Freedom and unity for all

The largest city of the Raška administrative district, or Sandžak, hosted the fifth student protest in a row, as the city is home to one of the five state universities that are under blockade and are still persisting in their demands made almost five months ago.

After Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Niš and Belgrade, Novi Pazar hosted students and citizens who arrived at their own expense from Friday afternoon, April 11, until early afternoon on Saturday, to the central plateau in front of the City Hall in Pazar.

It was not a mass-scale gathering, but in terms of its symbolic importance, it is one of the most important events of these protests, even years ago in Serbia. Namely, for the first time, the gathering was organized by those who pray and those who worship - under one flag of Serbia. The event was such an embodiment of unity, solidarity and understanding that even the performance of the rap ensemble Belgrade Syndicate seemed like something completely normal, something that does not offend anyone, despite the reputation of this group as "heavy nationalists".

photo: Samir Delic

NEW MARKET FOR BEGINNERS

Novi Pazar, located in the valley around the Raška River, in the Novi Pazar field, 300 kilometers from Belgrade, gathered thousands of people from all over Serbia with the idea of ​​supporting the students of the State University who, following the example of their colleagues from other university centers, are holding a blockade and protest at the smallest and youngest higher education institution in Serbia.

Your reporter was at all the mentioned events and was a frequent guest of the people of Novopazar, but it seems that most of the others were in Sandžak for the first time and, it seems, as if they were finally able to break the prejudices against the part of Serbia that is mostly inhabited by the Bosniak population, but where the Serbian community has its important place, and the Serbian medieval heritage is perhaps the most important when it comes to the beginnings of the Nemanjić dynasty. Because, before the construction began in Kosovo, which would later receive the designation Metohija in the name due to church possessions (metoh), Serbian medieval rulers first positioned themselves in this area, building the capital city of Ras, Peter's Church, the monasteries of the Holy Trinity in Sopoćani and St. George on the hill above Novi Pazar, which was named George's Pillars after its monumental bell towers and can be compared to Notre Dame in Paris.

Such a relatively small town, but with a large and young population, has long been a symbol of illegal trade, but also of a good textile industry that in the past, in the era of sanctions, clothed most of Serbia. Even today, the Pazar market is full of local brands and copies of well-known world brands, and the city is full of a wide variety of craft shops, numerous handicrafts and skills - it seems to you that in a few streets in the city center you can buy literally everything you can think of. Of course, another characteristic of the city and its surroundings is good food - the far-famed Pazar kebabs, pies, mantles, baklava, lokumi - everything is available at the bazaar, and silver and gold in small jewelry stores.

We list it all here because for those who came to Pazar for the first time - and I'm sure they will return soon - it was as important as walking around the city for several hours during the protest. As in Kragujevac and Niš, the entire city center was turned into a pedestrian zone, and the good weather helped people to walk around for hours, greet each other, explore the city, take pictures and enjoy the many market gardens.

photo: Samir Delic

The program began on the evening of April 11, when different columns of student pedestrians from various parts of Serbia started arriving in the city. The students and the citizens accompanying them on these walking adventures were welcomed as the most native inhabitants of Novi Pazar together with those who came the day before from other places. A dove of peace was released on the stage next to the promenade along the river - a symbolic gesture of two students, as probably the most impressive gesture of understanding and respect between the Bosniak and Serbian peoples since the end of the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

It was as if then, in that gesture, in that dove that the students brought on their feet to Pazar, all the rivalry between the two communities that lived side by side during the nineties, under the terrible shadow of the war in Bosnia and all the crimes committed there in the name of the Bosniak or Serb people, flew away. The general impression of people on Friday evening and throughout Saturday was that people had reconciled, and that Bosniaks could once again - or perhaps for the first time - proudly say that they are citizens of the Republic of Serbia: everyone took pictures of girls dressed in traditional Bosniak clothes and carrying Serbian flags - which has never been recorded before. Everyone saw how the people of Pazar prepared a Lenten meal for their guests of the Orthodox faith and kneaded the famous mantles with desire, not with meat...

