Intellectuals want end to Magsaysay award row<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Intellectuals want research done to determine
\nthe truth about the People's Cultural Institute (Lekra) to
\nend the controversy surrounding the granting of the Ramon
\nMagsaysay Award to writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer.<\/p>\n
Hilmar Farid, a researcher at the Jakarta-based SPES, said
\nyesterday during a six-hour discussion called \"Cultural
\nReflection\" at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) that Pramoedya's
\nactual role in Lekra, an organ of the now banned Indonesian
\nCommunist Party (PKI) in the 1960s, remains unclear.<\/p>\n
He said that when 26 Indonesian writers and literary figures
\nissued a joint statement last month criticizing the Manila-based
\nRamon Magsaysay Award Foundation for presenting the prestigious
\nliterary award to Pramoedya, their protest was supported only by
\nindividual memories of historical events.<\/p>\n
\"It is difficult to use memory as a strong foundation. Memory
\ndevelops in line with the development of a person; sometimes
\nmemory is used to make peace with one's social milieu and
\ncontemporary politics, or to justify one's action in the past,\"
\nFarid argued.<\/p>\n
He added that careful, scientific observation of all aspects
\nof the period surrounding the abortive communist coup of 1965
\nmust be observed and emotional innuendo avoided. Discipline is
\nalso necessary in placing all of the problems in their proper
\nplace, he said.<\/p>\n
Farid said a lot of messages and judgments were contained in
\nthe memory-based history revealed in the writings of some of the
\n26 signatories.<\/p>\n
The 26 signatories are Mochtar Lubis, H.B. Jassin, Ali Hasjmy,
\nRosihan Anwar, Asrul Sani, Wiratmo Soekito, Rendra, Yunan Helmy
\nNasution, Bokor Hutasuhut, D.S. Moeljanto, Misbach Yusa Biran,
\nS.M. Ardan, Lukman Ali, Taufiq Ismail, Sori Siregar, Leon Agusta,
\nSyu'bah Asa, Rachmat Djoko Pradopo, Danarto, Abdul Rahman Saleh,
\nAmak Baljun, Chairul Umam, Ikranagara, Budiman S. Hartoyo, Slamet
\nSukirnanto and Mochtar Pabottingi.<\/p>\n
Daniel Dhakidae, political observer and a researcher at Kompas
\ndaily's research center, supported Farid's suggestion that an
\ninvestigation into the past be made. He added that what happened
\nduring the 1960s and what Lekra actually did has never been made
\nclear.<\/p>\n
\"This is partly due to the burning of all documents and
\nmaterials related to Lekra in the 1960s after the government
\nbanned the PKI,\" Dhakidae said.<\/p>\n
\"It has never been clear what Lekra actually did, therefore a
\nrecheck is paramount,\" Dhakidae said.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on the speeches of four speakers, including
\nHilmar Farid, sociologist Ariel Heryanto, theater director Ratna
\nSarumpaet and head of researchers of the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences (LIPI) Mochtar Pabottingi, in the discussion organized
\njointly by IKJ, the Cultural Work Network and the literary
\nmonthly Kalam.<\/p>\n
According to the statement by the 26 signatories, Pramoedya
\nled the oppression on creativity of non-communist writers,
\nplaywrights, movie makers, painters and musicians, turning a deaf
\near to freedom of expression, endorsing the banning of books and
\nmusic recordings and hailing the burning of books in Jakarta and
\nSurabaya.<\/p>\n
\"He also set in motion the systematic smear campaign and
\ncharacter assassination against non-Lekra artists, mental terror
\nand intimidation in line with their principle 'the end justifies
\nthe means', developing the foulest language ever in the
\nIndonesian press, launching the annihilation campaign against
\nindependent publishers, who had the courage, among other things,
\nto keep printing the Indonesian translation of Dr. Zhivago, Boris
\nPasternak's novel, the 1958 Nobel Prize winner,\" the statement
\nread.<\/p>\n
The writers noted that \"so far Pramoedya has never publicly
\nregretted what he previously did, has never admitted that all his
\nactions at that time were systematic annihilation of freedom of
\ncreativity.\"<\/p>\n
Pramoedya was arrested and interned after the abortive coup in
\n1965.<\/p>\n
He was released in the late 1970s, but virtually all of the
\nbooks he has written since then have been banned in Indonesia
\nbecause of what the government sees as their tolerance of
\ncommunism and Marxism.<\/p>\n
Quoting research carried by an Australian National University
\nundergraduate student, Stephen Miller, in 1993, Farid shed some
\nlight on a possible basis for the charges being leveled at
\nPramoedya. Farid said that Miller, who did research on 155
\narticles written by Pramoedya and published in Lentera column in
\nnow defunct Bintang Timur daily, found that only nine articles
\nspoke of contemporary issues, while 12 articles could be
\ncategorized as \"attacks\" on intellectuals, literary figures and
\ncultural institutions of that time.<\/p>\n
The remaining 81 articles spoke of various matters, such as
\nhistory, the Indonesian language as Indonesia's revolutionary
\nlanguage, Multatuli and Indonesian literature, and the origin of
\nthe kebaya (Javanese women's garment).<\/p>\n
\"With articles like this, is it right to say that Pramoedya
\nspent his time chasing his political opponents?\" argued Farid,
\nadding that more comprehensive research is required.<\/p>\n
Mochtar Pabottingi, who is one of the 26 signatories, said
\nyesterday that the 26 literary figures signed the statement
\nbecause they are suspicious of Pramoedya's unwillingness to admit
\nthe persecution of his political opponents in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Pabottingi also pointed out that those who refused to sign the
\nstatement think that the signatories lacked adequate humanitarian
\nfeelings.<\/p>\n
There is a feeling of distrust between the two sides which
\nactually proves the existence of disagreement on the matter among
\nsociety, he said at the discussion attended by 100 people.<\/p>\n
Pramoedya was not available for comment yesterday. He attended
\nthe half of the discussion, but left after lunch. (als)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/intellectuals-want-end-to-magsaysay-award-row-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}