Author of 'Atheis' surveys change in country

By Kadek Adnyana

CANBERRA (JP): Most of the Indonesian writers of the 1945 generation have now left the stage. If they are still called to witness, it is usually through their texts, through the reconstruction of their opinions for modern meanings and intentions.

Finding out what the remaining witnesses of this generation have to say, might counter this tendency toward mythicizing, and some would even say, this mystification of the past though its literature. Still alive, their ideas are less prone to distortions than those of their deceased colleagues. Right or wrong, their perception of change, or resilience, has at least the ring of authenticity.

One surviving writers of this "45 Generation" is Achdiat K. Mihardja, 83, whose book, Atheis is arguably one of the most important and most popular of post-independence Indonesian literature. Published in 1949, re-edited 14 times and translated into English at the initiative of the UNESCO, it expounds the intellectual and ideological debate in Indonesia at the eve of revolution. When published, the book created an uproar in Indonesia as it raised a problem "unthought of" -- atheism. This was largely beyond the range of the country's intellectual tradition.

Achdiat K. Mihardja now enjoys a quiet retirement in Canberra, where he moved in 1961 to teach Indonesian literature at the Australian National University. It was a whim of fate that he was present at the birth of the Indonesian republic, and far and away when the "atheists", so brightly depicted and criticized in his book, disappeared from the political and intellectual stage following the attempted communist coup in 1965.

On a trip to Canberra, I had the opportunity to meet Achdiat K. Mihardja and to interview him on his opinion about the ideological debate of present-day Indonesian, compared to what he knew as a young man in the pre-independence years. The old man has retained much of his early optimism.

Q: Your book Atheis featured the intellectual atmosphere in Indonesia prior to independence, didn't it?

A: Yes, the people of my generation and my background were exposed through school to "progressive" Dutch and Western ideas while being at the same time subjected to colonial expression and discrimination. This was a fermenting mix, of which Atheis illustrates the ideological aspect. The main characters of the book were actually real friends of mine, and each represents a facet of the ideas then common among the youths. But the debate of ideas was not conflictual. In these times, it did not matter -- not yet -- whether you were a nationalist, a Moslem or even a communist. We had all the same single goal and were all fighting against the same common enemy: colonialism, first the Dutch, then the Japanese.

Q: Now, fifty years later, do the ideological contradictions of these times still hold relevance for modern Indonesia?

A: Yes and No. Some of the ideas common in those years -- I am thinking in particular of communism -- were foreign imports and have lost all relevance, not only here, but all over the world. Thus, they have disappeared. But other ones are still dear to me. Democracy for example. To me, the difference in opinions does not matter. I might have disagreed with Pram --Pramudya Ananta Toer, the Indonesian novelist who fell from grace and was imprisoned from 1965 to 1979 on account of his pro-communist convictions -- but I hold no personal grudge against him, even though I strongly disagreed with Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat) -- the communist affiliated cultural association. To me, from person to person, I respect his opinions. After all, I used to be a member of the PSI (Partai Sosialis Indonesia) and, thus, a democrat.

Q: Can't we say that Indonesia's present day situation, and its ideology, is more in line with the country's history?

A: Perhaps, now there is the Pancasila --the five principles of the Indonesian state: belief in one God, humanity, nationalism, democracy and social justice. This theory is certainly more rooted in the nation's history, and Java's in particular, than Western democracy has ever been. The Pancasila philosophy is in the fact essentially a theory of irreligious tolerance, seen from an Indonesian perspective; as such it proposes a sort of democracy and to this extent I am myself a Pancasilaist. But this democracy is essentially religious and gives no room to secularism and liberalism.

Q: Are you trying to make the apology of secularism?

A: (A friendly smile alights on his face) You are referring to my book, aren't you, and to my raising the problem of atheism? As a person, I am not opposed to secularism. As for atheism, I was very close, as shown in my book, with people who were convinced atheists. The apparent rationality of their arguments confronted me with the problem of my faith. It was unescapable and I had to face it, at once intellectually, through reading and discussions, and psychologically. But in the end this did not make me an atheist. This inner turmoil gave me on the contrary a deeper understanding of my religion and a broader, more human faith. Doesn't God wants Man to show himself in his human rather than devilish aspects? The inner conflict within Man's soul to achieve this goal in his real "holy war".

