Give E. Timor dignity it deserves
Give E. Timor dignity it deserves
Y.B. Mangunwijaya was one of Indonesia's most respected
humanists and intellectuals, a Catholic priest whose multitude of
talents included novelist, architect and social worker. Better
known as Romo Mangun, he died of a heart attack in Jakarta on
Wednesday. He submitted the following article to The Jakarta Post
on Feb. 7.
YOGYAKARTA (JP): At last, Indonesia has put forward a highly
needed proposal to cure the too long lasting cancer on East
Timor, or Loro Sae (The Land of the Dawn), the name which the
East Timorese themselves prefer.
It is a yellow light to halt the suffering in the region since
1975, giving the people the choice for independence at a time
they can decide. Such a radical solution may be a bitter
consideration for those who dream of a Greater Indonesia, but it
is a far better and more dignified way than to be castigated as
another Serbia or even a Hitler's Germany with her Oesterreich
Anschluss.
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, a smart expert in political
solutions to overcome regional and international conflicts, is
deserving of praise again this time. But his stated reason for
Indonesia's refusal to be involved in the decolonization process
-- choosing to leave it to Portugal and the UN because "Indonesia
never practiced colonial role in East Timor" -- is at least
questionable.
The Dutch, too, claimed they came to these diverse lands
because the indigenous kings appealed for their help in fighting
local foes. Not incidentally, they also arrogantly felt obliged
to "civilize" our ancestors, the "white man's burden" borne by
the colonial masters.
Japan's propaganda machine also claimed to be waging a great
war to liberate the Asian peoples from the colonialism of the
Western powers during World War II.
The Dutch did much indeed for the material welfare and
modernization of our country, gains never achieved by our own
feudal leaders. They established irrigation systems, a whole
network of asphalt roads and railroads, electricity, mail,
telegraph, telephone and radio communications, rule of law and a
very good elementary and higher education system able to breed,
unintentionally but naturally, a new kind of internationally
qualified leader, later to lead the people to independence.
The Japanese, too, managed what we alone could never have
achieved, the demolition of the Dutch colonial army and
government, the conditio sine qua non to independence.
They were united in claiming to fulfill a sacred mission on
behalf of the ruled peoples themselves. Even so, Indonesians
never gratefully remember Dutch and Japanese rule of the past as
blessings.
Whether Indonesia ranks as a colonial power in East Timor is a
question we should leave to sincere and honest historical studies
in the future, primarily seen from the eyes of Loro Sae's people.
What is important is that Habibie and Alatas have courageously
cut the hopeless Gordian knot. We should be grateful to them. A
black chapter of our history will be closed in a dignified way,
just as the Dutch did in 1949 through a roundtable conference
after their bloody war failed. It was also the way out for the
United States after the defeat of its mighty army in Vietnam.
Frankly, the closing of Soeharto's adventure in East Timor was
already clear when Kofi Annan, on the first day after his taking
office as the new UN secretary-general, said that "a political
formula which had failed to operate during more than 20 years (in
East Timor) should make place for another formula".
It was already clear time was running out when images of the
Santa Cruz massacre appeared on television screens all over the
world, and with the awarding of Nobel peace prizes to Dili Bishop
Belo and Ramos Horta.
The question remained over how it would be practically
implemented in an acceptable and dignified manner for all
parties. The latter include Australia, the United States and
others which have always abstained from accepting East Timor's de
jure integration status.
With our own internal economic and security weaknesses, the
absence of law and order, an abysmal reputation in human rights,
pervasive corruption, collusion and nepotism -- which the global
community and even our own folk dislike -- I doubt the next
People's Consultative Assembly/House of Representatives will
refuse to give the mandate to the Indonesian government, even if
Habibie and Alatas are no longer in office, to hand over East
Timor to the UN and Portugal.
The alternative is a prolonged disaster which the
international community will never accept. This is apart from the
awkward precedent set, in which any militarily strong nation, for
any reason, may be given the freedom to annex outer territories.
A great nation is not counted merely by its great population,
but by its benevolent heart and vision for the future. The
generation of our founding fathers showed such a great benevolent
heart and great vision toward its cruel former colonial masters.
Let it be the same with our generation regarding Loro Sae,
which once was ruled by our republic. And for the same reasons,
because, affirming Ali Alatas' statement, that Indonesia came
into East Timor but not as a colonial oppressor.
A kind of roundtable or say oval table talk should be held to
iron out the many technical and daily-life affairs when Loro Sae
most probably and most naturally chooses its independence. These
revolve around matters of diplomatic relations, communications
and transportation, finance and commerce, exact land and naval
boundaries between Indonesia and Loro Sae, education and
training, civil police cooperation, security for Timorese
integration supporters and Indonesian transmigrants or emigrants,
guarantees of peace and nonviolence and nonrevenge policies, the
temporary presence of a UN security corps and others.
We sincerely hope that a mutual everlasting friendship
agreement will be signed between Indonesia, Loro Sae and Portugal
under the kind smiles of the wise first man of the UN, Kofi Annan
and his assistants. We have Brunei Darussalam and Sarawak as good
neighbors. Let it be the same with Loro Sae, too.