JP\/18\/GERWANI<\/p>\n
Aging ex-Gerwani members fight for justice<\/p>\n
Emmy Fitri
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Cecilia and Felia get out of a sedan and carefully walk in their
\nstylish sandals on the wet cobbled stone floor on the side of the
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
It has been raining since morning and nearly all the floor
\noutside -- and parts of the inside of the dilapidated house --
\nare wet.<\/p>\n
To the three elderly women sitting on an old grey sofa on the
\nterrace, the two women in their early 30s introduced themselves
\nas churchgoers from North Jakarta, intending to give a donation
\nto the residents of the old folk's home.<\/p>\n
\"What can we donate? And by the way ma'am, what is the status
\nof this home? Is it state-run or run by a foundation?\" she asked
\nwhile searching for a pen inside her pink clutch bag.<\/p>\n
One of the elderly ladies, Lestari, explained that a
\nfoundation ran the nursing home and there were eight people
\nliving in the house.<\/p>\n
\"All of us are victims of the 1965 violence,\" she said ending
\nher brief overview.<\/p>\n
\"1965? What violence? What happened then?\" Cecilia asked.<\/p>\n
Lestari, now also joined by Sudjinah who sat next to her,
\nresponded with what people normally knew about the Sept. 30, 1965
\ncoup, attributed to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).<\/p>\n
The house was home to former political prisoners who were
\nassociated with the party and the women were mostly members of
\nGerwani -- Gerakan Wanita Indonesia or the Indonesian Women's
\nMovement.<\/p>\n
\"Oh, I see. Now I remember, there is a film, Pemberontakan
\nG30S PKI (G30S PKI rebellion) that we had to watch every year
\nbefore reformasi (the reform era). The Gerwani members gouged the
\neyes of the generals and slashed their faces with a razor blade.
\nI remember that,\" Cecilia said naively.<\/p>\n
Nothing changed in the facial expression of Lestari, Sudjinah
\nand Rukinah. There was no hostility at all as they smiled while
\nthey talked in their soft and clear voices.<\/p>\n
Obviously Cecilia was excited. \"Cool -- I'm meeting you here.
\nI only know (about the rebellion) from history books and the
\nfilm. It's really cool.\"<\/p>\n
As their guests left the terrace, Sudjinah muttered,\"Young
\npeople know nothing about the past. Too bad.\"<\/p>\n
Smear campaign<\/p>\n
Under Soeharto's three-decade regime, young Indonesians were
\nraised with the knowledge that the culprits in the 1965 coup were
\nthe Communist party and its related organizations. The image of
\npeople linked to the Communist party, Gerwani and other \"banned\"
\norganizations was that they were largely atheist, violent and
\nmanipulative.<\/p>\n
The decades-long systematic anti-Communist campaign proved to
\nbe the most successful way to kill an ideology.<\/p>\n
People with links to the Communist party were virtually cut
\noff from social, political and economy access. The
\ndisenfranchisement, including the social labelling, applied even
\nto the children of people affiliated to the Communist party.<\/p>\n
When Soeharto resigned, things did not improve for some former
\npolitical prisoners as they had already been robbed of a normal
\nexistence.<\/p>\n
Sixteen people, victims of stigmatization after being made
\npolitical prisoners, filed a class action lawsuit last year
\nagainst President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessors
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, Abdurrahman Wahid, B.J. Habibie and
\nSoeharto. The people include Rukinah, who is better known as Ibu
\nNoto, Lestari, Sudjinah and prolific author Pramoedya Ananta
\nToer.<\/p>\n
The sixteen people claimed to represent 20 million ex-
\npolitical prisoners.<\/p>\n
The people, mostly over 70 years old, demanded the government
\napologize and formally rehabilitate them. They also sought
\nbetween Rp 1 million and Rp 10 billion in damages for the stigma
\nthey bore after imprisonment.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know the exact number of ex-political prisoners but
\nin Jakarta alone, there are several organizations where people
\nlike us get together,\" said Ibu Noto.<\/p>\n
Statistics however, are no longer the issue because one
\nperson's experience is already a tragedy, with his or her own
\nheartbreaking story.<\/p>\n
\"Most of us are already over 70, yet many of us have not been
\ngiven a KTP (ID card) because we are ex-political prisoners,\" Ibu
\nNoto said.<\/p>\n
The mother of four children was apprehended in Papua (then
\nIrian Jaya) for she was part of the Sukarno-founded National
\nFront.<\/p>\n
The Yogyakarta native, whose husband perished in the 1945
\nindependence war, served 14 years in Bukit Duri prison. She was
\nnever tried.<\/p>\n
\"My children and relatives are fine. They know I did not do
\nanything nasty,\" she said. She was released in 1976 and eked out
\na living by selling anything from food to herbal remedies.<\/p>\n
Though not living in the nursing house, Ibu Noto frequents the
\nhouse to meet her friends.<\/p>\n
Grande dames<\/p>\n
Strong is probably the right word to describe Ibu Noto and her
\nfriends although physically they are stooped and looking frail.<\/p>\n
\"If we ponder over what we've been through it is truely sad.
