Islamic Community: We are not seeking „far greater rights“ through our contract with the State

Sarajevo, April 25th 2019 (MINA) – After the President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, publicly claimed that, through its contract with the State, the Islamic Community „is seeking far greater rights“ than those contained in the contracts already signed by the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Community reacted with the following announcement from the Office of Raisu-l-Ulama:

We firmly deny the false claims of the President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, that the Islamic Community „is seeking far greater rights“ than those contained in the contracts already signed by the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The contract which has been put on hold for many years due to political obstructions was not proposed by the Islamic Community, but by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The text of the draft contract is the result of work of two working groups, one from the Islamic Community and one from the Council of Ministers, and experts who worked on it made a proposal which complies with highest international standards in this field.

The draft contract for the Islamic Community does not give the Islamic Community any rights greater than those given to the other two traditional religious communities. The only thing that makes this contract any different are certain unique characteristics of Islamic teaching. The other two religious communities also have such unique characteristics and they have been acknowledged in their contracts with the State.

In addition, the other three traditional religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have expressed positive views about the text of this contract, and its contents are only disputed by those political options who wish to spread mistrust and use it for political turmoil and blackmailing.

Once again, the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina calls for all politicians, especially state representatives, to stop turning this matter into a political issue, and to approach it, instead, as a matter of basic human rights and freedoms, thus putting an end to the discrimination against Muslims and the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is now becoming institutionalized.