Geuzenprize for Pakpahan

The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union has announced that the Netherlands' Stichting Geuzenverzet foundation awarded Muchtar Pakpahan the prestigious Geuzenprize. Some background information was published in a newspaper article, which needs some clarification. The article states: "Geuzen was a leading opponent of his nation's colonization policies and he had a fighting spirit for the liberation of colonized races".

Some four centuries ago the Netherlands and Belgium were occupied by the Spaniards. The Dutch resistance fought a long struggle for independence, which is referred to as the 80 Years War. The Spaniards occupied the major cities, which were in fact fortresses with high and thick stone walls to protect them against enemy attacks.

The resistance was organized into various groups, mainly operating in the countryside between these cities. Individuals were recruited from peasant families. The most famous group was called the Geuzen, which consisted of the Bosgeuzen, who operated on land and the Watergeuzen, who used barges as their transportation.

The Geuzen's most heroic achievement was the seizure of the city of Brielle, at that time a very important port not far from Rotterdam. The resistance fighters used a cunning trick, through which they entered the city without suffering major losses. This stunning performance was the inspiration for many songs and poems after the Netherlands gained its liberation from the Spaniards. For the Dutch, the Geuzen symbolizes the struggle of the suppressed against their rulers.

The list of previous winners of the Geuzenprize includes playwright Vaclac Havel, the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, who for years now have been demonstrating peacefully in an attempt to find out the truth behind what has happened to their missing sons when Argentina was ruled by a military junta and thousands of young men disappeared.

HANS POS

Jakarta