\nNo living person deserves the torture and the stigma that we have
\nborne. But we must not give up the challenge to survive,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Our daily meal was 17 kernels of boiled corn, the guards
\nreally counted it and they stole every three grains of our
\nportion.\"<\/p>\n
\"They (the military) wanted us to starve to death.\"<\/p>\n
While Ibu Noto and her friends could endure the prison torture
\nand harassment, they admitted that the saddest part of the jail
\nterm was the perpetual grief of being separated from their loved
\nones.<\/p>\n
\"I met my youngest daughter for the first time after 36
\nyears,\" Lestari said, sharing her story.<\/p>\n
\"I left my children with a relative in the village when I was
\narrested. Maybe, because my relative was scared, she separated
\nthe children and gave them to other relatives. My youngest
\ndaughter was left in a cemetery. She was only two months old back
\nthen,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The infant was found by a soldier who was part of the anti-
\nCommunist Trisula Sakti operation.<\/p>\n
\"Not all military personnel are bad. They were just doing
\ntheir job. Many of them are just humans with a heart. In prison
\nsome guards often said that the women prisoners reminded them of
\ntheir mothers and sisters.\"<\/p>\n
Lestari was released in December 1979 after serving 11 years
\nin prison. The mother of five said she was jailed without trial
\nbecause she was a Gerwani member.<\/p>\n
\"Gerwani was not linked with PKI formally. We were an
\nindependent organization which, at that time, was the most vocal
\ngroup in empowering women. We worked against polygamy, we
\neradicated illiteracy, and we set up kindergartens throughout
\nrural areas in the country,\" she said firmly.<\/p>\n
Robert Cribb's The Indonesian Killings of 1965-1966 explains
\nthat Gerwani was never affiliated to the PKI but was to all
\nintents and purposes the party's women's organization, claiming
\nnine million members in 1961.<\/p>\n
Saskia Wieringa also mentions in her report Feminism aborted:
\nGerwani and the coup that after the coup Gerwani was the target
\nof hostility, because it was seen as having promoted promiscuity
\nand as having encouraged women to neglect their family duties.<\/p>\n
For 78-year-old Sudjinah, formerly a journalist with Harian
\nRakjat, the organization was her life, for she was widowed
\nwithout children. Her husband died in the pre-independence
\nguerrila struggle.<\/p>\n
\"I got caught in 1967 after living like a chameleon to evade
\narrest. I worked with three other friends to print leaflets
\nsupporting Sukarno,\" said Sudjinah who lost her front teeth in a
\ntorture session while in jail.<\/p>\n
Her testimony elucidated in the book, Terhempas Gelombang
\nPasang (Hit by the Tide) was published five years ago.<\/p>\n
The three \"grande dames\" are just part of a bigger picture; of
\nhow their hard past could fuel their fighting spirit. And how
\nthey could swallow the bitterness without hatred and revenge for
\nthey believe what they know: They are innocent.<\/p>\n
\"Who doesn't want to die with a clear name and to be
\nremembered as a good person? Our fight is not over until we
\nachieve that,\" Ibu Noto said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp18gerwani-1447899208",
"image": ""
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