Sultan wants to assure peaceful transition<\/p>\n
By Hartoyo Pratiknyo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If any person alive at present can be said to be
\nliving in the shadow of his forbears, Hamnegkubuwono X, ruler of
\nthe sultanate of Yogyakarta, certainly qualifies.<\/p>\n
Tenth in a lineage of rulers known for their tradition of
\nresistance against foreign domination, Sultan Hamnegkubuwono X
\ncounts among his forebears such illustrious national heroes as
\nSultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo (Hanyokrokusumo the Great), the third
\nand greatest king of the old Mataram kingdom who is known
\nprimarily for his attacks on the Dutch stronghold at Batavia in
\nthe 17th century, and Prince Diponegoro, whose 25-year-long
\nguerrilla war in the early decades of the 19th century inflicted
\ngreat harm to the Dutch until he was tricked into surrendering.<\/p>\n
His father and predecessor, Hamnegkubuwono IX, was named a
\nnational hero for the key role which he played in Indonesia's
\nstruggle for independence in the 1940s. But whereas
\nHamnegkubuwono IX earned his spurs mostly battling or restraining
\nthe colonial forces of the Netherlands and Japan, his successor,
\nHamnegkubuwono X, sees it as one of his foremost duties to see to
\nit that Yogyakarta's transition from a traditional society into a
\nmodern one is not only successful, but peaceful.<\/p>\n
That task is more complicated than it may seem. Ever since the
\n1930s the sultanate, and especially its capital, the city of
\nYogyakarta, has been known throughout Indonesia as a center of
\nlearning. It had what was for those years a respectable number of
\nmodern Western-oriented schools, many of whose graduates went on
\nto become leading figures, either in public office or in the
\nprofessions, after the country proclaimed its independence in
\n1945.<\/p>\n
Ki Hajar Dewantoro, a pioneer of the national education system
\nin Indonesia, set up the first indigenous Taman Siswa schools in
\nYogyakarta. Others, such as the Islamic-based Muhammadiyah,
\nfollowed suit.<\/p>\n
Today, Yogyakarta has more than a hundred different colleges
\nand universities with students coming from all over the
\narchipelago. Newcomers, business people, tourists and especially
\nstudents from elsewhere in Indonesia outnumber the original local
\npopulation.<\/p>\n
Naturally, there is a good deal of intensive contact between
\nethnic groups in Yogyakarta, with consequences that have in the
\npast not always been agreeable. From the 1950s on until well into
\nthe 1960s brawls between students of different ethnic groups were
\nrather common. Today, that period of inter-ethnic strife is
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
In a recent press interview in Jakarta, Sultan Hamnegkubuwono
\nX said he saw this trend toward inter-ethnic harmony in Yogya as
\na result of the cultural dialogue that has been going on between
\nsocietal groups in the city for the past 30 or 40 years.<\/p>\n
\"It has always been my hope that this country's diversity will
\ngive this nation strength because even at the time when we
\nproclaimed our independence on August 17, 1945, all of our ethnic
\ncommunities were aware of this diversity,\" the 54-year-old Sultan
\nsaid. \"A bargaining process must of course take place, but the
\nmain point here is that not a single group, not even the most
\ndominant, will try to dominate another.\"<\/p>\n
\"In order for all the ethnic groups to be able to contribute
\nto the unitary state, I hope this diversity will not be merely
\ntreated as a symbol of unity in diversity, but as a determining
\nfactor in a strategy to attain true national integration. This
\nmeans that even with the establishment of regional autonomy, a
\ncultural dialog should be possible.\"<\/p>\n
A cultural dialogue between communities, according to the
\nSultan, would also be a most effective way to overcome the
\nmistrust that members of one community could harbor against
\nsettlers from another community, as may happen in some regions of
\nIndonesia where the local population feels that newcomers are
\nthreatening their livelihood.<\/p>\n
\"It could be that in some areas no cultural dialog has ever
\ntaken place because no outsiders have even been there. The
\nemphasis is on economic and cultural aspects. But increased
\nmobility and economic advancement bring people from other ethnic
\npopulation groups to the area. Since the emphasis has always been
\non the economic and political aspects of life, this could be seen
\nas a threat. But a cultural approach would help the locals
\nrealize that they are all parts of the same republic and that
\nmobility is something that must be accepted. Without this dialog
\nwill never take place, not to say transformation.\"<\/p>\n
The problem, according to the Sultan, is that different
\nconditions exist in different regions. In some regions conditions
\nhaven't changed, making it difficult for the people to take in
\nthe new values that could provide them with a base on which to
\nbuild new patterns of thought and behavior.<\/p>\n
\"In Yogya I often meet with students from different provinces.
\nI meet them at my office in small groups of maybe about five at a
\na time. They are mostly students who are just out of senior high
\nschool and want to continue their study at a university in Yogya.
\nSo, they are in a process of maturing.<\/p>\n
\"I ask them if they plan to go back to where they came from
\nafter they have graduated. Most of them say, no. I ask them why
\nnot, and they say that to go back would mean for them to return
\nto backwardness.<\/p>\n
\"But in Yogya they meet with people from various different
\nethnic backgrounds and this has a certain impact on their budding
\nmature character. The point here is that they are in the process
\nof maturing, morally and in outlook. This means that if they go
\nhome they would be bringing with them a world outlook which they
\nfeel is more advanced than before, since at home there is no
\ncultural dialogue with people from different ethnic backgrounds.<\/p>\n
\"This means they would be faced with two choices: Either they
\nadjust to their surroundings, or their surroundings would have to
\nadjust to them, which is impossible. This is what I mean when I
\nsay that the cultural dialogue between ethnic communities in this
\ncountry is unbalanced.<\/p>\n
The prospect of regional autonomy, as the Sultan sees it,
\ncould mean a greater mobility of people and greater synergy, but
\nalso sharper competition between provinces. In such a situation,
\na cultural dialogue between community groups is necessary, but
\nalways in the framework of diversity as a strategy to attain
\nnational integration.<\/p>\n
\"Unless this is properly done, the danger of disintegration
\nwould be even greater than it is at present. Autonomy must bring
\ntransparence. This means turning people from objects to subjects
\nof development. In turn, this would encourage creativity and
\ninnovation, and eventually give rise to aspirations. And it is
\naspirations that produce democracy.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sultan-wants-to-assure-peaceful-transition-1447893297",
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