Defeat was not an option, courage is contagious

The news that the Government has terminated the concession contracts for the construction of small hydroelectric power plants (MHP) on three watercourses in Kraljski Bari was received by the residents of that Kolašina village after almost 18 months of continuous struggle for the rivers.

At almost 50 protests and many round-the-clock vigils, to prevent the construction of small hydropower plants (SHP), they showed what it means to be a civic and environmental activist. This is why they received this year's award for the affirmation of human rights and civic activism from the Center for Civic Education (CGO). They explain that their fight was a fight for the right to life, and during the protest, with the motto "Not a drop!" they knew that, as they say, "defeat is not an option". They also know, they claim, that by defending the rivers, since July 2020, they "defended the Constitution and laws, but also showed what patriotism means."

"Civil activism, in addition to being a fight for the public interest, is also a constant reminder of institutions to respect the law and the Constitution. From our perspective, it was also a fight against interest groups, individual interests, privileged tycoons, but also captive institutions, which forgot to do their job," explains the president of the Ministry of Health. Milovan Labovic how he perceives civic activism.

According to his neighbor Vladimir Novović being a civic activist means "not letting them make your life worse, your present and future uncertain or impossible". Awareness of the common good and concern for those who will inherit us, he explains, "give strength and the will to fight."

"That struggle for the right goal, which is imposed, through which you suffer a lot of injustice and sacrifice a lot, represents civic activism for me. There is a clear difference between a citizen and a slave, and it is up to you to choose how you, your families, children, neighbors, friends, countrymen want to live... Only collective happiness can make you happy to the end, because in our life we ​​want to such people surround us", says Novović.

As he explains Novice Dragojević, in the case of the residents of Kraljske Bar, there was an inevitable sense of duty "to raise one's voice against everything that endangers both the individual and the wider community".

"We consciously entered the fight knowing the cost of sacrifice and suffering and losses. For just and the most successful activism, it is necessary to turn off fear and understand that for something bigger and better one must make a sacrifice. Also exclude politics as much as possible to the smallest extent possible, because politics is now painted with the same chameleon color here. Finally, reasonable agreement and courage are needed", explains Dragojević.

For a year and a half of protests, the residents of Kraljske Bar were hurt the most by the silence and lack of promptness of the institutions. Exceptions to such behavior, Labović claims, "only confirmed the decades-long rule of the state's relationship with citizens' life problems."

"These are the institutions that we citizens pay from our salaries, contributions and taxes... You often get obstructions from such institutions, instead of having objective and legal help and protection, and in fact you realize that individuals from those institutions are clearly not "working" only for the state, but also for interest groups and tycoons," says Novović.

It is surprising, he says, "that the support of the non-governmental sector, in some cases sufficient and in others unlimited, is the only support and hope for a positive outcome of the civil struggle". That sector, claims Novović, is today "the only hope for a social and civil balance between the captive state institutions and ordinary people".

His comrades and him were especially encouraged, he says, by "the support of ordinary people". They are, explains Novović, "a sincere, starting and final goal, but also a guarantee for the success of many struggles".

"It is obvious that the institutions are unable to heal themselves and they definitely need a helping hand, and it is the citizens who offer that hand. However, the institutions do not seem to have the strength to accept that outstretched hand and it remains still hanging in the air. In every society there are always those who are more awake than others, those who wake up later and those who sleep. There are the least of the former, but they are the helmsmen of the latter," claims Dragojević.

They advise everyone who is preparing for similar battles in Kraljski Bari to be united, persistent, brave, but transparent. It was this transparency and the fact that they managed not to "color" their demands in daily politics, says Labović, that brought them sympathy and support from the public. Clearly defined goals and requirements from the authorities are also necessary, he believes.

Novović says that he learned that during similar fights it must be "painful and difficult, unfair and merciless". However, he explains, all this is accompanied by "happiness due to the awareness that you are fighting for a better place for your family and yourself to live".

"Has anyone heard that a fight was easy or quick? I'm not. The fight you are entering will probably be long, it will be unfair, merciless, you may lose a lot in it. Fighting for the right goal, for the good you strive for and what you defend is the reward and satisfaction you will be adorned with for your entire life. There are no decorations that can mean more to you than the feeling that you will carry inside with pride, that you fought for justice, for the people around you and a better world. In this kind of struggle, your family, close people around you, your health, your love, your life that you lived will suffer, but that is exactly what you are fighting for," he said.

He believes that "if the goal is sincere, clear, unquestionable - you will not be alone in that fight". Novović says that "in honest and real fights, there are no deviations, and defeat is not an option." The guardians of the rivers below Komovo also say that "regardless of the injustice, one should fight decisively, justly and bravely". They also say that "courage is contagious".