Indonesia-Netherlands relations revisited<\/p>\n
A debate is now raging in the Netherlands over Queen Beatrix's
\nplanned visit to Indonesia in August this year. Noted political
\nscientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar argues that the debate is a wholly
\ninternal Dutch matter and that Indonesians attitude towards the
\ncolonial period, 50 years after independence, is one of letting
\nbygones be bygones.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands
\nare again the subject of public discussion. In fact in the
\nNetherlands the issue is a cause for heated debate. The
\ncontroversy revolves around Dutch actions towards Indonesia some
\nfifty years ago. As we know, the Netherlands refused to recognize
\nIndonesia's declaration of independence on Aug. 17, 1945, and
\nlaunched a police action to recover the colony which it had lost
\nto the Japanese in 1942. The Dutch finally conceded defeat and
\ntransferred sovereignty to Indonesia only in December 1949, after
\nencountering fierce and determined nationalist resistance and
\ninternational pressure. Today there is a major controversy in the
\nNetherlands over whether the Dutch government should now
\napologize to the Indonesian people for what the former did five
\ndecades ago.<\/p>\n
Although the two countries have developed diplomatic ties as
\ntwo sovereign states, relations between Jakarta and The Hague
\nseem to be unable to entirely escape their shared past. The
\nstruggle to liberate West Irian continued to sour Indonesian-
\nDutch relations until 1963. Cordial and close relations only
\nbegan to develop after the advent of the New Order in 1966,
\nparticularly after the founding of the Inter-Governmental Group
\non Indonesia (IGGI) in 1967, a consortium of aid donor countries
\nand institutions which was headed by the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
But Jakarta eventually came to view the IGGI, which brought
\nIndonesia and the Netherlands closer together for 25 years, as
\ndetrimental to bilateral relations. The Indonesian government and
\nthe political public felt that Jan Pronk, the chairman of the
\nIGGI, all too often used his position to intervene in Indonesian
\ndomestic politics. The issue came to a head after the Dili
\nincident in November 1991 and in early 1992 President Soeharto
\nunilaterally dissolved the IGGI. The IGGI was soon replaced by
\nthe Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) which does not include
\nthe Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Problems<\/p>\n
The IGGI incident shows very clearly the problems in
\nIndonesian-Dutch relations. The Netherlands, or at least some of
\nits officials, apparently continues to feel that it has some
\nclaims on and responsibility towards Indonesia. While the Dutch
\nare undoubtedly very concerned about human rights generally,
\nthere was a perception here that Pronk's criticisms smacked more
\nof paternalism and a desire to chastise the former Dutch colony.
\nIndonesia, for its part, tends to be extremely sensitive about
\nany criticisms coming from its former colonial master. The same
\ncriticisms leveled by the United States or Great Britain would
\nnot have aroused the same kind of anger in Jakarta. The fact that
\nthe Dutch contribution to the IGGI was relatively insignificant
\nwas of course another factor in Indonesia's decision to dissolve
\nthe organization and form the CGI without Dutch membership.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the IGGI incident shows the growing maturity
\nin Indonesian-Dutch relations, at least on the Indonesian side.
\nAfter dissolving the IGGI the Indonesian government ensured that
\nits overall bilateral ties with the Netherlands were not
\naffected. Indonesia recognizes that the Netherlands can play a
\nvery important role in helping to promote Indonesia's interests
\nin Europe. Indonesia seems to be keen on developing mutually
\nbeneficial ties with the Netherlands, based on rational and
\ncommon interests, and unburdened by history.<\/p>\n
Because of this increasing maturity, Indonesians' response to
\nthe brewing controversy in the Netherlands over whether the Dutch
\ngovernment should apologize to the Indonesian people, as argued
\nby none other than Pronk, has been muted. Many Indonesians feel
\nthat the Netherlands should apologize for its war atrocities
\nagainst Indonesia, as was reflected in a recent popular radio
\ntalk show. However, the general feeling is that we should let
\nbygones be bygones. Indonesia, after all, won its independence 50
\nyears ago, and the revolutionary period of 1945-1949 is looked
\nupon with great pride by Indonesians as a time when great deeds
\nand achievements were accomplished by the generally untrained and
\nuneducated Indonesian people. The revolution gave Indonesia's
\nemergent nationalism a baptism by fire, and led to the
\ndevelopment of a strong sense of national unity and self-
\nconfidence.<\/p>\n
The debate taking place in the Netherlands is a purely
\ninternal matter of the Dutch people. It is a way for the Dutch to
\ncome to terms with their own history. Such debates are probably
\nnecessary to cauterize the wound that many Dutch people clearly
\nstill feel when talking about Indonesia. It is to be hoped that
\nthese exercises will help the Netherlands to begin a new era of
\nclose cooperation with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The writer is head of the Regional and International Affairs
\nDivision of the Center for Political and Regional Studies at the
\nIndonesian Institute of Sciences.<\/p>",
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