Awareness of Maluku people is amazing: Sultan

Yogyakarta monarch and governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X was in Ambon on Saturday at the request of 110 traditional leaders, or raja (kings), to close their three-day gathering and to accept his appointment as an honorary king, or Upulatu. The Sultan talked to The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti before addressing the gathering. The following is an excerpt:

Question: You are seen by the raja here as a traditional leader and national figure with much clout, who they hope can help bring peace to their land. How do you see this?

Answer: I helped facilitate their early meetings in Yogyakarta in 2000, with the Baku Bae peace movement, which included two closed workshops and one open workshop. They seem to really want peace now and I am very glad to help. It is a cultural approach that has helped raise a new awareness (of peace despite differences). Given this large gathering of 110 raja, I hope this is the last meeting that finalizes their commitment to peace.

Q: How can traditional leaders be made relevant to the younger generations?

A: The key is how to build dialog, how to maintain empathy and to be honest with oneself. It is not possible to instill everything into youngsters, as is the case with our own children. It is natural that the understanding of cultural heritage is not entirely grasped by the younger generations.

Q: In a diverse society still traumatized by violence, how can the traditional leaders maintain their respect and authority?

A: Although they are elected (usually from among those descended from kings), they must still build up their legitimacy, precisely because they were elected and considered ... to have additional values compared to the others, and to be someone with leadership. This leads to the tendency for people to follow his words, to appreciate him as long as he retains his morality and ethics.

The traditional leaders have authority of a relatively small scope, but there is a new awareness now of the significance of their leadership (in reconciliation attempts).

Q: Can the leaders really remain relevant in today's Maluku?

A: They are definitely still relevant as informal community leaders; one cannot rely only on the bureaucracy. A similar role can be seen with the village heads in Java and teachers. Now the issue is, how can these informal leaders establish a communication with the provincial government and how can they form a network (among themselves and formal institutions).

Q: During the gathering, the leaders did not seriously discuss the civil emergency status in Maluku. Does this reflect apathy toward government policies regarding Maluku? Many attribute the improved conditions here to the people themselves.

A: The civil emergency status is only a tool of the government to avoid anything untoward happening, so it is beneficial and it might end quickly indeed (if the situation permits).

The civil emergency status is also a tool of dialog for the military and the police to regulate the people in preventing conflict. As a main tool of awareness (to avoid conflict), this is difficult given the aspect of power involved. But it's best if the awareness comes from the people themselves. The civil emergency status would not have been there in the first place if there was adequate appreciation of humanity.

Q: And how could such widespread awareness be achieved?

A: In the past two to three years there has been a constant process of dialog. Hopefully, this is the last dialog (among leaders) that will lead to a positive end. The historic relations among community leaders (from various ethnic groups and religions) that has passed the test of decades, such as that displayed during the holy festivities of Idul Fitri and Christmas.

And if this meeting of Maluku leaders can declare peace the central government might provide a wider opportunity (to improve the situation); the curfew might be ended, for example, depending on the people's awareness.

Q: Despite Jakarta's deadline of Jan. 15 for the return of refugees, many of whom were minorities in Christian or Muslim- dominated settlements, many say they cannot return. How do you see this?

A: They look and don't believe that the situation is yet conducive to return. Nevertheless, the religion-related conflict here is being resolved very rapidly compared to others in the world. Look at the Crusades, Chechnya and the United Kingdom. The awareness of the people in Maluku is amazing. This is because of the awareness on both the leaders and the grass roots.

Q: Given the extraordinary awareness of the people, as you said, what about the responsibility of the state, which can be said to have neglected the security of its citizens, leading to the loss of thousands of lives? Shouldn't arrests and prosecutions continue of those responsible for the conflict?

A: People here no longer want to be dragged into (more potential conflicts), though there may be some people who want to disrupt the situation. The important thing here is the awareness of being more critical of disinformation attempts, and being more rational. There's a new awareness to try to heal old wounds, otherwise there will never be peace; there would instead be continued suspicion, fear.

The role of the government would be to facilitate all necessary dialog.