Indonesia will honor its almost forgotten hero

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has agreed to look into a proposal to confer an almost forgotten, fierce anti-colonial fighter the title of national hero.

The man is Syekh Yusuf, originally from Goa in South Sulawesi. He fought against Dutch colonialism in West Java in the 17th century before he was sent to exile to Cape Town, South Africa. He died there in 1699.

His existence and his precise contribution, both to Indonesia and to the development of Islam in South Africa, was discovered by Dr. Sulaiman Dangor, a professor at Durban University.

Dangor's research traced the history of the Indonesian community in South Africa back to the days when hundreds of Indonesian people were sent there by the Dutch as forced laborers.

Dangor was in Jakarta this past week along with Achmad David, head of the committee commemorating the recent 300th anniversary of the landing of the European settlers in South Africa.

Both men met with President Soeharto on Thursday, accompanied by Achmad Nurhani, who represented Indonesia at the commemoration last month.

"President Soeharto said that, God willing, we will also confer the title of national hero to Syekh Yusuf along with the heroes of his time such as Sultan Iskandar Muda, Sultan Agung, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa and others," Achmad said after the meeting.

These heroes have already been immortalized by having streets named after them in Jakarta.

The Dutch put Syekh into Robben prison island where South African president elect Nelson Mandela also served time for 20 years.

Achmad said that Mandela acknowledged that Syekh was not only a hero for Indonesians, but he also set example for the African people in their own fight against colonialism. He made these comments during the commemoration last month.

Soeharto agreed the need to reestablish contacts with the descendants of the Indonesian community in Cape Town, Achmad said. "We could say that for 300 years there have been no contacts at all."

There are now an estimated 700,000 people of Indonesian origin in South Africa, making up a significant part of the 2.5 million Moslems in the country.

Reopening contacts with Indonesian South Africans is easier now, since Indonesia is planning to open diplomatic ties with South Africa following the recent first non-racial general election.

Achmad said Dangor's research also uncovered a host of other anti-colonial fighters from various parts of Indonesia who were sent into exile to South Africa. (02)