There were a lot of gestures of that character and social networks were full of pictures that show what has been wanted for years, but has not been achieved in political agreements: Bosniaks and Serbs respect each other, understand each other in their differences and thereby raise their relationship to a level they have probably never had.

photo: lazar novaković / fonet

TWO GROUPS

Talking about the hospitality of the people in Pazar is redundant - everyone who has been to Sandžak knows that. Again, and in all other places in Serbia, this was shown by these monumental student walks - the people are hospitable, eager for guests, eager to host someone with everything they have and to talk to people. In Pazar, they easily recognize who is not "theirs", who is from the side, they quickly approach you and ask how they can help you find your way in that small big place that lives on the four borders between Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The city was packed. "There were more people than when Dino Merlin played", say the people of Pazar when you ask them if there were bigger gatherings in their town. Some elders say that the good weather is a sign that Sulejman Ugljanin was one of the organizers - "because when he has a meeting, it never rains". Of course, there were no politicians anywhere on the streets. Ugljanin has not been the main factor in Sandžak for a long time, Rasim Ljajić wonders there, and it seemed that the city administration and the police did everything to ensure that there were no problems and that everyone felt as if they had come on a trip - to have a good time, to eat well and to want to come again.

However, the conflict with the police happened when, from all the excitement brought by the welcoming of students and guests - cyclists, motorcyclists - reality returned: on Saturday morning. The students then tried to block the exit of the bus that was supposed to take people from that part of Serbia to Belgrade to the counter rally organized by Aleksandar Vučić. Those who sat on the asphalt were dragged by the police and removed from the road. After that, students and citizens moved towards the police station and painted the entrance with red paint. After that, the events went on as previously planned – on two stages mounted at the two ends of the pedestrian street.

So Novi Pazar, already around noon on Saturday, was filled with the world like never before and became a kind of counterweight to what was happening in Belgrade at the same time. On Saturday, the two Serbias could clearly identify themselves and see the difference: in Pazar - real students and free citizens who gathered at the invitation of the students; in Belgrade - Vučić and those he managed to bring to the fenced area in the center; in Pazar - people who pay their own expenses; in Belgrade - the poor and employees in the public sector who, during Great Lent, are served kebabs, burgers and sushi, along with daily wages; in Pazar - students and citizens clean the town after 11 o'clock in the evening; in Belgrade - tons of garbage left in the center of the dirty and shitty city.

The messages are also a sign of what Serbia looks like today: Pazar calls for the fulfillment of demands, for solidarity, for togetherness, for a Serbia that needs to be different and that loves all its differences that do not endanger each other; in Belgrade - paranoia and rhetoric on the verge of fascism. In Pazar - a call to love and togetherness; in Belgrade - threats of violence.

photo: senad župljanin / phonet

SYMBOLISM AND OPTIMISM

In the days when it seems that the student protest has lost its strength, the rally in Novi Pazar showed that the struggle is not over - it has only changed its form. After mass gatherings in the largest cities of Serbia, this particular gathering in the southwest of the country showed that the protest has a deep cultural significance, perhaps even more important than political.

With the departure of students to Novi Pazar, Serbia symbolically united. It has become a whole in which it is logical and natural that Sombor and Novi Pazar exist in the same state - and that both cities are viewed with the same respect and pride. Even more important - that connection is not political but emotional and cultural. Diversity has become an asset, not an obstacle. This is perhaps the most important result of the student assemblies that were held all over Serbia in the previous weeks.

photo: senad župljanin / phonet

Unfortunately, the picture is spoiled by political reality. The regime, although seriously shaken, does not show too much concern. Even the government's coalition partners from among the minority communities do not give up their support for Aleksandar Vučić. The protests also showed how disappointed people are in politics - it means corruption, fraud, party trade. But it becomes clear that without politics, without organized movements and parties, there is no change.

The event in Novi Pazar helped to heal some old wounds or at least open the door to future trust. He helped citizens from that part of Serbia experience Serbia again, or perhaps for the first time, as their homeland. And for the rest of Serbia to finally understand - Sandžak is not a threat but an asset. Its diversity does not threaten the territorial integrity of the country, but makes it more meaningful.

At a time when the world is sliding towards new wars, when Israel is accused of genocide in Gaza - which cannot be ignored in Pazar because you will see Palestinian flags at every step, and in some bars you will not be able to order a Coca-Cola - the embrace of a Bosniak woman and a Serbian woman, a joint performance of students of different faiths but with the same values, represents the avant-garde. This is something that Serbia can be proud of. And something that is almost impossible to see today - not only in Europe, but also in the whole world.

If, of course, it means anything to someone else.