Intellectuals told to speak their minds<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's tight control over the freedom
\nof expression should not deter \"true\" intellectuals from coming
\nout and speaking their minds, a prominent literary critic said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"A true intellectual is not one who blames the authoritarian
\npolitical environment for his inability to create and express his
\nideas,\" Jaya Suprana said in a seminar at the Diponegoro
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
Jaya Suprana, known as one of Indonesia's most successful
\nproducers of herbal medicines, said even the \"most authoritarian\"
\nstates like the Soviet Union of the past could not muzzle \"true\"
\nintellectuals.<\/p>\n
Great intellectuals like Boris Pasternak and numerous world-
\nclass composers and writers were born behind the Soviet Union's
\niron curtain, he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, where freedom of expression is tightly controlled,
\nhas outspoken intellectuals like W.S. Rendra and Emha Ainun
\nNadjib, he pointed out.<\/p>\n
\"Amid the endless bans on performing arts and seminars
\nfeaturing government critics, intellectuals like Rendra and Emha
\nare able to spring to prominence thanks to their courageous
\nworks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The bans have served like a natural screening for the
\nsurvival of true intellectuals to stand out,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Central Java, where censorship on cartoons is the tightest in
\nIndonesia, or possibly in the world between the 1960s and 1980s,
\nhas produced renowned cartoonists such as GM Sudharta, Pramono,
\nDwi Koen and Hoesi, he said.<\/p>\n
Jaya Suprana criticized intellectuals who complain they cannot
\nproduce high quality works because of the government's
\nrestriction in the freedom of artistic expression.<\/p>\n
There is no country in the world where there is no censorship,
\neither by the state or the public, he argued. \"Even with
\nchampions of democracy like the United States, artists cannot
\nexpress their ideas as freely as they wish because they have
\ncertain social obligations.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, academic Darmanto Jatman of the Diponegoro
\nUniversity noted that Indonesian citizens are becoming courageous
\nin their search for freedom of expression from the state.<\/p>\n
He cited the Jakarta Administrative Court's historical
\ndecision in favor of senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad who
\nsought that the government revoke its decision to close down
\nTempo magazine. (The government will appeal the verdict.)<\/p>\n
Darmanto, better known as a poet, said the various bannings of
\nintellectual works have provoked many intellectuals to take a
\ncritical stand against the government.<\/p>\n
They criticize the government for the censorship and banning
\nof plays in various cities over the past year, he said. (har\/pan)<\/p>",
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