Children's hands should not caress machine guns, a dangerous narrative from RS

By Ernad Metaj

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The RS police introduced children in this entity to their arsenal of weapons. One kindergarten teacher enthusiastically told the media that the children were brought to Krajina Square where an arsenal of weapons was displayed, and they were delighted.

- All of them want to see, to try, said the teacher.

The RS Ministry of Internal Affairs "boasted" about its arsenal of weapons to the youngest children in gymnasiums as well. No matter how much they seek justifications that children need to be warned about the dangers they can be exposed to in an increasingly violent society, the events in RS are nothing but a social disorder that goes against common sense.

Among the few who publicly criticized such behavior is Bosnian-Herzegovinian intellectual Edhem Čustović, whose professional engagement is entirely dedicated to young people and supporting their professional development.

- With all due respect to police officers and employees, exposing children to weapons, even with the intention of educating them, can be very dangerous and counterproductive. You can instill the wrong idea about weapons and their use. Many countries would condemn this, but it seems we in Bosnia and Herzegovina are quite okay with this, Čustović wrote on social media, asking if what is being done as part of Police Day in RS is normal.

After the celebration of RS Police Day, one might wrongly conclude that children should only care about whose hands dangerous weapons are in. A "man with a gun" is dangerous only if he is not in a uniform of the desired color and insignia.

Given that politics in BiH is the only thing that successfully produces hysteria, fear, and division among people in BiH, the fact that tender children's hands are allowed to caress automatic weapons is not at all naive. Not long before the celebration of Police Day in RS, we heard politicians from this entity express concern that EUFOR soldiers, armed and in transporters, patrol near schools and kindergartens, scaring children. The most vocal was the mayor of Sokolac municipality, Milovan Bjelica, and the chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Zoran Tegeltija, also publicly expressed concern.

From their perspective, one might wrongly conclude that peace and stability in BiH are threatened if anyone other than Serbs is well-armed. The aggression against BiH showed the opposite, as evidenced by numerous mass graves where innocent and unarmed people were buried, including a large number of children. It is sad that their peers today are taught to applaud weaponry. Those who do so lie that they are doing it for their own good, because at the same time they are poisoning them with "justified anger" towards EUFOR as enemies of the Serbian people.

The history of selective cutting promoted by policies that thrive on blood and conflicts from the past war, by pushing guns into children's hands, bodes no good. Therefore, it is time for every mother and father who wish well for their child and every other child to raise their voice against such madness. Listen to Edhem Ćustović and demand that politicians provide children with access to books, art exhibitions, theater, science and technology centers. Teach them about nature, culture, respect, love, and universal values. Keep weapons as far away from them as possible. We have had enough exposure to weapons in the last 100 years, and we will for the next 100 centuries.