DO SERBIANS HAVE A FUTURE IN A MULTIETHNIC KOSOVO?

(by Dr Sudhakar Natarajan

My dear Peacekeepers of Kosovo. I sincerely hope that all of you are doing your bit to mitigate the exodus of serbians from Kosovo. During my time as a UNMIK officer there were small Serbian pockets that exixted in Kosovo. Even then there was a steady exodus of Serbians from Kosovo.

I observed that the conditions were not conducive enough for them as to live with dignity. One of the most painful experience was when my Serbian house owner ,in whose house I was staying, was forced to sell his house in Kosovo Polje, for peanuts. He broke the news to me with tears in his eyes. He was Micky.His wife's name was Dragidza.He had two teen age sons and a daughter. It was indeed very traumatic. They had been staying in the house for decades. I feel that the UNMIK could have done more.

Four decades is a long time. It could be a lifetime for most. When anything or any place is associated with an individual for such a long time, it tends to impregnate into the very psyche of that person and becomes an inseparable component of the core of that individualâ??s psyche.

A home is not a mere physical entity made of brick and cement, where a family stays, but is the part and parcel of the essence of their lives. The magnitude of its importance intensifies and increases in geometric proportion as the years go by.

Forty years of stay in a house is enough to state that it becomes a life force. The house attains a personality of itâ??s own and becomes an individual in itâ??s own right. The house becomes a home and finally becomes a living and breathing creature. It becomes intertwined with the psychological fabric of the family.

Having to move out of your house out of your free will is a different matter. Being forced to sell it, due to factors not in ones control is all the more agonizing. It literally tears the spirit of the family asunder. It is highly traumatic and assaults all the senses of the humans that had inhabited that house. Selling it for half the market price is sad. Witnessing a new family taking over your home is one of the greatest distresses that anybody can experience.

A father, a mother, two sons and a daughter, being forced to move out due to interplay of geopolitical factors is the most harrowing encounters that I have ever experienced.

This particular family had to bear the burden of history. The rooms, the courtyard, the apple tree, the small crack on the wooden floor, the stairs that lead to the rooms above, the dripping of melting snow from the roof, the misshapen nail in the garage door, the bathroom door that does not close easily, the threadbare carpet and the gate that squeaks are entrenched in their very existence.

Relocation from the very surroundings where you were born, faced all the trials and tribulations, is distressing, to say the least. Being forced to sell it for half the price adds insult to injury.

Situation may improve tomorrow. But as they say, tomorrow is another day.

The above narration is a direct result of my experiences in Kosovo. I hope a day will come when the Serbians come back to settle down in Kosovo.

I am sure the UNITED NATION'S aim to make Kosovo a true mutliethnic society will see the light of the day. More strength to the brave UNMIK Police officers!!!!

Dr Sudhakar Natarajan,

Ex-UNMIK Police Officer

Note: drsudhakar2000@yahoo.com"