Gloom hangs over Indonesia: Intellectuals

Gloom hangs over Indonesia: Intellectuals

JAKARTA (JP): The Democracy Forum, a loose discussion group
chaired by controversial Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid, has
dropped its plan to issue an exceedingly short political
statement: "No Comment. Don't know."

A number of young supporters of the forum prepared the
"statement", to be signed by its members and distributed to the
press late Wednesday.

After Abdurrahman failed to show up, the forum members debated
whether to issue the "statement", with some saying that it only
expressed "defeat" on their part. A well-informed source at the
forum told The Jakarta Post that those who wanted the statement
distributed wished to express a sense of futility in commenting
on current conditions.

The activists eventually agreed not to issue the statement.

The Democracy Forum holds annual meetings, coinciding with the
celebration of Indonesia's independence, which are usually marked
by the issuance of political statements.

A number of famous intellectuals turned up at the gathering
Wednesday. Among them were philosophers F.X. Mudji Sutrisno and
Franz Magnis Suseno, novelist Marianne Katoppo, social and
political observers Daniel Dhakidae, Muhammad Hikam, historian
Onghokham, senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad and lawyer Marsilam
Simanjuntak.

The forum was established in early 1991 by 45 people with the
aim of educating the nation towards a more mature political life
through the process of democratization.

In more recent developments, however, the forum has often been
linked with opinions which are very critical of the government.
Abdurrahman Wahid and most of the intellectuals in the forum are
known to be blunt in their criticism of the administration.

Goenawan and Mudji used the occasion on Wednesday to reflect
on the current situation and to share their views with reporters.
Both Goenawan and Mudji argued that Indonesians have a lot to be
concerned about.

Goenawan, former editor of the now-banned Tempo news weekly,
identified at least three issues that should be handled urgently,
the first of which being "the absence of the rule of law".

The second and third matters were the prevalent "cynical
attitude" and "mass paranoia", Goenawan said.

Mudji supported Goenawan's view, adding that another matter of
concern was what he described as a lack of feeling of security
among the people.

"Many people still don't have the feeling of being safe, of
being free from terror," Mudji said. "People still feel that they
are not free to express their opinion."

"The lack of this freedom of expression means that the people
have to pay too great a price for the economic success that
Indonesia has obtained over all this time," he said.

Goenawan said the "prevalent cynical attitude" is evident the
large number of people who "treat everything as if it has a price
tag attached to it".

"Whatever a person does, he's thought of as doing it to
further his own interests," Goenawan said. The 50th anniversary
of Indonesia's independence has seen a moral slide, he said.

He said cynicism is even more prevalent among government
officials. "Every time a person voices some concern, he's seen as
doing so to gain popularity. Officials are always looking for
ulterior motives."

The trend, he said, has reached a dangerous stage. Unless it
is stopped, the tendency of finding fault and assuming ulterior
motives will "cause us to lose hope," he said.

Goenawan also lamented what he described as "mass paranoia",
which he said affected every layer of society, including
government officials.

"We are suspicious of everything," he said. "If three people
sneeze at almost the same time in three different corners of a
room, they are suspected of hatching a 'sneezing conspiracy'".
(swe)