Heroism, nationhood key elements in promoting national unity

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): November 10 is a day for commemorating and honoring our fallen heroes. On this particular day in 1945, freedom fighters -- in Surabaya particularly, and in East Java in general -- had rejected an ultimatum issued by the 5th India Division of the British army in Surabaya to lay down their arms and surrender to the Allied Forces Netherlands East Indies, which wanted to help the Netherlands East Indies Civil Administration to establish its authority over East Java. The ultimatum was ignored, and armed clashes broke out immediately.

In this tense situation, a legendary figure, Bung Tomo, arose. It was his famous fiery and passionate speeches which kept the fighting spirit of the freedom fighters constantly high throughout the entire Surabaya military campaign. Incited by Bung Tomo's speeches, which were broadcast throughout the country, freedom fighters from all over the country poured into Surabaya to help their overpowered comrades in battle. Bung Tomo was seen at the time as a real hero by the masses.

It was those who fell in this campaign whom we first consciously perceived as our national heroes. Very soon thereafter, other freedom fighters who gave their lives in other battles during the period of physical revolution were also looked upon by the public as heroes. At the end of the revolution, every person who participated in whatever manner in the revolution and came back alive was also considered a hero. The word "hero" was no longer preserved only for the dead, but for the living as well. An interesting issue arose during later phases of Indonesian history. If one was a hero during the revolution, but later committed an act which was considered "treason", was he still a hero? Are those heroes from the past who later joined the PRRI, Permesta, and any of those parapolitical organizations of the PKI also entitled to retain their titles as heroes? And what about those heroes from the revolution who later became corrupt? Are they still heroes? This is an interesting issue, which has never been debated in public, resulting in a kind of divergence between the public and the government regarding the meaning of the word "hero".

What is a "hero"? According to one dictionary, a hero is a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. It is with this meaning that we use the word "hero" in expressions like "heroes of the forgotten wars" or "heroes of the silent wars". Another meaning of "hero" is a person prominent in some event, field, period, or cause by reason of his or her special achievements or contributions. This meaning is conveyed, for example, in expressions like "the heroes of medicine" or "heroes for the cause of human rights".

To me, it is a very interesting coincidence that Heroes Day, November 10, follows immediately after Youth Pledge Day, October 28, in our calendar. It is as if we are reminded by history to keep our sense of heroism alive to preserve and promote the unity of our nation. We are constantly reminded by current events in other parts of the world that national unity cannot be taken for granted. Just because we have been an independent nation for 51 years, it does not necessarily mean that our sense of national unity today is the same as it was in 1945.

Our national unity depends, of course, on our sense of nationhood. Do we really perceive ourselves as one nation, or do we perceive ourselves more as the sum of a number of ethnic, religious and cultural entities?

According to one analysis, the sense of being "we" in any nation can come from four factors: a shared language, a shared religion, the proud ownership of some special political idea, or the memory of shared horror (from The Shape of the World in The Economist, December 23, 1995, p. 20). In the case of many nations, this sense of being "we" comes from various mixtures of these factors. But we should also not forget that there are some factors among these four that can also become the source of national division. Language has divided Quebec practically into two nations. This is also the case in Belgium. The hatred in Bosnia is rooted both in difference of religion and in the shared memory of long-ago frontier wars between culture areas.

The important question to ask in this regard is whether or not at any particular moment we still have this feeling of being "we". This "we" feeling fluctuates, changes from to time. Every time we watch an Indonesian badminton team compete against a team from another nation in a world championship match, for instance, our sense of nationalism, our sense of being "we" swells very strongly. On the other hand, in a crowd watching a fashion show or an automobile show, I think is difficult to generate this sense of being "we".

There are thus factors in our life that promote our sense of nationhood, but there are also factors that impair and even disrupt it. Our being a nation which is ethnically, religiously, and culturally pluralistic is a factor that can promote or erode our sense of being a nation. We can learn from Senator Moynihan in this regard, who described very clearly in his book Pandemonium (Oxford University Press, 1993) that ethnicity is a very important factor in the lives of many nations. Based on his analyses of events in many parts of the world, he maintains that "Far from vanishing, ethnicity has been and will be an elemental force in international politics." He stated that "ethnic pride can be a source of dignity and stability, if only its legitimacy is accepted". The dynamic of ethnic conflict can, according to Senator Moynihan, be "understood, anticipated, and moderated".

What is a "nation"? Walker Connor defines a "nation" as "a group of people who believe they are ancestrally related." On the basis of this definition, the important question about any nation is not what it is, but when it is. Nation formation is a process, not an occurrence or event. Events are easily dated, whereas stages in a process are not. The delay between the appearance of national consciousness among sectors of the elite and its extension to the masses can, in some cases, stretch into centuries.

Let us, on this particular day, reflect about the state of our nationhood at this stage of our history, and let us look for ways which can strengthen our national unity in the face of new challenges that very soon will beset our nation.