Many times, since my return from Bosnia-Herzegovina have I attempted to write about my experience. Each time, my fingers have given flight, and fleeted between moments of courage and cowardice. My words, escape me and my pen, well it is lodged in a place where life, loss and love all reside.
There are some moments, some people, and some places, which change our lives forever. Bosnia is one of them. This country is magnificent. The beauty is mesmerising but there is an incomprehensible sadness which lingers; in the eyes of an elder, behind the smile of a child, in the words of a youth, sweeping through the vacant buildings and is heard echoing across the land.
All I keep asking myself is: how can such a beautiful country contain so many horrors? the answer is always this; Though life has light and shade, good and bad, life and death, humankind has the capability to increase darkness through its own hand, if it so wishes. It has the capability to increase chaos and execute the worst crimes imaginable if greed, power and control are its moral compass.
However it also has the capability to bring about, justice, peace and equality. Despite the traumas the people of this country have faced, hope stands upon its bridges and courage spills from the hearts of those who have survived war and genocide. There are those who strive for peace and justice, hold no hatred, and have a resolve for harmony. I wish I could say everyone feels hopeful for a prosperous future. Some do, however many struggle and still remain oppressed by the powers that control. There are no jobs, nor is there a stable healthcare system, there is almost an apartheid system where people, right from early childhood are separated by religion and many are in need of financial, psychological, emotional, and social support, which is extremely limited and overstretched.
When you set foot in this land you feel as though you have been transported back in time. The linear architecture, the chugging chimneys spewing industrial smog, the rickety trams screech yellow, repainted with spray cans for free, are all a typical sight in the major cities. For me, I felt a sense of melancholy in each place we visited. No one rushing, no one in a hurry to get anywhere not even the cars on the road wished to overtake.
Despite this, there is a huge heart which pumps to the sound of resilience and survival. A rising, of groups and individuals who we had the honour and privilege to meet; their only wish is to ensure they are not forgotten. Their struggle, hardship, and pain, are never forgotten. Their suffering; the torture and violations they or their families endured, is never forgotten. That their dead, those yet not found, and those who may never be discovered are given the dignity they deserve. That their women, who were torn inside out, begging to be killed rather than to see another day, their stories never, be forgotten.
While the world was in slumber, and those who abandoned the very people they were meant to protect, and when silence was the loudest, evil men did the unimaginable. I cannot help but draw parallels with what is happening around the world. The media propaganda, stoking the flames of hate and intolerance, suspicion and discord is rampant, and I worry about what the future holds.
I cannot really capture in words what we witnessed, the courage of the people we met, and the sheer strength to continue to seek justice. I cannot describe this countries immense beauty, and the warmth of those who reside in her, so I will let my pictures tell you the story.
I leave you with this quote by Martin Luther King, Jr
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
To bring change in the world we must be the change. Here’s to all those who wish to be so. I stand in solidarity.
To Bosnia-Herzegovina, I have left a piece of my heart behind; keep it safe till I return one day. Insh’Allah
Aisha Mirza
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