*** One lesson that the world may draw from the Yugoslav experiment is that it is not such a good idea as to bring up children with mindless hatred and nurture it for generations. It breeds specimens like Slobodan Milosevic. ***

THE arrest of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic by the Yugoslav authorities marks the end of a bloody decade in the Balkans and beginning ol a new phase. He is the architect of brutal bloodshed in the Balkans, the like of which (he world has rarely known.

The life of Milosevic has not lacked in drama and his arrest, with gun in hand either to kill himself and his family or face his opponents, was all one piece of theatre. It was cool headeness of the Belgrade police that finally won the day. It is remark able (hat a warrant ol arrest had been issued quite some time ago by the Yugoslav authorities. Hanging on his head was the indictment of the International Court ol Justice al the Hague, where he is wanted for WarCrimesTrial.

With the arrest of Milosevic one colourful figure disappears from (he world stage. I Ie has been a Serbian nationalist through and through. His entire career has been built upon whipping up ultra nationalist feelings Of the Serbs and his dream has been to build a Great Serbia I le really made his grand entry into the international political arena a decade ago following (he splintering of Yugoslavia ol Josif BrozTito in the early eighties. Milosevic wanted to establish domination of the Serbs on other ethnic varieties forming the lounei Yugoslavia.

His first target was Bosnia-Herzegovina There was a special reason for the ferocity ol attack on Bosnia. 1 he population was Muslim

and of Turkish »‘*tr ' >n It may be recalled (hat wlu h Ottoman rule spread far and wide and established Itself in the Balkans, people in Bosnia Herzegovina and some neighbouring areas voluntarily converted to Islam. True to the Islamic faith, the religion was never imposed on the local population The Ottman rule lasted nearly five centuries and the Muslims and the Orthodox Serbs lived side by side in perfect harmony. During the height ol the Ottoman rule Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent built an architectural marvel of a bridge al Mostar by his world famous architect Sinan, whose disciple had a

hand in the building of Taj Mahal, (such was (he hatred of Milosevic of everything Ottoman that he had the Mostar bridge reduced to rubble). Yet for all those five centuries the Serb children were brought up with extreme hatred against the Ottoman rule. I here is a small town at the border of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria called Nis and there is a museum where objects of'()t toman atrocities are exhibited'. Thus hatred ol Ottoman rule has been ingrained in every Yugoslav child.

As Yugoslavia started splintering.

Bosnia-Herzegovina wanted to go its own way. The Bosnian aspirations were pul down with incredible brutality and the war continued for many years. Under ihe inspiring leadership of the Bosnian Muslim leader Alia Izzetebegovic, the Bosnians mounted a spirited defence, which drew ihe admiration of the world. For once the Islamic world awoke and extended its hand of help. I recall that in Istanbul a class friend of Izzetebgovic, a Sudanese gentleman, opened an office where he collected arms and shipped them to the Bosnian fighters. Ihe Saudis extended powerlul financial help and Turkish fighters

joined their Bosnian brethren. Il was finally the NATO coalition through its bombing of Serb strongholds, that brought a recalcitrant Milosevic to the negotiating table. In the bloody warfare waged by Milosevic, he hail applied his brutal prescription under the nomenclature of “ethnic cleansing".The hatred of the Muslim Bosnian was so profound that he felt that his nation the Serbs must be cleansed of the 'Islamic virus'.

After Bosnia the target became Kosovo, which too decided to part

company from Yugoslavia. The Serbs had been nurtured with the belief that the origin of Serbian nationalism was Kosovo. So Milosevic sent his army against tiny and hapless Kosovans. Once again thanks to the energetic leadership of President Bill Clinton of the US, Milosevic was brought to his senses by sustained bombing of his hideouts. Milosevic played cat and mouse game with the NATO forces but ultimately caved in.

From the battlefield Milosevic had to face the electorate ofYugosla-via. He had built his career by whipping up Serb sentiments and managed to gel a semblance of support

from the other Serb nation Russia. Yet as his country went on splintering has he received massive blows from the world of Islam and NATO, his popular support went on dwindling. I lections were held in Yugoslavia that created world wide interest. He was soundly defeated at the polls in the hands of Voijslav Kostunica, who became the new President.

Although his career appeared to be coming to an end Milosevic was not ready to throw in the towel. Gases for corruption to murder were

levelled against him in Yugoslav courts. Meanwhile Milosevic had caused such universal condemnation (hat the International Court of Justice set up a tribunal and accused him of the worst human rights violations. Ihe International Court of Justice wants that Milosevic must be handed over to them.

With the arrest and sending to Yugoslav jail of Milosevic the new phase of his life has begun. President Kostunica has said that Milosevic will be tried under Yugoslav law and inside Yugoslavia. It is difficult to gauge popular sentiment regarding Milosevic. Although he was defeated at the polls, he remains a formidable

figure in (Jie eyes ol the Yugoslavs. A tussle is bound to ensue regarding (he fate ol (his extraordinary personality. Authorities in Belgrade are bound to feel the pressure from across the world for the trial of Milosevic at the Hague.

A small incident in Yugoslavia, ignited the First World War in 1914. The last decade of conflict surrounding Yugoslavia brought the world on the brink of a potential conflict. Fortunately since (he madman in Belgrade, Milosevic, was effectively isolated the conflict did not spread beyond its borders. Anyhow the great powers had no stomach for warfare but were rather eager to douse the embers of war.

As Slobodan Milosevic languishes in a Belgrade jail he would have time to reflect on the horrible bloodshed he was caused in the name of Serbian nationalism. We live in a time of nation states and attempts go apace to build larger units like the so far successful experiment of European Union. Regional groupings like ASIAN and many others are flourishing. Sadly SAARC continues to flounder caught in the tussle between two of its biggest members Indiaand Pakistan.

One lesson that the world may draw from the Yugoslav experiment is that it is not such a good idea as to bring up children with mindless hatred and nurture it for generations. It breeds specimens like Slobodan Milosevic.