Former fighters visit leaders' graves

By Imanuddin

BLITAR, East Java (JP): Former independence fighters, some of whom are senior statesmen, began yesterday a journey to pay their respects to Indonesia's founding fathers, starting with the late president Sukarno's grave here.

House Speaker Wahono, former house speaker Mohamad Kharis Suhud, former defense minister Poniman and Moslem leader A. Dahlan Ranuwihardjo are included in the 92-strong entourage paying the devotional visits. Making a standout appearance in the group is controversial Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid, who was invited by the Yayasan Pembela Tanah Air (Yapeta), an organization of the former fighters that arranged the trip.

Wahono, Kharis Suhud and Poniman, however, were absent from the visit to Sukarno's grave.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, the eldest daughter of Sukarno, was the host at yesterday's ceremony. During the short trip she made from the family's home in Blitar to the grave, the ousted chief of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party was greeted by some 2,000 cheering supporters.

Wahono and Poniman reportedly planned to visit the grave as well but were left behind at Blitar's City Hall due to some misarrangement of transportation. At the hall, they joined a function with Minister of Social Services Inten Soeweno.

The city of Blitar holds a special significance for the former fighters. Pembela Tanah Air (Peta) was formed as "Indonesia's Armed Forces" during Japanese occupation in 1943, and was meant as a defense against the Allies.

Though it was under Japanese control, its leaders were Indonesian officers who were strong nationalist. In February 1945, Peta member Suprijadi led a revolt in Blitar against the Japanese occupation.

House Speaker Wahono was a Peta soldier in the East Java town of Kediri.

From Blitar, the entourage went on to Yogyakarta. Today, Wahono and the others will pay a visit to the grave of Gen. Sudirman, the founding father of Indonesia's Armed Forces, and meet with his widow.

They will then proceed to Jakarta and pay their respect at the grave of Indonesia's first vice president, the late M. Hatta who, together with Sukarno, proclaimed Indonesia's independence in 1945. Hatta's son-in-law Sri Edi Swasono is also in the entourage.

Pamoe Rahardjo, who organized the trip, said the devotional visits was suggested by Gen. (ret) A.H. Nasution, Indonesia's senior military figure, in order to remind the nation "to unite and forgive one another ... to end conflicts among elements in society."

"The visit to Bung Karno's grave is meant as an opportunity to ask him for forgiveness," he said. Nasution was absent due to ill health.

Pamoe said there had been "concern" among the former fighters about the country's recent situation, but he refused to elaborate.

He only said that the visit had received "the blessing of President Soeharto", and that the President was also informed about the presence of Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization, in the entourage.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, concurred. The visit by the senior citizens, he said, was like hailing those who have gone before them. "The former fighters are following soon," he said.

Commenting on Wahono's absence yesterday, Abdurrahman said: "It's usual for someone not to show up to an invitation. The trip itself is already significant, a positive development for this nation.

"This is important, an achievement, even if it didn't proceed smoothly," said Abdurrahman. "This shows that our people know how to put things into perspective. To learn from the past, when differences in opinion or thoughts did not necessarily negate relations."

Abdurrahman, who became the center of speculation following his reported shift in political alliance from Megawati to Golkar leader Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, said he remains "like a brother" to Megawati.

"Don't politicize my relationship with Megawati," he said.