Dragica Gasic: They can't scare me with stones; my heart draws me to Djakovica

The home of Dragica Gasic, the first Serbian returnee to Djakovica, was stoned again on the day her family was celebrating their patron saint, Saint Archangel Michael. Commenting on this distressing event, she stated that she fears walking the streets of her town, but that when she crosses her threshold, her heart is full despite everything, and she does not feel afraid to spend the night in her apartment.

Dragica recalls that this is not the first time she has been targeted by Albanians. She says for Kosovo Online that she did not see who threw stones at her apartment windows that night but no longer tries to find out because she has grown accustomed to such unpleasant situations.

“I didn’t see who threw them. I called the police; they came, conducted an investigation, and left. When I opened the terrace door, I didn’t see anyone on the street. They have broken down my doors so many times, about ten, until I installed reinforced ones. I have lost count. They have stolen so much from my apartment… Yet no one reacts. One man admitted in court that he robbed the apartment, but I never received any response,” Gasic said.

Until three months ago, Kosovo police guarded the building where Dragica lives. Since she spent some time in a hospital in North Mitrovica due to spinal surgery, the police now visit her once a day to ask if she has any problems.

KFOR personnel, she notes, stopped visiting her long ago.

At the nearest market, Dragica has been banned from entering since her return to Djakovica nearly three and a half years ago, so she has to go to the city center for groceries. On her way to the store, she is constantly asked when she plans to sell her apartment.

In the three and a half years since she returned to Djakovica, her relationship with Albanian neighbors has not changed. Even today, she says, they refuse to greet her.

Despite all the problems and discomfort she endures, she emphasizes that she is happiest in her own city and home.

“They ask me why I don’t talk to my neighbors. I would, but they don’t want to. If I say hello once and you turn your head away, why would I greet you again? But my heart draws me here. I talk to the young man who drives me around because I can’t move back and forth easily anymore. But when I cross the threshold of my apartment, my heart is full,” Dragica said.

She expressed her immense gratitude to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, its director Petar Petkovic, local authorities, and various organizations. She stated that without their help, she would not have been able to furnish her apartment and secure the necessities for living.

However, she noted that her apartment needs renovation as the building is old, and dampness is seeping in from the unit above hers.

This courageous Serbian woman declares that throwing stones will not scare her and that those wishing for her departure cannot do anything to her. She emphasizes that for someone who loves their city and hearth, fear does not exist.

“Whoever wants to come back will come back. I have been harassed, but I was not afraid, and I stayed. I didn’t take anything from anyone, I have everything in black and white. No matter how much they bang on my windows, they can’t do anything to me,” she stated firmly.

After living as a displaced person for 22 years, Dragica Gasic returned to Djakovica in 2021, the town where she was born. Since then, her apartment has been broken into several times, her windows smashed, and NGOs have initiated petitions for her eviction from Djakovica. Despite it all, she is determined to continue fighting for her rights.