Banned writer Pramoedya gets Magsaysay award

Banned writer Pramoedya gets Magsaysay award

JAKARTA (JP): Pramoedya Ananta Toer, a prolific novelist whose
books have been banned by the government, has been elected to
receive the 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature
and Creative Communication Arts.

The 70-year-old writer will receive a certificate and
medallion bearing the likeness of a former president of the
Philippines, after whom the annual awards are named, and a prize
of US$50,000 during the presentation ceremonies in Manila on
August 31.

Pramoedya is the second Indonesian to receive the award for
the field of journalism, literature and creative communication
arts. The first was senior journalist Mochtar Lubis in 1958.

Mochtar refused to comment on the award for Pramoedya.

"I'd rather not say anything. Pramoedya and I are from
opposing groups. He's from LEKRA," he said, referring to the
People's Cultural Institute which leaned heavily toward communism
in the early 1960s.

"It was LEKRA that burned my books at the time. So, I'd rather
not make any comments about it (the award being given to
Pramoedya)," Lubis told The Jakarta Post.

Pramoedya is the 15th Indonesian to have been named a
Magsaysay laureate. The most recent was Abdurrahman Wahid,
chairman of the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem
organization, for Community Leadership, in 1993.

A release from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said that,
aside from Pramoedya, three other awardees for 1995 have been
announced. They are: Morihiro Hiramatsu of Japan for Government
Service, Asma Jahangir of Pakistan for Public Service, and Ho
Ming-Teh of Taiwan for Community Leadership.

Among Pramoedya's books are Perburuan (The Fugitive), Keluarga
Gerilya (Guerrilla Family), Gadis Pantai (The Girl from the
Coast), and Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind).

The government has already banned most of Pramoedya's works,
which were considered to have communist overtures.

The most recent ban was imposed on his book Nyanyi Sunyi
Seorang Bisu (The Silent Song of a Mute) in April, almost two
months after it went on sale. The authorities cited that its
content could create public unrest.

The 319-page book "contains misleading writings, which could
create the wrong opinion about the government of Indonesia,"
Attorney General Singgih said in his decree.

"Allowing the circulation of the book will cause commotion or
restlessness, which can disturb public order," Singgih said.

Pramoedya, who was once an editor of the literary page of a
left-wing newspaper, was held from 1965 to 1969 in the Salemba
detention center in Jakarta, for alleged communist activities. He
later spent 10 years in hard labor at Buru Island, Maluku.

Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu was published by Lentera of Jakarta
in February this year in commemoration of his 70th birthday.

It was first published in the Netherlands under the title of
Lied van een Stomme, in 1988 and 1989, translated by A. van der
Helm and Angela Rookmaker. (swe)