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Tuzla is a small place in the north-east Bosnia and Herzegovina. They want it to be famous for its artificial salt lakes, but I hope it will make the history for something else.

I hope to see five thousand people on the streets today (06/02), and 10 thousand tomorrow, and then 15 thousand the next day, and then 20 thousand in every town in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then I hope to see the December 2013 Thailand police scenario and then to see a catharsis with any version of the Ceausescu scenario.

Tuzla used to be an industrial town. Hell, the whole region used to be an industrial one. Heavy industry, chemical industry, furniture, what’s not! Now, it’s all gone. Now we have filthy politicians, poor education, ruined companies, closed factories, lethargic citizens and artificial salt lakes.

I used to love my town and then I became indifferent to it. I dislike what they’re doing with it, as much as I dislike what goes on all over the country. I hate the entities, the cantons, three layers of ministries, thousands of incompetent public officials, and, most of all, I hate the people who were not ready to stand up for their rights and say that it was enough.

Yesterday, some of my fellow-citizens got out on the streets. They started a protest; they went down the streets of Tuzla calling everyone to join in. It is no longer about unpaid salaries, or no health insurance, or about insufficient pensions, or about unemployment, or any other singled issue. No, honey, now it is about everything! They walked all the way to the Cantonal Government Building (which, by the way, used to be the headquarters of the former industrial giant, SODASO), and the rest might become history. Burning tires in the middle of the street, police in full gear, around 20 injured, about 25 taken to custody, and the social networks flaming with comments. Is this the start of a real revolution?

The cantonal PM says the problems have to be solved through an economic council or something like that. I guess that is just another body which will provide additional fees for their hard work. Poor those, our politicians, they live such modest lives, have such scarce income and it is great that they can join in different boards, councils, committees and other bodies, to top it up. Who can live off just 2 or 3 thousand euro per month?! Please, they are the leaders, we elected them, and we trust them! We should give them all we have so that they can lead us to a better tomorrow. Yeah, right! In the late night news, when asked about the protests, the Prime Minister says: “This is an unusual situation”. Don’t say! Seriously, don’t say!

There are many stories about the yesterday’s events. The police brutality is one of the main topics. One of the protest organisers was severely beaten up, deprived of medical attention, taken into custody and, apparently, is still there, with no right to see his family or anyone. A father of a boy who got in the middle of the clash between the police and protesters as he was going back home from school cries to a policemen asking why did they hurt his boy for no reason. An elderly woman who sat down on the road to prevent the cars from passing was brutally lifted of the ground, and then got sick and people still speculate about her condition. A woman with a 5-year old child was also a target.

Who do the police work for? Who pays them? Who should they protect? In April 2013, when the police protested because the budget of the canton was not passed and they were left without salaries, the people of this town went out to support them. Short memory, it seems. Today, they turned against those same people! They apparently followed the orders coming from the cantonal ministers and the PM himself, the one who says: “This is an unusual situation”.

Is this the start of the true social unrest? From time to time, people do pluck up courage and get out on the streets. Last year, on my brother’s birthday, the people led the Baby Revolution. Yesterday, on his son’s birthday, the people of my town might have ignited a spark of another revolution. I know, the two dates mean nothing to you, but I saw something in this coincidence. And I got up (again), as many times before, hoping this will be it!

Not many sleep in Tuzla tonight. The social networks are “burning” with comments. People are getting ready for tomorrow. They no longer are Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, Sejdics or Fincis; they’re people, now. The people of the country which goes to the World Cup for the first time in history in just a bit over 4 months. But today, today is the new day and I pray that the spark will become a flame and I hope to see five thousand people on the streets today (06/02), and 10 thousand tomorrow, and then 15 thousand the next day, and then in every town more and more each day, until we are free and watch our national team fight on the sport’s field, just like we will fight, with newly found strength, for a better tomorrow for us and our children (regardless of how stupid this may sound, or how utopian it may seem).

Photo courtesy of Edmond Ibrahimi

Photo courtesy of Edmond Ibrahimi