Forgive Pramoedya, say intellectuals

JAKARTA (JP): Intellectuals are pursuing "cultural reconciliation" among literary figures and seeking official forgiveness for the banned "leftist" author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

Amid the renewed call for national reconciliation between political foes, senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad and cultural observer F.X. Mudji Sutrisno have suggested that a similar gesture be made in literary circles.

Writers and other figures who, due to ideological differences, have been filled with feelings of enmity for decades should now forget their past conflict and forgive each other, the leading intellectuals say.

"I am very disappointed because a number of leading figures in the literary circle, people of whom we are very proud, have set us (bad) examples," Mudji said. "I will be even more disappointed if we cannot start healing the historical wounds."

"I just don't understand why (some literary leaders) are so vengeful about Pramoedya's being selected as the winner of this years' Ramon Magsaysay award," Goenawan said.

"I believe that now is the right time for the literary figures to hold another debate with Pramoedya, because there's no longer any reason to be afraid," Goenawan said. "There are no longer apocalyptic predictions (of the rise of communism) hanging over us if we hold debates with Pramoedya."

The two observers were commenting on the recent campaign by 26 leading literary figures, including senior writer Mochtar Lubis and poet Taufiq Ismail, to urge the U.S.-funded Magsaysay Foundation reexamine its decision to grant the Asia's most prestigious literary award to Pramoedya.

Mochtar has threatened to return his own prize -- which he received in 1958 -- in protest if the Manila-based foundation does not reverse its decision. He says he is reluctant to share similar prizes with Pramoedya, who was once accused of conducting a "witch hunt" against writers.

During the heyday of the Indonesian communist movement in the 1960s Pramoedya and the pro-communist Lekra (People's Cultural Institute) group played important roles in the suppression of freedom of expression, Mochtar said.

"He was the man behind Lekra's decision to burn my books," Mochtar said recently.

The foundation, named after a famous Philippines president, has acknowledged the enmities between Indonesian writers at that time. "The attacks and counter-attacks of the times were harsh and we are indeed aware that some writers suffered badly," the foundation stated last week.

However, current attacks on Pramoedya "bear little moral weight in light of the penalties already imposed upon him as well as a change in world attitudes toward communism accompanying the end of the Cold War," the foundation said.

The foundation also rejected the calls of Mochtar and his colleagues. As for Pramoedya himself, it is still unclear whether he would be able to make the trip to receive the award in Manila, given the travel ban still imposed on him. Pramoedya spent more than 10 years in a hard labor camp on Buru Island following the bloody coup attempt by the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

It was during this period that he wrote several of his books, most of which are now banned by the authorities because they reportedly contain elements of communist teachings.

Goenawan refused to join his colleagues in taking a harsh stance against Pramoedya. "Because Pram is not a free man, the way Mochtar and Taufiq are free," Goenawan said.

"The situation is different now, there's no longer apocalypse (of communism) hanging over our heads. Free Pramoedya first, then hold debates (regarding his leftist stance in his writings)," Goenawan said.

Mudji said the discord resulted from what he called Indonesian society's preoccupation with power, affecting almost everyone and every profession. "Ulemas, church leaders, conglomerates...they are affected by the same thing. Literary figures are like that, too...because they have power now, they exert it (at the expense of the powerless)," he said.

He cited the literary leaders' display of enmity toward Pramoedya as an example of that preoccupation with power. "The air is saturated with this drive for power," he said.

"There's this big question we have to answer: who's a fellow citizen? Are they brothers, or are they enemies to be avenged?" Mudji asked. (swe)