Tito was not controversial for him: SDA youth in contradiction with Alija Izetbegović's idea

Radical views of the youth wing of the Party of Democratic Action, which today escalated in the person and work of Tarik Dautović, who announced the renaming of Marshal Tito Street to Alija Izetbegović Street, are in stark contrast to the idea advocated by the first president of SDA, Alija Izetbegović, and even the views of Bakir Izetbegović, writes Patria agency.

Should the young SDA members have forgotten the words of the wise President Izetbegović, we remind them of what was recorded. In the book My Conversations with Alija by Mate Đaković, Alija Izetbegović's statement about Tito and Tito Street in Sarajevo is cited.

- I have never hidden my sympathies for that man, because he did not give me the impression of being an evil man. I had the impression that he was a broad man, open to life, that he wanted us to live and that he let others live it, unlike other communist leaders who were more ascetic. You know, it's hard under ascetics, they expose themselves to suffering, so they demand it from other people too. Tito was a different kind of man. And so, in a word, I don't have a negative attitude towards Tito. You know, we never changed the name of the street named after him here, although we could have done it. We went through a very difficult period of war, when there were such demands. We did not allow it. I did not allow it either. I simply do not believe that history begins with us. That man did some significant things, he created a country, he strengthened it.....

At the beginning of this month, at the event Defense of BiH-Igman 2017, in his address to thousands of attendees, Bakir Izetbegović recalled the years of aggression, the Igman marches then, but also Tito's partisans and anti-fascism.

- All of them are our ancestors. Illyrians, Celts, Slavs, and medieval kings are our great-grandfathers. The Ottomans and Austro-Hungary also left their mark, which we respect, which we love, which is part of ourselves. Yugoslavia was ours. We Bosnians were the most convinced Yugoslavs. And the partisans were ours. Josip Broz is ours. We were educated during his time. 200 years ago, no one in the country of Bosnia was called anything other than a Bosniak. Today it is different and we accept it. Let everyone call themselves what they want and pray to God, as Alija would say, as his mother taught him. We respect and love the mosques, churches, synagogues, tekkes, monasteries, costumes, customs, and dances of every nation in this country, and it hurt us to see the destruction of every bridge, every place of worship. What hurt us the most was the destruction of interpersonal relationships in our country. We are different from those who attacked this country. Our value system is different. And that is why we will win, God willing – Izetbegović said.

It is clear that the youth wing of SDA sees BiH, Sarajevo, and the future of its citizens differently from those who created SDA, belonged to both systems, and experienced both its advantages and disadvantages. But they were aware that "history did not begin with them".