the Islamic Community; [the government] didn't fulfil the promises they
made us," Kavazovic said.
"Almost half the mandate of the current government has
passed, and they have not realised any of their promises," he added
Source: BIRN
