Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PUTRA MEMORIAL
AUDITORIUM, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 16/02/96
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL LAUNCHING OF THE BOOK
`BOSNIA - BEYOND WORDS, BEYOND TEARS`
For almost four years, Malaysia and the world
read and witnessed the daily accounts and stark
images of the indiscriminate destruction and
atrocities inflicted by the Serbs on the people of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose only fault is to profess
different faiths from the Christian Orthodoxy of the
Serbs. It is now just slightly over two months that
a peace agreement was finally signed by the
Presidents of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and
Serbia. The process of peace implementation is
underway. Though still uncertain, there is hope of
gradual restoration and rebuilding of war-ravaged
cities and homes, and the healing of a deeply
traumatised society and nation.
2. We are gathered here this morning to launch a
global humanitarian appeal for Bosnia-Herzegovina
and to mark the first release of a pictorial
documentation sponsored by the Malaysian private
sector, entitled `Bosnia - Beyond Words, Beyond
Tears'. This event is heartening because it is yet
another welcome expression of co-operation between
the public and private sectors in Malaysia. The
willingness of the private sector to mobilise their
resources in support not only of the country's
economic policies and growth, but also its
diplomatic initiatives and international role is
commendable. I congratulate Limkokwing Integrated
Sdn. Bhd. and other corporate bodies for their
positive contributions and their caring attitude.
3. War is always cruel but it is not inevitable.
The carnage, ethnic strife, destruction and
sufferings in Bosnia-Herzegovina should not have
taken place, at least not to the extent it has, in a
world and an age where barbaric cruelty is
universally condemned. This horror could have been
stopped earlier. Certainly it must never be allowed
to happen again. This is the underlying message of
`Bosnia-Beyond Words, Beyond Tears'.
4. Europe had witnessed many cruel wars where
massacres and indiscriminate killings were generally
featured. Prevention was difficult because the
perpetrators were great military powers, quite
capable of doing great harm to others who may want
to be gallant and rush to the rescue. But the
tragedy of Bosnia- Herzegovina is different. Serbia
is not a great power and certainly the Bosnian Serbs
did not even constitute a nation. The great powers
of the world, the so-called champions of human
rights, are very many times more powerful and
capable than the puny rump Yugoslavia and the
Bosnian Serb terrorists.
5. Yet we see the Great Powers and their vaunted
European Alliance not merely hesitate but actually
permitted the Serbs to kill and destroy with
impunity. Having prevented the Bosnian Muslims and
Croats from arming to defend themselves and assuring
them that they would be protected in the safe
havens, the forces of Nato actually handed over
Bosnian Muslims to the Serbs knowing full well the
Serbs would kill them. And so today we hear and we
see on the television screens mass graves filled
with hundreds and thousands of Bosnian Muslims and
some Croats. The scale of these atrocities is
frightening in an age when the slightest breach of
democracy results in sanctions and threats and
visitations by powerful fleets.
6. Democracy is based on popular support. Because
the leaders of powerful democracies fear their
people may not elect them if their soldiers are
harmed while defending others, they dared not make
the decision to act in accordance with their
vaunted humanitarian principles. Rather a thousand
foreigners die than an election lost. This is the
beauty of democracy.
7. And so the carnage went on. Yet in the end it
took only a minimal of military action, a few
rockets fired from safe heights to force the Serbs
to come to the negotiating table. One cannot but
regret that this was not done earlier. So many
thousands of men, women and children would have been
saved from untold horrors, from being ravaged and
savaged, if only someone had the guts to stand up
for the humanitarian principles they loudly profess.
8. The peace is still fragile. Fear of the Serbs
is still evident among the leaders of the First
World, the World of Justice and Human Rights. How
weak is the resolve was demonstrated when the
abduction of Bosnians by Serbs was declared by a
local commander as not his responsibility because he
was not there to police but to enforce the Peace
Agreement.
9. At the same time the rehabilitation of the
Serbs has begun. Those of them who have been
evicted from Krajina are said to suffer because they
have to live in Serbia in temporary homes.
Therefore the Serbs too must be pitied. In the end
Serbian crimes will be glossed over and the genocide
they committed overlooked. Such is the justice and
humanitarinism of our day and age.
10. This book "Bosnia-Beyond Words, Beyond Tears"
should serve to remind us of the enormity of the
crimes committed by the Serbs and the hypocrisy of
the so-called civilised world.
11. This book is a non-profit effort by the
Malaysian private sector in support of the global
humanitarian appeal for Bosnia- Herzegovina.
12. I launch this book with the hope and the prayer
that people all over the world will rise to the aid
of the unfortunate peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina in
rebuilding their ravaged country. On that note I
launch this book.
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