Bot's planned visit reflects changing Dutch attitude

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam

It seems as if World War II has just ended for the Dutch. Six decades on, few of the legacies of the war and the independence of its former colony linger on. At the same time, the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, at the diplomatic level and between the two civil societies, has never been better.

Why, then, is Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot's plan to attend Indonesia's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of declaration of independence on Aug. 17, 1945 -- thus, the first official recognition by the Netherlands of Indonesia's independence date -- being prepared so discreetly?

The impact of Indonesia's independence struggle has indeed taken a long time to recede in the Netherlands -- just as, for example, it took the French great pains to resolve the crises following Algerian independence. However, while it is not unusual for independence struggles to cause enduring consequences on the part of the loser at home, there appear to be peculiar changes in the Dutch government's approach to its problems.

The Dutch postwar problems mainly arose from the fact that the Netherlands simultaneously faced the consequences of the war in Europe and in Asia. Whilst Dutch successive administrations have been preoccupied with the first, they grossly neglected the second. War victims in Europe (Dutch Jewish victims were proportionally the greatest in Europe) were honored and remembered much earlier and more conspicuously than any of the similar groups from the former Dutch East Indies. Only very recently, the government paid tribute and offered mea culpa to former Dutch prisoners of Japan and ex-soldiers, who had fought in Indonesia.

Among the most painful experience for the latter groups were a series of publications in the late 1970s, including official papers and government sponsored books on World War II, which accused the Dutch royal troops, the KL, of war crimes in Java in the 1940s (ironically, similar acts by the colonial troops, the KNIL, were not discussed). The author, Prof. L. de Jong, a historian sympathetic to the Indonesian cause, had apparently been intimidated so that he would change the text and remove the term "war crime" following a gulf of strong protests from groups of these ex-soldiers -- known as the Indie veterans.

In other words: Put in the European context, to charge the Indie veterans with being aggressors, who committed war crimes, would have put them on the same moral footing as the hated Nazi- Germans -- an unacceptable situation for soldiers who fought the war in the name of the Dutch Queen.

What is more, de Jong's books have actually became a standard- bearer. Although only two of its 12 parts deal with Indonesia, the Indie veterans' anger was great. When they were finally offered financial compensation for their sufferings in Japan- occupied Indonesia, it was far too little and too late, compared to what Nazi victims received. But, "truly, our objection," some of them told this writer in 1987, "is that de Jong's stories became official".

It was this hurt esprit de corps and great sensitivity among the Indie veterans that the Dutch government has had to carefully consider ever since dealing with its past in Indonesia.

For, these veterans had meanwhile found consolation, protection and political strength in the liberal-conservative party VVD and, in particular, in the person of Prince Bernhard, Queen Beatrix's father, who was also a general and World War II hero. The 1980s and 1990s were thus their heydays. Even Queen Beatrix's wish to visit Jakarta on the very anniversary of Indonesia's independence on August 17, 1995, was heavily resisted. Her state visit only took place four days later. Similarly, the idea of then Minister Jan Pronk, the enfant terrible of Dutch politics, to recognize Aug. 17 as Indonesia's independence day -- instead of Dec. 27, 1949 -- has never met with any success.

So, why is Foreign Minister Bernard Bot now trying to do just that -- albeit more cautiously and prudently?

The obvious answer is that the Indie veterans have now become older, their number smaller, and are much less active. Crucially, with the death of Prince Bernhard on Dec. 1, 2004, they have lost their great patron.

Other factors include Bernard Bot's personal aspects. Born in Batavia (now Jakarta), he went through the Japanese prison camp in Cideng -- a factor the Indie veterans must consider before anything else. Bot, who has got along well with the present day Jakarta leaders, seems well equipped to start a course toward rectifying the historic Dutch mistake. Presumably, he has the full support of Prime Minister J.P. Balkenende, who is also his party colleague. Since Balkenende, the first post-war born Dutch PM, is free from any wartime issues, he and Bot are viewed as a good duo to accomplish the mission of a former colonial master.

Nevertheless, Indie veterans' sensitivity still has to be reckoned with. Just hours before he flies to Jakarta on Monday Aug. 15, Ben Bot, accompanying the Queen and the Prime Minister, will attend the commemoration of Dutch servicemen and families, who died during the war in Indonesia. In doing so, he will thus pay his respects to the Indie veterans while paving the way for his mission in Jakarta.

Next, what could be a better moment for such a mission than now with Indonesia's new democracy and its first directly elected president? And in keeping with its tradition as a salesman, the Netherlands is likely to be interested in improving its investment here while looking at new business.

Finally, perhaps the most significant in terms of its domestic politics, for the first time there appears to be a willingness among the broad spectrum of political parties, including the former patron of the Indie veterans, the VVD, to officially recognize Aug. 17, 1945 as the day Indonesia gained independence.

At least five parties, including the major ones, have specifically told the Indonesian Section of Radio Netherlands that they are willing to support if the Dutch government is to embark on such a course. Which indicates that, for them, too, the war is indeed really over.

Minister Bot is expected to take the first significant step. More should follow.

The writer is a journalist with Radio Netherlands.