A Vain Business!

During the same week that four Belgrade University students had to serve a ten-day prison sentence for writing graffiti on walls, and that several Belgrade faculties were being shaken by protest gatherings and announcements of a general strike, and while many professors were under suspension, and one of them, Dr. Vesna Rakic-Vodinelic, professor at the law faculty, was even handed her 20th dismissal notice as a 'jubilee'-- the Yugoslav left-wing constituted its Committee of the University Left (KUL). Among those present at the founding conference, which was held in Belgrade's left-wing premises on Djure Djakovica Street, were Professor Mira Markovic, president of the department of the Yugoslav Left (JUL), the JUL's high officials, as well as professors and students of university centers in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pristina, Nis, Podgorica and Kragujevac, according to  TANJUG.

Both scenography and choreography were deja vu: birds, flowers, JUL's clouds, the main and supplementary presentations, discussions... For this occasion the 'state' television reserved the most conspicuous time-slot in the evening - an hour in total.

THE PERFIDY OF BETRAYAL: Professor Mira Markovic dedicated her presentation to the phenomenon of betrayal, the New World Order, globalization, humanization and - the university. Professor Markovic emphasized that "we are approaching the end of a decade which marked the most difficult period for Yugoslav society since World War II. After the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, the new and smaller Yugoslavia tends to protect its state, to preserve its independence and stability, and to become, in every sense, a developed and modern society. Our history has proved a thousand times that we are apt of that ability for rapid and successful development."

And that ability is now becoming visible, Prof. Markovic states, even though we are now exposed to a series of permanent pressures - of an economic, political and psychological nature, which come from abroad and for which purpose are directed toward the territorial and social disintegration of our country.

These pressures are not only of an external nature, stresses Prof. Mira Markovic: "The perfidy of betrayal, probably reached its culminating point in these times. Today, the phenomenon of betrayal is integrated with international interests and with the idea of a New World Order. That is, in order to realize international interests and the New World Order, a necessity of restricting individual national interests, as well as those which are harmful to international matters, is somehow being imposed..." Prof. Markovic is of opinion that it is quite possible that the end of this century is marked with the great topic about the processes of globalization and humanization and the reality that results from it. In her opinion, unfortunately, neither this topic nor reality are represented to the intellectual and academic public: therefore, she calls the attention of the left-wing intellectuals to this (that “the obligation of being familiar with the society and the responsibility for programming its future development belongs to them").  The sociologist, Mira Markovic claims that "the right-wing has never changed the world, it only wanted to reform the existing reality, and it succeeded in that to some extent," and she stresses that "contrary to the right-wing, the left-wing stands for constant changes, for the transformation of society, for creating a different, and of course, more noble world. The left-wing experiences all this as its mission, for which it has to possess the necessary knowledge, a great imagination and a suitable energy."

The university ought to be the source of that knowledge, imagination and energy. If there exists any creative happiness, science shall replace politics in the process of creating social and individual life in the following century, it shall make it dependent on itself... There are no more reasons for improvisation of society's development and future, usually performed by politics. The role of creating a new day shall justifiably and finally be taken by science, adds Prof. Markovic.

The position of president of the Yugoslav Committee of the University's Left was unanimously allotted to Prof. Milovan Bojic, and that of the secretary to Nikola Ceranic.

A RETURN TO 1946: The formation of the Committee of the University's Left, and the great deal of publicity that followed its formative meeting in the state media, was accompanied by various comments, from the question “how is it possible that JUL is above the law, if the new University Law, considerably challenged by academic publicity, prohibits any political and party organization,” to the resigned remarks that everything is reminiscent of the year 1946... Some people add cynical comments about the speech of JUL's department president, describing it as a theoretical clash with the Second International, which they find somewhat comical. A pharmacy student asks a concrete question: are they working illegally? I do favor the left-wing, but I didn't know anything about that meeting.

Only the Civic Alliance of Serbia strongly protested against the silence of the authorized organs "considering that the Yugoslav left-wing seriously violated the law which forbids the constitution of parties at universities." The Civic Alliance reminds people that JUL founded its University Committee in opposition to the law. "This brand-new lawlessness, disseminated by JUL president Mira Markovic gained an unseen publicity in the state media", and the Civic Alliance estimates and it also "expects a reaction of the authorized organs to JUL's violation of the law."

The Forum of Free Doctors of Serbia also addressed the public, demanding from the medical faculty in Belgrade to forbid Dr. Milovan Bojic and Prof. Predrag Djordjevic from any further work with students and patients. In this notification it is said that Milovan Bojic, member of the University Council (UO) and the medical faculty, and Predrag Djordjevic, member of UO and president of the regime association of professors, "directly take part in the destruction and politicization of the university, disregarding and degrading both professors and their profession." If the faculty does not satisfy this demand, it means that each doctor or lecturer has the right to brutally break the basic regulations of Hippocratic' oath  and the United Nations Declaration about every man's right, add the members of the Forum.

