Freedom was ruled by Bazio – Historical Protest in Novi Pazar – Personal views

I belong to the generation, which in Belgrade, in Belgrade, in the Council of parents for security reasons, took the majority identity and other name: Aleksandar, John, Luka, Marko or Sasa. Our « exotic » names could, perhaps, « saith the ears » to a random passer-by, a fan of extreme groups – who, in the heads of our parents, just waited us, between Prince Mihail, Green Wreath and Republic Square. It was uncomfortable to pronounce aloud: Ahmed, Mirsad, Demir, Muhamed or Yusuf. Due to the media and political heritage of the 1990s, our names marked some distant, peasant, « Bali’s » province; He was talking from them, which carries a jack – that the twenty-ninth letter alphabet was stated in the primer for a long time. This relationship was not the issue of our awareness of its own identity, but a response to the policy of continuity that in 1990s swallowed generations, lives and humans.

We come to the phenomenon we are testifying today – generational changes. The event held in Novi Pazar called « Freedom Government » confirms the process leading new generations – unencumbered with the end of the twentieth century, processes with the past and other struggles through which we passed, as society, passed through, as society, through which, In the streets of Belgrade and Novi Pazar, they no longer march hidden identities, but raised flags and clearly spoken names. Students I watched last week did not carry the burden of someone else’s name – they wore their own, with pride. Below one flag of Sandzak was a girl with a hijab, a clamp of Serbia or a Stanner with a shycher who carries the flag of Sandzak Bosniaks. More than ever live is a sentence we often pronounce: We do not have another state from Serbia.

The images that have been visited by the region that day was not all common: an explosion of emotion, youthful rebel, eroticism of freedom, refusal to agree to authoritarianism, social injustice and manipulation. The new generation managed to connect a city with young people from all over Serbia – symbolically and physically. That Saturday day, Novi Pazar was more than the city – was the space of meeting, community and liberation. The atmosphere was ruled, which cannot be precisely described – the energy that fills the heart, narrow eyes and causes it, precious emotional melting. It was a kind of ray of dignity – the rhythm of resistance and freedom, as he had never felt in this city before. Nevertheless, local journalists who spent the day on the streets recorded one important thing: although there were many guests from other cities, the number of citizens of Novi Pazar who attended – was modest. This relationship between « domestic » and « guests » remains an open question for analysis. Local politicians – as by appointment – they did not interfere. The ruling SDP tried to do everything « to go », in cooperation with the police and far from the spotlights. The SPP was silent, as if all this was happening in another city, while SDA Sandzak recognized the opportunity for a fine political gymnastics – restraint, but enough to count.

Thanks to the fact that the State University entered the blockade, Novi Pazar found himself on the map of Student Blocking tours in Serbia. Without that participation, this student story is difficult to reach the southwestern part of the country. The public in Serbia thus had the opportunity to meet not only with the problem of the university, but also with diligious, valuable and articulated students. The barriers have been ruined for more than two decades, but their peak experienced the past week – through the public event of respect for until recently unthinkable. Mladost is rebellious and rebellious, so this generation does not suit ideological frameworks, labeling – on the contrary defending universal values ​​without fear.

The event also marked the intervention of the police at the entrance to the Sixth settlement, after the students tried to stop buses, which, according to the available information, organized local SNS offices to go to the rally in Belgrade. Their intention was clear – to express resistance by party mobilization – but the way it was performed by numerous questions. Traffic blockade and direct confrontation in the local context as the new Pazar is carried by risks that can easily escape control. Police reacted quickly and decisively. Larger incidents are avoided, but the impression that the situation could be resolved with more thoughtfulness and less tension – from one side. Although this attitude is not popular today and often encountered a professional approach to the Chief of Police Administration in Novi Pazar, who contributed to calming tensions and preserve the security of all participants.

Students clearly fence from political parties, oppositions and collectives such as declarations, which has a recognizable opposition tone.

Their rebellion and credibility acquired in public are sufficient to contribute to the decontamination of opposition space through political articulation and forming a new political actor – that will have the capacity to parry the current regime. That is why the student rebellion is a disruptive factor in the binary logic of power-opposition. Students want a change in the system; Opposition Arrival on power; A mode – QVO status. Results of five-month blockages, awakened enthusiasm and political re-evasion of young people form the basis for reshaping the social system and transform the student bunt into political strength. It is a logical, perhaps the only way – « new organization » since it has experienced a complete collapse after thirteen years of repetition failure.

Protest from 15. Marta in Belgrade was one of the key miles – due to the mass, dignity and authenticity. He was an expression of huge accumulated dissatisfaction, it seems that the regime managed to depreciate his strength through various tactics, including counteriting, but these efforts were not sufficiently efficient. Student perseverance indicates deep dissatisfaction and a serious challenge for current power. Let’s have a famous scenario seen in all previous protests in recent years: great protests, huge euphoria, and – inevitable disappointment. It’s a triangle of unfinished changes. If students develop a long-term strategy and their energy focuses on institutional pressure – primarily through choices as the strongest weapon of civil power – will have a real chance to leave a lasting trace.

Public space is increasingly infected by Jakobinski Pravelnika, which marked the student blockade – and which, instead of being driving force, is increasingly acting as a brake rebellion. Insisting on unconditional correctness of each gesture and narrative unity is further paralyzed by public speech: critical review becomes almost forbidden. We live in a kind of dictatorship of opinion, where each rational shade is interpreted as defeatism or betrayal of « real values ».

It is a political articulation of student rebellion could open space for wider alliances – encourage the silentologists, launch hesitant and create a wave of solidarity that would overcome the limits of university audiences. Without that, the energy of the protest remains closed in the frame of moral gesture – strong, but essentially limited in range. Student protests are not only the expression of generational rebellion – they are a symptom of deeper cracks in social agreement. Without this agreement, common language of goals, values ​​and spaces for differences – no rebellion can last. Very easy what seems like success can grow into failure.

And the failure of collective hope – always hurts the most.

The author is the executive director of the academic initiative « Forum 10 » from Novi Pazar

The author’s attitudes in the dialogue not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Danas.