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| Awards for Excellence
Alija Izetbegovic, one of the greatest statesmen and Muslim thinkers of the modern age, symbolises the struggle and the dignity of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In a country defiled by its neighbours, denied defence by the superpowers and effectively deserted by the rest of the world, Izetbegovic empowered his people with the only means available: faith and fortitude. He emerged a hero. In Bosnia, Izetbegovic is known as 'Dedo' - a father figure to whom affection and respect is due. Alija Izetbegovic was born in 1925 in northwest Bosnia - a corner of Europe with a predominately Muslim population but a regime that censured the practice of Islam. As a founder member of the Mladi Muslimani (Young Muslims) at the Sarajevo Gymnasium and then as a law student at Sarajevo University, Izetbegovic took up the rights of Muslims to practice their faith. He became fluent in foreign languages (German, French and English) in order to understand more about the history and struggle of Muslims throughout the world. In 1945, the communist dictatorship of Josip Tito abolished all non-communist groups and arrested their leaders. Izetbegovic spent ten years in prison, when he was released he practiced commercial law, but found an outlet for his activism through writing. He was arrested again in 1983 for allegedly seeking to revive the Mladi Muslimani and, after a farcical trial, sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. During this time his manuscript, Islam Between East and West, was smuggled out of prison. Written in the most trying of conditions, it nevertheless told of the need to reactivate intellectual confidence amongst Muslims. With the collapse of the federal system in Yugoslavia in 1990, Izetbegovic was released subsequently to find himself and his people caught in the implosion of a genocidal war. As leader of the Democratic Action Party, Alija Izetbegovic was elected President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, heading a three-member presidency until his resignation in October 2000. Throughout his life, in word and in deed, Alija Izetbegovic has demonstrated outstanding courage and remarkable compassion to secure the rights of Muslims to lead meaningful and peaceful lives. |
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