Several Banjaluka citizens threw flowers into the Vrbas river from a bridge in Gornji Seher Banjaluka settlement thus honouring Banjaluka’s Croat and Bosniak victims of the war in Bosnia (1992-1995), with a message “Never again.”
Atif Turcinhodzic who initiated this event said the goal was to remember all the civilian victims of the previous war, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
Bedrudin Gusic, a journalist and publicist from Banjaluka, said there are data that show there were around 500 Bosniak and Croat civilian victims who died in in Banjaluka or during forced labour around the city of Banjaluka.
“There were no combat operations in Banjaluka, but the evil that accompanies war existed in this town,” he said.
“Had it not been for that evil, would over 80,000 Banjaluka citizens, Bosniaks and Croats, leave the city, as did a number of Serb families? All 16 Banjaluka mosques were demolished, people were laid off their jobs, expelled from their apartments, sent to forced labour,” Gusic concluded.
Throwing flowers into the Vrbas river marked the opening of the 15th Banjaluka citizens’ gathering called “Embroidered bridge,” within which sports and literary events and traditional talks between the diaspora and returnee representatives with Banjaluka city representatives will be held.
