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.