SAVA I NADIJA

On November 1st, 2024, at 11:52 AM, the canopy of the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, claiming lives of 16 people and leaving one with severe injuries. It was built in 1964, and renovated from 2021 to 2024, as part of the fast railways project from Belgrade to Budapest. It triggered mass protests across the country, fueled by dissatisfaction with other issues like government corruption and censorship.

The photo shows Sava Nikolić and Nadija Delimeđac, two students from Serbia, during a protest in Kraljevo, which happened in April 2025. In the photo, Sava is wearing a šajkača, a traditional Serbian cap, and also a Serbian flag, and Nadija wearing a hijab and a Palestinian keffiyeh, which are symbols of their identities.

After their first meeting in Kraljevo, Sava and Nadija met again months later during the protest walk to Novi Sad for the November 1st gathering, to mark exactly 12 months since the tragedy. Their reunion was captured by cameras
and immediately spread across social media.

Their chance meeting, caused sincere emotions in both, and from empathy, Sava hugged Nadija, not knowing that women wearing a hijab usually don't engage in physical contact with men who aren’t their family, according to Islam. Their photo became viral on social media, and triggered an avalanche of attacks against her.

Elvedin Pezić, a Bosnian-based Islamic preacher, posted on Facebook a critique of the photo. He wrote that her hug was “a shame for the family” and “clearly haram by faith”. His post amplified the backlash against her, who was threatened, often with calls for expulsion and violence. Her father also confirmed all of the threats.

Sava publicly responded, defending her and told Pezić to stop creating divisions among people. He said that the hug wasn't a political or religious statement, but an act of empathy, a great message of strength, humanity, and resistance to hate.

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