Between Sukarno and Soeharto

Between Sukarno and Soeharto

(Minister of Education and Culture) Prof. Juwono Sudarsono has
called on scholars not to make unfair generalizations regarding
the past, including the figures of former presidents Sukarno and
Soeharto. In the past, demonstrators and the media tended to
attribute all that was bad to Sukarno; now it is Soeharto...

Prof. Sudarsono's words are like fresh air blowing amid a
climate of heated sentiments in which words and actions are based
more on emotions, thirst for retribution and personal interests
than on reason. People who condemned Sukarno in the past now
extol him as a man who had done not a single wrong. On the other
hand, people who supported and were full of praise for Soeharto
now vie with each other in criticizing and denouncing him.

Prof. Juwono Sudarsono has shown himself to be a true
intellectual -- one who has the courage to say what he believes
to be true, no matter if it runs against everything the crowd is
saying.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta