Islamic Community: Milorad Dodik's claims are untrue

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, claimed in public that the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through an agreement with the state, "seeks much greater rights" than is the case with the agreements already signed by the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Community responded with a statement from the Office of the Reisu-l-ulema, MINA reports.

"We resolutely deny the untrue claims of the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, that the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through an agreement with the state, "seeks much greater rights" than is the case with the agreements already signed by the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church."

The agreement, which has been awaiting signature in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for several years due to political obstruction, is not a proposal of the Islamic Community but of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The draft agreement text is the result of the work of two working groups, one from the Islamic Community and one from the Council of Ministers, and it was worked on by experts who prepared a proposal harmonized with the highest international standards in this field.

The draft agreement does not provide anything more for the Islamic Community than what is provided for the other two traditional religious communities. The only difference in this agreement are some specificities of Islamic teachings, which other religious communities also have, and which are recognized in their agreements with the state.

Furthermore, the other three traditional religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have expressed positive opinions on the content of this agreement, and it is only challenged by those policies that work to further sow distrust and use it for daily political turmoil and political blackmail.

The Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina once again appeals to all politicians, especially state government representatives, not to politicize this issue but to approach it as a matter of fundamental human rights and freedoms, and in this way to end the discrimination against Muslims and the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is thus taking on institutional forms, the statement said today.