THE demons of Kosovo's past have once again returned to haunt its people, wreaking mayhem and misery. Two days of violent clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians have left 31 dead and many injured. Several mosques and Serbian orthodox churches were set on fire as NATo-led forces in Kosovo struggled to bring peace and order to a divided province. it is said to be the worst violence since the war ended in 1999, and came a week before the fifth anniversary of the beginning of NATo's air strikes. Kosovo has demonstrated the frailty of peace in a region where old animosities lurk in the shadows awaiting the slightest provocation to reassert themselves.

The recent violence was apparently sparked off from two separate incidents. The first incident occurred on March 15 in the village of caglavica, near Pristina. A young Serbian was shot and critically wounded in an attack believed to be ethnically provoked. The local Serbians were quick to respond by placing roadblocks, which led ethnic Albanians to retaliate by burning a number of homes belonging to Serbians. The second incident occurred in Mitrovica, north of Kosovo. A group of Serbian youths chased two Albanian boys into the river ibar where they eventually drowned. This led to riots as the local Serbian minority were attacked by ethnic Albanians and soon many parts of Kosovo were engulfed by anger and emotions that seemed to be further fuelled by its violent and bloody past.

The history of Kosovo is as complicated as its struggle to find peace. As far back as the 8th century, the Slavic and Albanians made Kosovo their home; a place that came to represent the very essence of their cultural identity. Kosovo came under Serbian rule in 1913 and was integrated into the Yugoslav federation along with ethnic division and subjugation of the Albanian national identity. By the 1960s, Belgrade became more liberal towards ethnic Albanians, allowing them to explore opportunities in both Kosovo and Yugoslavia. This led to Kosovo being granted the status of an autonomous province under the Yugoslav constitution in 1974. However, it was a privilege that was revoked in 1989 under the new leadership of Slobodan Milosevic.

Although the status of an "autonomous province" had allowed

Kosovars to become influential within the Yugoslav federation, it also led to a resentment towards the Kosovars. Slobodan Milosevic recognised the weakness and utilised it well to gain political power. The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo resisted the sudden change in status through a submissive resistance, which failed to yield any results. By the mid-1990s, the repressive rule led to the resistance becoming more violent under the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was a guerrilla group that openly challenged Serbian rule in the region. The violence escalated and with it the persecution of Kosovo Albanians by Serbian forces, which led to the horrifying operation of ethnic cleansing.

The international community finally intervened in 1999 with NATo launching air strikes against military target. However, it was a slow response to a crisis that needed to be addressed much earlier, but it was an intervention that brought an end to the persecution of Albanians. But now the Serbian minority in Kosovo were faced with reprisal attacks from grieved Albanians. Both sides had become victims in a brutal war and though united by their grief and misery they remained divided by their ethnic differences and bitter memories of the past.

Kosovo is now under the UN administration and its sovereignty continues to remain with Belgrade. The war had ended but the hate and hostility the Slavs and ethnic Albanians felt for each other remained. Despite NATo-led forces bringing stability to the region over the years, there was the occasional outburst of inter-ethnic violence, a reminder that peace is fragile in a province where the past was neither forgotten nor forgiven.

The people of Kosovo continue to cling to their past and fail to see the future, therefore the most recent clashes in Kosovo should not come as a surprise. it is often said that time is the best healer, but can it really erase the memories? Actions can be restricted but it would be of little consequence if attitude of intolerance persists. it is not enough to want peace, one has to make efforts to eradicate the hurdles that prevent it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding."

NATo has successfully contained the violence with reinforcements on its way. it now remains to be seen what the future has in store for Kosovo, whose status remains

undecided with the ethnic Albanians insisting on full independence and Belgrade aspiring to retain control. Albanian and Serb officials have begun the first significant negotiations since 1999, in spite of resistance from hardline ethnic Albanians. The new Serbian leader Vojislav Kostunica's suggestion of ethnically dividing Kosovo into districts has already met with much resistance from Albanians and seems unfeasible. The UN will continue to remain until it is able to assess and review the progress made to develop the sense of democracy, tolerance towards multi-ethnicity and the rule of law in the province.

The international community for its part needs to re-evaluate its own response to conflict, which is often slow and inadequate. A swift and timely intervention in a conflict prevents escalation of violence and human loss, creating a better opportunity for peace and reconciliation. But there is also a need to address the very issues that fuel a conflict by considering the influence of historical, social and economic conditions of the particular nation.

Every conflict needs to be dealt as a unique situation requiring a specific response than just one standard response. The concept of mutual understanding and tolerance has to spread beyond the corridors of diplomacy to incorporate the whole society. Too often, politicians are allowed to use the animosities of the past to polarise votes and reinforce ethnic identities. in such an atmosphere of uneasiness, it is unrealistic to expect peace to prevail. The objective for peace does not end in the present but incorporates the past and looks into the future.

A delicate peace has returned, settling uneasily among its people apprehensive as to what awaits them. But until the people of Kosovo combat and make peace with the demons of their past, their present will remain restless and their future unknown. Peace cannot be sought with a clenched fist but acquired with an open hand. Violence cannot be ended with hate in our hearts and prejudice in our mind. There are hard choices to be made and firm steps to be taken for the road to peace in Kosovo has just begun.

Fatima Chowdhury is a free lance journalist stationed in Kolkata