Break the mirror when your face is ugly

Break the mirror when your face is ugly

By R. Masri Sareb Putra

JAKARTA (JP): The government recently slapped a ban on a book
by Soebadio Sastrosatomo, Politik Dosomuko Rezim Order Baru:
Rapuh dan Sengsarakan Rakyat (The New Order Regime's Dosomuko
Politics: Fragile and Making People Suffer).

Soebadio said that the culprit of these crises is the New
Order's political system itself, one that he names "Dosomuko
politics" (10-faced politics).

He writes that these 10 faces are: the people's sovereignty
has been expropriated; Pancasila has been made a shield to
protect power; the law has been subjugated; political parties and
labor unions have been stunted; the legislature has been
castrated; the media has been rendered barren; the economy is
characterized by nepotism, monopoly, corruption and collusion;
education has been tamed; culture has been uniformed; and, the
values of humanity have been trampled.

Dosomuko is the other name of Rahwana, the devilish king of
Alengka Kingdom in the classical Ramayana epic.

According to the government, the 23-page book was banned
because it is provocative and pejorative toward the New Order.

This is not the only book by Soebadio which has been banned.
Last year, his Era Baru Pemimpin Baru: Badio Menolak Rezim Order
Baru (New Era New Leader: Badio Rejects the New Order Regime) was
banned.

In the past five years only three types of books have been
banned.

The first type were banned because the government believed
they contained pornography, such as Madame D. Syuga by Fuji
Hideki. This book, which contains a few erotic pictures of Dewi
Sukarno, one of former president Sukarno's wives, was banned in
1993.

To the second type belong books considered potentially
disruptive to religious harmony, such as Dosa dan Penebusan
Menurut Islam dan Kristen (Sins and Redemption according to Islam
ad Christianity).

The third type includes political books that, in the opinion
of the government, may create instability and may undermine the
authority of the legitimate government.

The government believes the books have certain political
content which may inspire and incite people to go against the
government. Therefore, they are not to be read by the public.

However, from an academic point of view, these books may be of
great use, especially regarding their contribution as references
to political studies and research.

A case in point is Karl Marx's book Das Kapital. It is banned
in Indonesia although, in fact, it is very useful and a must-read
for economists and economic observers. Politicians should read,
for example, Il Principe by Machiavelli, or Mein Kampf by Adolf
Hitler. Without reading these, one cannot legitimately say that
one is an economist or a politician. Both books were also banned
here.

Law

The government has its own strong reason for banning such
books. Law No. 4/PNPS/1963 on safeguarding against printed matter
which may disrupt public order, does not provide for any
exemption. When a book is banned, then it may not be read,
photocopied and distributed by anybody for whatever reason.

It seems that the government has resorted to the security
approach in this case. This is a pity because at present, as the
world becomes more transparent and borderless, it is next to
impossible to withdraw all printed works already distributed.

Besides, it is not likely to find out who has purchased or
owns banned books. Experience shows that banning a book only
makes people more eager to read it.

The authorities, in this case a team of examiners attached to
the Subdirectorate of Mass Media Safeguarding, Directorate of
Political Affairs of the Attorney General's Office, will
certainly be burdened with a big job of collecting and then
examining books belonging to the category of "threatening
national stability, damaging the nation's morality and
discrediting the government".

There must be differences of opinions between the author and
the Attorney General's Office about the content of a particular
book. A book called Adik Baru, Cara Menjelaskan Seks Kepada Anak
(New Sibling, a Method to Explain Sex to Children), translated by
Swanie Gunawan and edited by education expert Conny Semiawan, is
considered by the translator as one which is very important to
parents in explaining sex problems to children.

However, the Attorney General's Office, considering this to be
a porn book, banned it in 1989.

The question is: What has really made a book be withdrawn from
circulation and banned by the government?

Certain criteria in this respect has been set by the Attorney
General's Office with its clearinghouse team, which comprises
representatives from the National Intelligence Coordination
Agency, the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency, the Police, the
Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Religious
Affairs and the Ministry of Information.

When withdrawing a book from circulation, the Attorney
General's Office always uses Article 27 of the Prosecution Law,
which, among other things, stipulates: "In public order and
peace, the prosecutor's office shall also safeguard the
circulation of printed matter."

So the term "disrupting public order" has become the
government's effective weapon to bring to court an author on the
grounds that he has violated the prevailing law and norms. If a
book contains elements which can be linked to "fomenting hatred
and slander", then the book must be banned and the author must
account for what he has written.

Likewise, pursuant to Decree MPRS No. XXV/MPRS/1966, books
containing and disseminating Marxism and Leninism cannot be
published and distributed in Indonesia, not even for scientific
studies. This decree has not been revoked, although communism has
broken into pieces with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the
cradle of Leninism and communism.

Until now, most of those on the list of banned books are
political in content.

These include Menuntut Janji Orde Baru (Demanding the New
Order's Promises, 1987), Siapa yang Sesungguhnya Melakukan Kudeta
terhadap Pemerintah Presiden Soekarno (Who Really Made the Coup
D'etat Against President Soekarno, 1987), Regulasi Rejim
Birokratik Militer: Kasus di Indonesia (Regulation of Military
Bureaucratic Regime: The Case in Indonesia, 1988), Bertarung Demi
Demokrasi (Fighting For The Sake of Democracy, 1990), Primadosa
(Prime Sins, 1983), Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat (Oei Tjoe Tat's Memoirs,
1995), Bayang-bayang PKI (The Shadow of Indonesian Communist
Party, 1996) dan Era Baru Pemimpin Baru (New Era of New Leader,
1997).

Between 1987 and 1997, over 70 books and other printed works
were banned by the government.

Of course, this ban is effective only from the government's
point of view and its own interest. Authors and broad segments of
the community may think otherwise.

The phrase buruk muka cermin dibelah (break the mirror when
your face is ugly) could be applied in this case.

In other words, the rulers reading those books see their own
ugly faces and then blame the mirror for reflecting them. They do
not admit that it is their own faces. The mirror must be wrong.
And the mirror is broken into pieces.