'Reconciliation needs an end to prejudice'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Renowned scholar Nurcholish Madjid said on
\nWednesday that national reconciliation would require an end to
\ndiscrimination, including the stigma on political prisoners.<\/p>\n
\"We can't keep being suspicious toward them all the time,\"
\nNurcholish said.<\/p>\n
A sense of alertness did not translate into constant
\nsuspicion, he added.<\/p>\n
The nation is grappling with the meaning of reconciliation
\nfollowing the end of the authoritarian Soeharto regime. Activists
\nand families of political prisoners have demanded their release.<\/p>\n
The government set up last Friday a National Reconciliation
\nTeam intended to avert national disintegration.<\/p>\n
Under the current administration, 73 political prisoners have
\nbeen released, but 130 more remain jailed. The government
\nmaintains it must be wary of those accused of Marxist leanings.<\/p>\n
\"History has proven that Marxism did not survive in Indonesia,
\nso we don't have to worry too much about it,\" Nurcholish said.<\/p>\n
He addressed a discussion on Indonesia's political culture and
\npolitical reform, organized by the Indonesian Council on World
\nAffairs. It was set up in 1997 to foster global cooperation.<\/p>\n
Last month, Nurcholish also stressed the need to accommodate
\nall groups in the search for national harmony.<\/p>\n
\"After 32 years of political stagnancy, people ought to learn
\nmore about freedom and how to apply it in politics,\" Nurcholish
\nsaid after his address. Political freedom is a must to effect a
\nmature society, the rector of Paramadina University added.<\/p>\n
He cited the banned Democratic People's Party (PRD), which
\nsome have accused of communist sympathies due to its labor
\nplatform and other policies.<\/p>\n
\"It's not really Marxist,\" Nurcholish said in urging people to
\nbe tolerant toward divergent political views.<\/p>\n
Without political maturity, he said, Indonesia could see a
\nreturn of a political culture centered on personalities.<\/p>\n
\"Sukarnoism\" was followed by \"Soehartoism\", and \"this must
\nnever be repeated\", he said.<\/p>\n
A political system should be based on people's aspirations and
\nneeds, he maintained, with political maturity a prerequisite to
\nits attainment.<\/p>\n
He believed reconciliation would revive the nation-building
\ndrive begun by founding president Sukarno.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish said Sukarno recognized aspirations of all groups
\nin society, including non-Javanese and Chinese-Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's New Order, he argued, failed to accommodate
\ndifferent groups, particularly ethnic Chinese and Moslems,
\nalthough overtures were made to the latter in the final years of
\nhis rule. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reconciliation-needs-an-end-to-prejudice-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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