Another 'Westerling'

One day the Dutch ordered all male inhabitants of Payakumbuh in West Sumatra, to sit close to the bridge on the broad terraces leading down to the river Batang Agam. An important announcement was going to be made.

After everybody was seated, eagerly awaiting the news, the Dutch soldiers suddenly machine gunned them from the bridge. The men tumbled over each other into the river. One of them survived the massacre because he was sitting on the lowest step and was covered by the dead bodies.

A monument was erected close to the bridge depicting a group of grieving mothers, pointing to the river, where their beloved sons had died. The bridge is called Ratapan Ibu -- "Lamenting Mothers."

Two of my cousins, Buyung Gadang and Damanhuri, had to sit on the rail of that same bridge, and were shot. Their teenaged bodies fell into the river. Their sister is still alive and lives in Jakarta.

Another cousin Mukni was taken by the Dutch and never came back. A friend still has scars on his wrists from being electrocuted by the Dutch.

There are many cases like this, almost every family had members murdered by the Dutch. These were the "good old colonial times."

YUNIAR SUTAN

RANGKAYO BASYA

Jakarta