VREME attempted to interview certain JUL officials about these accusations against KUL and about the dilemma that this first-class political event caused within the academic publicity, but still remained without a response. The KUL's vice-president, Prof. Vasilije Kalezic, apparently could not talk for newspapers without first consulting JUL's president, Prof. Bojic, while the secretary, Nikola Ceranic, postponed his interview for ten days: "We are founding committees at ten university centers, the entire country is in question!"
Does the reason for silence among other political parties lie in the overall entropy and impotence of the opposition? Some carefully (but also fearfully) interpret the name of this party's organization at the university: they say that JUL is cunning - KUL is namely, the Committee of University's Left, which grammatically and semantically is not the same as the Left's University Committee, and apart from that, their meeting was not held at the university, but at the department of JUL!

Prof. Zarko Korac, leader of the Social-Democratic Union, clearly states that such interpretations are absurd, and that JUL can play whatever game they chose, they can try to hide their genuine faces, but it is via facti clear what they do: "JUL is trying to return to the university, which is in fact absurd because they have no chance at all. All research results plainly demonstrate that they simply do not exist among students at Belgrade University. As for other universities, I cannot say what the situation is like."
Prof. Korac estimates that this story about KUL has its psychological surface: he reminds us that at the proper time, just before the Eighth Session, the University Committee of the Communist League initiated a putsch in which Prof. Mira Markovic was the inviolable persona dramatis. This group, gathered around  the University Committee, played an important role in changing the leadership of the ruling party in Serbia: "Now when the regime is in crisis due to a historical defeat of one program, Prof. Markovic, today the director of JUL's department, is trying to contribute to the consolidation of the regime in the same way. History is, for the first time, turning into a tragedy, and, for the second time, into a farce.", comments Prof. Korac.

In this short conversation for VREME, Prof. Korac also says that he attributes a great importance to discussions held at some high forums of the Socialist Party: at these meetings, closed to the public, questions were raised about what was actually going on at Belgrade University and what are the interests of expelling the best academic experts.

"The founding of KUL is an obvious political message: full support for the deans' repression is offered, it is clear not only who stands behind the new University Law, but also who supports its realization. The Committee of the University's Left informs us: We are continuing! It is evident to which social sphere they belong, they are even traveling together and it only remains for this relationship with the Radicals to be crowned with marriage. We can expect great new confrontations at Belgrade University. This regime is aware of that as well: it is only afraid of its greatest opposition - youth and education. I don't know which tempo will be adopted, but there are going to be more suspensions, more arrests and more prison sentences... Young people are ready to pay that price: that fist talks for everything", considers Prof. Zarko Korac.

THE REGIME IS CONSISTENT: This Spring, JUL director, Prof. Mira Markovic said that "Belgrade University is in danger of being subdued by conservatism and destruction", and that "the radical and aggressive right-wing can only be opposed by the aggressive and radical left-wing..."

"The liberation of the university", as promised by Dr. Milovan Bojic, was carried out with the great help of the Radicals: Dr. Vojislav Seselj, the government's vice-president and leader of the Radicals, happened to be the most zealous 'executor of the law'. Everything developed according to that aggressive radical scenario: the university is 'liberated', the new University Law was destroyed, several faculties were turned upside down, twenty professors were dismissed and many professors have been suspended. The regime is actually consistent: it fulfilled everything that JUL promised this spring at their promotional performances. However, contrary to the Law on Education, many faculties founded student left-wing groups "in order to fight against the political seducing of students and party influences?!" At the first election conference of the University Committee in Belgrade, president of the UC, Dr. Milovan Bojic, declared enthusiastically: "We rose against divisions and hatred with the aim to liberate the university!" From the platform of JUL’s University Committee, it was highlighted that "JUL shall protect the system of education from political and party influences!?" Minister of Education, Prof. Jovo Todorovic, also states on any occasion that the law was elected in order to drive politics out of the universities. In fact, he only made variations on Prof. Markovic's theme that the project of reforming and revising the Yugoslav society implies that all schools, universities and other educational institutions, as well as health institutions need to be protected from political parties' activities... This theme was also varied by Prof. Ratko Markovic, the famous SPS (Serbian Socialist Party) official, who accused his parliament colleagues that political parties already penetrated into the sphere of academic life, without permission."

It is quite certain that there are Radicals and Democrats at each faculty, as well as members of the Civil Federation, but neither party has its representative club or KUL, which is the case of both JUL and SPS. And that is what brings about the cynical paradox: members of those parties at the university, which founded their 'organizations' contrary to the law and which have their committees, accuse all others, and even the majority that doesn't belong to either party - of being involved in politics!?

What happened afterwards, it is familiar to everyone. How will it end, we do not know: the faculties of electrical engineering, law and philology are one step away from a strike, students are requesting the return of their dismissed professors and replacement of the dean and of the notorious Milos Laban.  Graffiti is emerging on the freshly painted walls: YOU PAINTED IT IN VAIN!