Q: Is this "humanized" perception of religion at the root of your democratic convictions?

A: Perhaps, there is certainly no contradiction, as some would think, between the one and the other.

Q: So how do you see the prospects of democracy in Indonesia?

A: What we now have is the dominance of Javanese political concepts, with its sacralization of power. We do, of course, have formal institutions of democracy such as the DPR and MPR (the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly respectively). But do we have the practice of it? I let the question open. We should not forget the fact that we have never had to this day any tradition of democracy in Indonesia, as opposed to Western societies, where it origins go back to the Renaissance.

Q: Don't you think that Indonesia, with its growing middle class, might become more politically mature and thus more ready to convert to democracy?

A:(Laughing) Allow me to disagree with you as I do with the experts of all hues who vaunt the existence of this middle class to predict the dawning of democracy in Indonesia. In my opinion, such a democracy will take a long time before coming into being. Our mentality is just not ready. We have been shaped too long by the feudal system, whose negative effects have been further reinforced by Dutch colonialism. hence the "feudal" and bureaucratic tendencies of our so-called middle class. We should keep in mind that Indonesia has experienced "genuine" democracy for three years only, following the 1955 elections, the first ones ever held in Indonesian history, and until 1958, with the arrival of Sukarno's guided democracy. This does not mean, of course, that Indonesians should not strive to achieve democracy. It is a long process.

Q: Referring to what you were saying earlier, are you against the religious perception of democracy?

A: No indeed. I am a convinced Moslem, and to me there is no contradiction between Islam and Pancasila: like the Pancasila, Islam emphasizes the belief in One God: it also supports, under various formulations, the ideas of humanism, nationalism, democracy and social justice. To me, the Pancasila is the Indonesian way to formulate the universal values of all religions, including Islam.

Q: As a Moslem, what is your assessment of modern Indonesian Islam?

A: As a democrat and a Moslem, I am a supporter of reason. Those in Indonesia and elsewhere whose affiliation to Islam rests more on passion than reason are on the wrong track. This is why I am a member of ICMI (Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals). As an association of modern Moslem intellectuals, ICMI is a bulwark against the kind of extremism we see in some Middle Eastern countries. We must guard ourselves against all sorts of dogmatic and irrational excesses. The alternative is the resurgence of old fears of which there are now enough signs around, as in Bosnia for example.

Q: Although you have been residing abroad for over 30 years, have you retained your Indonesian citizenship?

A: (He smiles again before adding) Indeed, I am active in a number of Indonesian and Indonesian-Australian associations. For example I set up the HPPIA (Association of Indonesian Researchers and Studentsof Australia) but I am still a citizen of Indonesia, albeit with a cosmopolitan tinge.

Q: What did you publish after Atheis?

A: I published short stories and a novel Debu Cinta Bertebaran (The scattered dust of love) in 1972. But, as this book was published in Malaysia, believe it or not, it cannot enter Indonesia. Our bureaucrats prohibited the import of books almost 40 years ago to protect the nascent publishing industry, but they have somehow forgotten to rescind the order, although no protection is needed anymore. I am now working on a sort of memoirs in the Albert Schweitzer style: "My life and My Thought". I hope I can complete it, if God blesses me with a few more years of life.

Achdiat K. Mihardja has obviously answered the questions he raised in his book Atheis. He has also, from the calm of his Canberra house, where he lives with his wife of fifty-eight years, Suprati Noor, retained much of the idealism of his youth. Hailing the successes of the New Order in the fields of economy and education, he hopes, as he puts it, "that it will be as successful at sweeping away the feudal-colonial vestiges which still hampers the process of democratization of the country." Having witnessed fifty years of his country's upheavals, tensions and, of late, economic success, he sees its future with resolute optimism and tolerance.