Beatrix urged to apologize to Indonesians
JAKARTA (JP): A noted Dutch scholar is calling on Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to use her current 11-day tour of Indonesia to apologize for the Dutch atrocities in this country, particularly those that took place between 1945 and 1950.
Jacob Vredenbregt, the deputy of the Jakarta-based Asian representative office of Leiden University, told The Jakarta Post that despite strong relations between the two countries, this would be an appropriate time for the Netherlands to apologize for its colonization of Indonesia.
But more importantly, he said the Netherlands should apologize for its police military actions here between 1945 and 1950, when it tried to reimpose colonial rule despite Indonesian leaders having declared independence on Aug. 17, 1945.
"What is wrong with an apology?" Vredenbregt asked. "An apology would show that the Dutch people were sincere. If necessary, the Netherlands should give compensation to the surviving relatives of the victims," he said.
Controversy erupted in the Netherlands before Queen Beatrix's departure for Indonesia. One group urged her to apologize for the Netherlands' past actions in Indonesia, while another group, lead by Dutch veterans of the war against Indonesia, objected to the very idea.
Vredenbregt dismissed the war veterans as representing a small minority in the Netherlands. "They do not represent all the war veterans. I'd take my hat off if they fought the Germans. But them ...? They were actually victims of the Dutch colonial politics."
The Indonesian government has stated that it would not raise the issue during her visit here.
Queen Beatrix, at a dinner hosted by President Soeharto in her honor, acknowledged on Monday that the Dutch inflicted suffering on the Indonesian people in the past, but she stopped short of apologizing.
Vredenbregt, the director of Leiden's International Institute for Asian Studies, said the Dutch character is better suited for traders and scholars.
"They don't make good politicians," he said, adding that the behavior of politicians was often detrimental to the interests of Dutch industrialists and scholars.
He cited as an example Dutch Minister Jan Pronk's constant criticisms of Indonesia, which led Jakarta to reject any further aid from the Netherlands in 1992 and also the dissolution of the Inter Governmental Group on Indonesia, a Dutch-led international aid consortium.
However, he admitted, something good has come out of the "Pronk Incident" because since then the two countries have rebuilt their relations based on a more equal partnership.
Relations are no longer based on old sentiments, he said. "They are no longer colored by a love-and-hate relationship." (aks)