Go fly a kite

Go fly a kite

From Ummat magazine

Why does Abdurrahman Wahid (popularly known as Gus Dur) give
the impression of wanting to be contrary? When the majority of
the Muslim community cast aspersions on Theo Syafei, Gus Dur came
to his defense, saying that Theo Syafei had his merits. When the
Tanjung Priok incident erupted in 1984 and the Muslim community
demanded the accountability of Benny Moerdani (also of Try
Sutrisno and Soeharto), Gus Dur invited Moerdani to go to
pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) to convince the Muslim
community that the case was "purely criminal".

When the people wanted to sue Soeharto, Gus Dur discouraged
them. He said it was dangerous because Soeharto had many
followers who loved the former president so much they would
create many riots if Soeharto was sued. When the people demanded
the abolishment of the Armed Forces' dual function, Gus Dur said
that if the dual function ceased to exist there would be
stagnation in our national life.

Likewise in the case of East Timor. When the majority
preferred East Timor to be separated from the Republic of
Indonesia, Gus Dur took the opposite stance.

Apparently by acting this way, Gus Dur can soar into the air
like a kite. And like a kite he has to go against the wind. Gus
Dur is a big kite sailing at the end of its string, which is the
NU community. Who then is the "intellectual actor" who handles
the string?

If the string breaks, the kite will float in the air, but only
for a while. Groups of people will fight to seize the kite. With
luck the kite will remain whole and can be used again by other
"intellectual actors". Otherwise, it will be in tatters and will
just be discarded.

SUDADI SOEROPRANOTO

Jakarta