A constitutional problem

I read your article on the Dutch reluctance to recognize Aug. 17, 1945, as Indonesia's first day of independence with great interest (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 8, Dutch treat: Who pays for the pain?).

Like many other Dutch citizens, I fully appreciate that for Indonesians, independence really started on that day, with the proclamation of independence. I lived in Jakarta in 1995 and I had the Indonesian flag out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's independence with my Indonesian neighbors.

The problem is not that the Dutch are ignorant, foolish or stubborn. The problem is constitutional. If the Dutch government recognizes Aug. 17, 1945, now, it would effectively rewrite history and deny the fact that until the handing over of sovereignty, the constitution of the Dutch Empire included the Dutch East Indies, as Indonesia was then called. It would also acknowledge that the war of independence was a war between independent countries, with an aim to destroy the independence of Indonesia.

This would amount to aggression (Indonesia sees it that way, hence the Indonesian names for what the Dutch call the Politionele Acties, i.e. Agresi I and Agresi II). I think that as much as the Dutch would now like to agree with Indonesia, they simply cannot do so on legal, constitutional grounds.

Hence the visit by Queen Beatrix a few days after the 50th anniversary (it was meant to show a willingness to share the Indonesian celebration of freedom, rather than to rub it in that the government disagreed on the date. I was present at a reception by the queen at the residence of the ambassador, and I remember very well that she congratulated the Indonesians present on their Independence Day) and now by Bot.

It's all a matter of formalities, with no implication for the attitude of the Dutch people toward Indonesian independence. What matters is that no Dutchman or woman disputes Indonesian independence. My mother lost a brother (my uncle Jan) in 1949. His grave near Cimahi is very well tended to by Indonesians and I go there occasionally to pay my respects, sad that a futile war (futile as far as the Dutch were concerned) had to be fought before your beautiful country was left alone by an outdated system of colonialism.

May the 60th anniversary of independence be a great success!

ANTOINE A.H. WONDERS, Surrey, UK