Bosnia is still burning and bleeding. This is despite the fact that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at last signed the peace plan — albeit conditionally — put forward by the international mediators on Sunday last. Given the obduracy shown by hardline Serbian military leadership in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it is too much to expect that the cauldron will calm down so soon. Only it is the beginning — if anything — of the journey to peace The exuberance as expressed by Lord Owen. European Community representative and a co-drafter of the peace plan, should better be considered a little too Inflated a feeling. Yet when the veteran British politician says, "this is a happy day in the Balkans”, it marks a turning point in their long mediation in the most bitter strife on European soil after the World War 0.

Cyrus Vance, now a LIN envoy and a former US foreign secretary, has betrayed no such feeling and nas rightly summed up the position by saving Karadzic’s "signature is a commitment". If there are one or two Irritants for either party which signed the peace plan, these would be considered stumble-blocks that can be overcome with time. But the fact that the obtaining Serbian mood is opposed to the plan is a cause for concern Karadzic s main concern is however a different one in that he wants to see the establishment of a territorial link between the Serbian provinces in the east and west of the republic. The internationally-mediated plan, on the other hand, seeks to divide Bosnia-Herzegovina into 10 semi-autonomous regions. The Serbs now controlling 70 per cent of the disputed territory nat-urally find the solution too hard to swallow.

If the Serbs continue to ignore or disrespect the commitment their leader has made through signing the plan, the onus of any tragic eventuality will have to be borne by them alone. As for the unspecific US measure against the Serbs on noncompllance of the agreement's provisions, the choice will be left open. Clinton administration's resolve to enforce the peace plan will be equally supported by its allies. Not a good prospect for the Serbs who have so long enjoyed the upper hand in a localised war. The threat of a US military strike has forced the Serbian leaders to soften their stand, further defiance of an international consensus will only invite disaster for the Serbs who have been responsible for the worst crimes against humanity.

Considering the merits of the plan, it is still the best possible solution under the circumstances Programmes like ethnic cleansing are crimes simply mind-boggling in this modern civilization The Serb and Croats have been a party to this crime. How they will make amend for such ghastly sins should be a point of discussion. There is no point allowing them further concession to enjoy. The Serbs find the agreement unacceptable because they cannot reconcile with the idea that their rivals of other community will take a share of the power which was their absolute preserve. None but they themselves are to blame for this tragic development. They have now reached a point of no return. So it will be advisable to salvage whatever is possible from the ruins.

The autonomous regions do not necessarily leave the option of infringement upon each other s rights nor are they worked out to bar future co-operation between and among the regions. The optimism expressed by one of the mediators that the ethnic communities will once again be able to live peacefully as they did before the war began may indeed come true once the warring parties take a stock of the cost they have paid during the torrid times. History after all has shown human frivolity and impermanence of enmity between states and communities.