Award upholds human rights: Pramoedya
Award upholds human rights: Pramoedya
MANILA (Reuter): Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer
says his winning of a prestigious Southeast Asian award was a
triumph for human rights in Indonesia and will inspire change in
his country.
Pramoedya, whose selection as the Ramon Magsaysay award for
journalism and literature sparked controversy among Indonesian
writers who accuse him of suppressing freedom, said giving him
the award was a mark of courage.
"To me, this award is a sign of moral courage and support as
it is to all those who sincerely endeavor to uphold human dignity
and human rights," he said in a speech read by Indonesian
Marianne Katopo in award ceremonies in Manila on Thursday.
"I salute the Magsaysay foundation in making an invaluable
contribution to this process of change," the 70-year-old
Pramoedya added.
Protest
Fellow Indonesian writer Mochtar Lubis on Wednesday handed
back his own Ramon Magsaysay Award, won in 1958, in protest
against the prize to Pramoedya.
The award consisted of a gold medallion given him by the
Philippine-based award foundation as well US$1,000 of the $5,000
cash prize. He has promised to hand in the rest later.
Pramoedya was affiliated with the now-banned Indonesia
Communist Party, blamed for an abortive coup attempt in 1965. He
is barred from traveling abroad because of his alleged
involvement in the coup attempt.
Lubis was among 26 Indonesian artists and writers who slammed
the foundation's decision to name Pramoedya.
But more than 150 Indonesian writers, journalists and
activists said in a statement on Wednesday in Jakarta they
supported the choice because of Pramoedya's "invaluable
contribution" to Indonesia's cultural and intellectual life.
The Magsaysay foundation also defended the award, saying he
had paid for his identification with the Indonesian communist
movement by being jailed for 14 years from 1965.
The award, Asia's version of the Nobel Prize given in five
categories annually to outstanding Asians and Asian-based
organizations, was established in 1958 in memory of Philippine
President Ramon Magsaysay, who died in an air crash in 1956.