Antara Darah dan Hati: Dream Reality English Translation

Chapter 25 Part 4 "Debate For Approval Of Karim's Romantic Relationship"

POV Karim

I accepted the marriage proposal that mevrouw Sofia offered to me at the graduation ceremony and the handover of my diploma. Whenm y parents and Muhamed and me got home, my parents asked me to talk to them both for a moment in the living room because they wanted to convey their concerns about the answer that I had given to mevrouw Sofia.

My father and mother sat on the sofa that's facing the sofa where I was sitting and then my mother opened the conversation.

"Karim." she said calling my name.

"Yes, mother." I answered.

"Regarding the answer that you gave to Princess Sofia when she made her proposal to you, I honestly don't agree with that answer." my mother said in a serious tone.

"Why don't you agree?" I asked her.

"I'm worried that Princess Sofia's extended family will not accept your presence as a member of their family, because you are a Muslim while they are not." my mother said answering my question still in the same tone.

"Mother, if Mevrouw Sofia's family doesn't want to accept my existence and presence among them, why didn't her parents uttered their objection or protest when she proposed to me so that I could be her husband?" I asked her.

"Perhaps in fact, they don't agree either but, they don't show their disagreement in front of us." my mother replied in a slightly cynical tone.

"How did you know? Did someone from her family or someone close to her tell you that or is this just your prejudice?" I asked her.

"What I know is that infidels who hate us will not accept our presence as part of the extended family of the Netherlands Royal family and people like that are certainly exist in Princess Sofia's extended family, only they don't show themselves, and they will show their selves and their true faces when they have the chance to do it just like when I and my family fled from Bosnia when the war broke out.

The people that I consider to be my neighbours, friends and families suddenly attack the house where I and my family lived, even though I used to joke, laugh and chat with them but, in the end, when they had the chance to attack me and my family, they did that." my mother said explaining to me in a sad tone as she recalled the gruesome and bitter events that she and her family had experienced in Bosnia when the Bosnian war happened.

"Mother, the same thing happened here, before the war of Indonesian independence, many Dutch civilians were befriending the Indonesians natives but when the war for independence occurred, native Indonesians massacred Dutch civilians who used to be friends with them, it happened during the Bersiap period.

One of the perpetrators was named Colonel Sabaruddin, he massacred many Dutch civilians, raped their women and looted their property during the war of independence.

All humans can be brutal regardless of religion, political ideology or skin color." I said giving my explanation to her hoping that she would understand my explanation with her conscience.

"But Karim, the problem is not only that, our family are commoners and your skin tone color is the same as your father's and even though your face is the same as mine, they will still think of you as inferior." my mother said in a worried tone.

"Mother, don't you know that the last name that embedded in your name, Muhamed's name and my name is a royal family name? Mother, you, Muhamed and I, we are part of the Sokolović family, a royal family from amongst the European nations from Bosnian-Serbian region who embraced Islam and its influence was strong during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.