Gloom hangs over Indonesia: Intellectuals<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Democracy Forum, a loose discussion group
\nchaired by controversial Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid, has
\ndropped its plan to issue an exceedingly short political
\nstatement: \"No Comment. Don't know.\"<\/p>\n
A number of young supporters of the forum prepared the
\n\"statement\", to be signed by its members and distributed to the
\npress late Wednesday.<\/p>\n
After Abdurrahman failed to show up, the forum members debated
\nwhether to issue the \"statement\", with some saying that it only
\nexpressed \"defeat\" on their part. A well-informed source at the
\nforum told The Jakarta Post that those who wanted the statement
\ndistributed wished to express a sense of futility in commenting
\non current conditions.<\/p>\n
The activists eventually agreed not to issue the statement.<\/p>\n
The Democracy Forum holds annual meetings, coinciding with the
\ncelebration of Indonesia's independence, which are usually marked
\nby the issuance of political statements.<\/p>\n
A number of famous intellectuals turned up at the gathering
\nWednesday. Among them were philosophers F.X. Mudji Sutrisno and
\nFranz Magnis Suseno, novelist Marianne Katoppo, social and
\npolitical observers Daniel Dhakidae, Muhammad Hikam, historian
\nOnghokham, senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad and lawyer Marsilam
\nSimanjuntak.<\/p>\n
The forum was established in early 1991 by 45 people with the
\naim of educating the nation towards a more mature political life
\nthrough the process of democratization.<\/p>\n
In more recent developments, however, the forum has often been
\nlinked with opinions which are very critical of the government.
\nAbdurrahman Wahid and most of the intellectuals in the forum are
\nknown to be blunt in their criticism of the administration.<\/p>\n
Goenawan and Mudji used the occasion on Wednesday to reflect
\non the current situation and to share their views with reporters.
\nBoth Goenawan and Mudji argued that Indonesians have a lot to be
\nconcerned about.<\/p>\n
Goenawan, former editor of the now-banned Tempo news weekly,
\nidentified at least three issues that should be handled urgently,
\nthe first of which being \"the absence of the rule of law\".<\/p>\n
The second and third matters were the prevalent \"cynical
\nattitude\" and \"mass paranoia\", Goenawan said.<\/p>\n
Mudji supported Goenawan's view, adding that another matter of
\nconcern was what he described as a lack of feeling of security
\namong the people.<\/p>\n
\"Many people still don't have the feeling of being safe, of
\nbeing free from terror,\" Mudji said. \"People still feel that they
\nare not free to express their opinion.\"<\/p>\n
\"The lack of this freedom of expression means that the people
\nhave to pay too great a price for the economic success that
\nIndonesia has obtained over all this time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Goenawan said the \"prevalent cynical attitude\" is evident the
\nlarge number of people who \"treat everything as if it has a price
\ntag attached to it\".<\/p>\n
\"Whatever a person does, he's thought of as doing it to
\nfurther his own interests,\" Goenawan said. The 50th anniversary
\nof Indonesia's independence has seen a moral slide, he said.<\/p>\n
He said cynicism is even more prevalent among government
\nofficials. \"Every time a person voices some concern, he's seen as
\ndoing so to gain popularity. Officials are always looking for
\nulterior motives.\"<\/p>\n
The trend, he said, has reached a dangerous stage. Unless it
\nis stopped, the tendency of finding fault and assuming ulterior
\nmotives will \"cause us to lose hope,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Goenawan also lamented what he described as \"mass paranoia\",
\nwhich he said affected every layer of society, including
\ngovernment officials.<\/p>\n
\"We are suspicious of everything,\" he said. \"If three people
\nsneeze at almost the same time in three different corners of a
\nroom, they are suspected of hatching a 'sneezing conspiracy'\".
\n(swe)<\/p>",
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