Chatting with Gus Dur to avoid misunderstanding

Chatting with Gus Dur to avoid misunderstanding

Tabayun Gus Dur;
Moh. Shaleh Isre, Editor;
LKIS, Yogyakarta;
1st printing, June 1, 1998;
xvi + 250 pp

YOGYAKARTA (JP): It is to be "regretted" that amid the recent
massive wave of demands for political and economic reform, Gus
Dur, as Abdurrahman Wahid is better known, has not been as
"outspoken" as he is usually known to be.

As he is a national figure, many people are waiting to see his
attitude and hear his ideas, especially at a time when the
country is being buffeted by crises and fraught with turmoil.

Also, as the No. 1 man in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), millions of
his supporters in this Moslem organization have been anxiously
waiting to hear his "decree" as leaders such as he can enlighten
their followers and provide them with guidance when the state is
unstable.

One of the reasons why Gus Dur has fallen short of people's
expectations is that on Jan. 20, 1998 he fell seriously ill and
was told to take "total bed rest". This illness has forced him to
temporarily stop his activities and also his contacts with the
media.

In the case of the latter, lack of contact leaves a public
figure seeming half-dead and ready to be "forgotten", especially
at a time like the present when the mass media constitutes the
driving force in society.

As a result, the public has found a new figure, a flexible,
outspoken and open person who continues to gain greater
popularity, while the popularity of Gus Dur himself is on the
wane.

To many people he reached the nadir of his popularity as a
public figure with his refusal to accept an offer from Amien
Rais, then chairman of the central executive board of
Muhammadiyah, to join a national coalition for reform along with
Amien himself and Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the
Indonesian Democratic Party faction not recognized by the
government.

The word tabayun" in the title of the book means clarifying a
problem or the origin of an event before one starts debating a
particular matter. This book has, to all intents and purposes,
such a "mission".

Through this book Gus Dur wishes to "chat" again with the
public about various problems related to democracy, human rights
and the protection of minorities. Gus Dur has for a long time
been waging a struggle in the interests of these three subjects.

In other words, the publication of the book is not intended to
maintain Gus Dur's popularity, but rather to refamiliarize people
with the ideas that he has expressed in his writings in various
media publications and that are still relevant today.

Moreover, this book should prevent Gus Dur from being
misunderstood and being considered as having lost much of his
outspokenness. As stated above the latter attitude stems from his
apparent preference to keep quiet and also because some of his
recent political maneuvers have been disappointing to many
people, including his own supporters.

So, the reproduction in book format of various interviews that
Gus Dur has had with the mass media is aimed at refreshing our
vision of many ideas concerning management, rearrangement and
development of the life of the nation and the state. A wade range
of topics concerning the management of our lives as a nation has
always been what Gus Dur has intensely involved himself in, as
seen in various interviews he has given in the past decade.

Just contemplate the gem of an idea taken from one of his
interviews with the now-defunct Editor magazine in December 1990:
"It is my ambition to see Indonesian Moslems turn themselves into
broad-minded religious people. People with an ability to
understand other people. People willing to completely share
things with others. People upholding freedom as a means of
democracy."

-- Binhad Nurrohmat

The reviewer is chairman of Balkon Bincang Kebudayaan/Balcony
for Cultural Discussions, Yogyakarta.