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.