Reconciliation and the new Indonesia<\/p>\n
By H.S. Dillon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Although victims of apartheid, justly considered
\na gross violation of human rights, black South Africans have
\nended violent conflict through negotiations with their onetime
\nmasters.<\/p>\n
They experimented with an alternative to pursuing perpetrators
\nof human rights violations through the existing criminal justice
\nsystem by creating a drawn-out process called Truth and
\nReconciliation.<\/p>\n
Despite its shortcomings, South Africa appears to be well down
\nthe road to constitutional democracy. How would we traverse such
\na path?<\/p>\n
National Awakening Day on May 20 never fails to arouse
\nfeelings of great awe and deep respect for our founders, who
\npossessed such foresight as to push aside all differences and
\njoin forces in the fight for independence.<\/p>\n
From 1908, there was no turning back. The seeds then planted
\nsowed a sense of national identity, as attested by our Youth
\nDeclaration (Sumpah Pemuda).<\/p>\n
The unity thus forged served as a bedrock in the struggle
\nagainst colonial masters in all walks of life, eventually leading
\nto the proclamation of independence.<\/p>\n
The hundreds of thousands who laid down their lives made the
\nultimate sacrifice based on their firm conviction in the project
\nwe were then embarking upon --- a free, just and prosperous
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
How would they feel if they were to see us today? How would
\nthey judge us, the generations that have led our nationhood to
\ndecay, largely because of our greed and complacency?<\/p>\n
What would they think of our leaders who are squandering the
\ntrust that we put in them through free elections? Leaders, who
\nlike their former colonial masters, have found that manipulating
\ndivisive forces is essential to preserving power.<\/p>\n
Leaders who are betraying the project we, the people, thought
\nwe were creating with our votes: a born-again, just and more
\nhumane Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Leaders who pushed their stooges into the Cabinet to exploit
\ntheir portfolios for narrow sectarian interests. Leaders, who
\nwhile pretending to be supporters of the President, were actually
\npositioning themselves to take over whenever he faltered.<\/p>\n
Leaders who even now are hoping that the pressures of office
\nwill induce another stroke and finish him off. With him out of
\nthe way, disposing of the Vice President should be a piece of
\ncake.<\/p>\n
What can we really expect from such characters? Even more
\nfrightening, what do they reveal about us, and about the state of
\nour society? Leaders emerge from a society, and they remain part
\nof it: have we then really got the leaders we deserve?<\/p>\n
Our nation-state is ailing, and if we remain on the sidelines,
\nit will die. During Soeharto's long regime and B.J. Habibie's
\nshort tenure, we kept our silence when the government --
\nidentifying itself as the state -- dominated society.<\/p>\n
We looked the other way when thousands of our brethren were
\nraped and their property looted. We appeared not to notice when
\nSoeharto and his cronies forced peasants off their land. Perhaps
\nmany of us even benefited from associating with such
\nperpetrators.<\/p>\n
We were unmoved when the government assumed a \"hegemony of
\nmeaning\", dictating which religions were kosher, determining who
\nwas nationalistic and, yes, even defining who was \"Indonesian\".<\/p>\n
A joke from a foreign correspondent comes to mind, about the
\nrivalry between two generals, Benny Moerdani and M. Jusuf. One
\nmaintained that religion did not matter, what really counted was
\nbeing Javanese. The other said that ethnicity was not important,
\nbut a non-Muslim could never become president!<\/p>\n
With Maluku imploding, Aceh up in arms, Papua looking across
\nthe border, can we still afford to remain in our own worlds?
\nGoing about our daily lives as if those who are dying every day
\ndo not matter.<\/p>\n
Is the statement by a foreign leader \"if the Indonesians want
\nto tear themselves apart, it is their right\", not enough to shame
\nus into action? Are we going to allow our leaders to continue
\nto pit us against each other?<\/p>\n
We pose as being much superior to our forefathers because we
\nhave so many creature comforts now, but where would we be today
\nwithout their sacrifices. We pride ourselves on having higher
\neducation, but are we not poorer in spirit?<\/p>\n
We can only call ourselves superior to our founders, if we are
\ncapable of transcending the divisive forces, often known as
\n\"primordial interests\" here, and manage to live together as a
\nnation they fought for.<\/p>\n
We cannot continue to live within ourselves, but we also have
\nto bear the interests of our less-fortunate brethren in mind.
\nViolent conflict invariably leads to misery and poverty, and the
\nelderly, women, and children -- our future -- are often the most
\noppressed.<\/p>\n
How can we let the children go without enough food, health
\ncare and education? For their sake, we have to reconcile our
\ndifferences, reunite and work on building a more just, humane and
\nprosperous new Indonesia.<\/p>\n
On this day, we should become real Indonesians again, and
\nrenew our commitment to our nationhood. We should aim at proving
\nourselves worthy descendants of our founders. We should endeavor
\nto conduct our lives such that one day our children will remember
\nus with pride, even as our hearts swell today with memories of
\nthe sacrifices our founders made for us.<\/p>\n
The writer is a member of the private Future Indonesia working
\ngroup.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reconciliation-and-the-new-indonesia-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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