A sacrifice in July: Survivors and Megawati

Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com

Black Saturday. An elderly woman stood outside the office of the Institute of Legal Aid (LBH) on Saturday afternoon, July 27, 1996. She seemed oblivious to the presence of heavily armed anti riot troops, along Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta. She closely watched dozens of young people on the street ready to fight the soldiers.

The woman said she was searching for her son who had joined the free speech forums at the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) located just a few hundreds meters from the LBH office. Her son had not returned home after military- backed toughs attacked the headquarters to disperse the forum, which had been going for several days, earlier in the morning.

"I really fear for his safety, although he is a brave boy," said the woman, who described her son as a fanatic supporter of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Hopefully a happy reunion took place. Several people were killed and still "missing" after security forces violently dispersed Megawati's supporters. These people were bravely protesting the June ouster of Megawati as Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) chairwoman after holding the post for three years. Among the military officers who proudly executed the order of then president Soeharto to finish Megawati's political career was Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, at the time he was the Jakarta Military commander.

CNN intensively reported the attack despite military attempts to seize its TV camera. The world was shocked and many compared the bloody incident with the Tiananmen Square tragedy in China. Megawati's fame skyrocketed worldwide. Who would not sympathize with Megawati, an innocent victim of military cruelty? Wasn't it enough for Soeharto to keep her father Sukarno under virtual house arrest until his death after toppling him down? Megawati, to many was a nice housewife, and fast becoming the mother of the nation.

During that Black Saturday Megawati stayed at her residence in Kebagusan, South Jakarta to monitor the situation. She kept her distance from the supporters, apparently on the request of her advisors. Jakarta was tense at that time, people were burning buildings along the long roads such as Jl. Salemba Raya and Jl. Kramat Raya. Some of the debris remains -- and if the ruins could speak they could also share their testimonies.

Soeharto picked Soerjadi, who ironically was the one that persuaded Megawati and her husband Taufik Kiemas to join PDI in 1986, to replace the daughter of former president Sukarno as the party's leader.

Many people were ready to sacrifice their life for Megawati. Soeharto and the military quickly pointed their fingers at the People's Democratic Party (PRD) as one of the most responsible for the violence. Its chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko was jailed and the PRD was banned and branded as a communist organization.

Megawati filed more than 300 lawsuits against the government's decision to oust her from PDI. Then the economic crisis hit the country in July 1997. In May 1998, Soeharto ended his 32-year dictatorship.

Megawati and her supporters then changed the name of PDI into PDI Perjuangan (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle). In the 1999 general elections, the party garnered nearly 40 percent of the votes (over 10 percent more than second place Golkar) and it appeared that she would naturally be elected president, however it was not until July 23 last year that she was able to satisfy her presidential ambition.

Since then she has clearly continued to distance herself from the July 27 rampage. She avoided timing her victory acceptance speech on that date, instead doing it on July 29, where she made many promises for reform, law enforcement and a better economy. But little attention was given to the July 27 tragedy in her speech.

The Jakarta Post reported how Megawati broke down in tears when she promised to stop the violence in Aceh province.

"When Cut Nya' (female leader) leads the country, I will not let a single drop of blood touch the Aceh soil," Megawati said, referring to herself in Acehnese.

"I will give all my love and your Arun so that Acehnese can enjoy how beautiful their soil is," she said referring to the Aceh natural gas field which is one of the largest in the world.

Just a few weeks ago, Megawati gave the green light for the military to continue their military operations to conquer the rebellious province. The military may feel they are much freer in Aceh now, much like what they experienced under Soeharto's regime.

And what has she done to her supporters who demanded that Megawati thoroughly investigate the July 27 tragedy? Megawati reportedly told them she never had asked them to fight for her. She is not only reluctant to touch upon the incident, on the contrary, she has enthusiastically backed the reelection of Governor Sutiyoso despite his key role in the fatal violence.

It is hard to determine Megawati's real feelings about the July 27 tragedy. Does she somehow believe she is being like legendary South African statesman Nelson Mandela, who eventually forgave the apartheid regime who had jailed him for decades?

Or perhaps, is she charmed by East Timor's leader Xanana Gusmao, who is trying to put aside the Indonesian military brutality against his people during its occupation in East Timor? Xanana was jailed by Soeharto. Megawati may forget that the international community continues to pressure Indonesia over its gross human rights violations in East Timor on behalf of Xanana. But who will remember the July 27 victims?

Finding the truth behind the tragedy does not mean people want to reopen old wounds. But people want justice. How can they expect Megawati to uphold the law for the country if she refuses to even defend the very people who sacrificed their blood and life for her?

World-class writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer writes in his memoir, Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu (The Mute's Soliloquy) about his experience as a detainee who tried to speak for voiceless Indonesians.

"Am I no longer worthy of being an Indonesian or an Indonesian citizen? Was my contribution to national freedom insignificant, a complete waste of time? Were the people of Indonesia willing to recognize me as a fellow citizen, one with full civil rights?"

Survivors of July 27 may also be wondering whether their sacrifice was a waste of time.