The Continental Alcatraz

In the shadow of the Bosnian conflict and according to the Pljevlja scenario, Sandzak is a powder keg with a good chance of sinking into a whirlpool of war under the weight of weapons. Such forecasts are more frequent, following two bomb attacks in the center of Novi Pazar. These explosions drastically widened the rift in relations between the Muslims and the Serbs in this region.

The leader of the pro-Islamic Democratic Action Party (SDA), Mr. Sulejman Ugljanin, has been the target of the Milosevic regime for a long time, because of his statements regarding territorial autonomy. Head of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) in Novi Pazar, Mr. Branko Pantovic, is not worried over the SDA's considerable political demands. He believes "the Muslims are fishing in troubled waters, using the state chaos", even though SDA Secretary Rasim Ljajic is of the opinion that Mr. Milosevic and his associates have been promoting the "political rape of Sandzak" lately, after which this party definitely decided to boycott the forthcoming elections.

The bomb attack on the house of businessman Sefko Alomerovic in which nobody was hurt (hard to believe, but true), not even a computer damaged, and the demolished automobile of Mahmut Memic, MP, have left the SDA believing that these were "rigged actions" with the multiple goal of "degrading the reputation of the legitimate representatives of the Muslims in Sandzak..."

The people are anxious and frightened, and largely politically inclined toward the SDA. The uncertainly of daily life is almost unbearable and the future even more enigmatic in the picturesque town on the banks of the Vapa river, where Serb-Muslim harmony was threatened mostly by the reservists of the Uzice corps with their arrogant behavior, abuses, threats and traditional demonstrations of force.

It is, therefore, natural that in an atmosphere of fear, with tanks and cannons in an encirclement, with ominous air-force exhibitions, no more than 0.6 percent of the inhabitants of Sjenica went out to vote. That is why no municipal authority has been established in this backwater.

Tutin, as the most developed municipality in former and present Yugoslavia, is the most Islamic town in the Balkans with a 98 percent Muslim population. However, power is in the hands of the hitherto communists, the talented jobbers who are famous for falsifying local elections and who are led by Dr. Zvonimir Stasevic.

Despite the popularity it enjoys, the SDA lost the chance to win confidence because it boycotted the elections. The socialist group rejoiced the most, even though the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) has more followers.

Deep in their shadow are the reformists with no strength to make any kind of change in the traditional ghetto environment, where municipal power-holders are doing everything to change nothing.

That is why it is a Herculean task for the intellectuals in Sandzak to win the political battle against the provincial dragons. The ruling party in Serbia is making a mistake in trying to conduct life for the people of Sandzak - despite the fact that they cannot read music.