Justice: Village Style

By Godi Suwarna

His name is Markum. He's tall and heavily built. People close to him say that Markum has never told a lie and neither has he ever insulted anyone. Among fellow villagers he is also quite well known for his consistency in defending the truth, even when he has to fight to defend what he believes in. Markum also never hesitates to dissuade anyone from telling a lie.

He often overdoes things, however, and behaves as if he were a village official although he is not. For example when he sees a neighborhood security post (siskamling) is vacant, he usually calls all the night watchmen to warn them of the situation. Of course, all the watchmen who should be on duty immediately obey him although they were fast asleep.

"Remember that you are responsible for security in the neighborhood, don't neglect your duty," he used to say.

Usually, Markum returns home in the wee hours. Although he is neither a religious leader nor a preacher he has the habit of waking up the villagers after dawn to remind them to conduct the early morning prayer at the nearby mosque, the building of which had been sponsored by local authorities.

"Praying together with fellow villagers is better than doing it alone, he says. He also tells them they should be ashamed if the mosque is empty during the mandatory prayer times.

Markum seemed so successful in exercising his unofficial authority over the village that nobody dared to interrupt him when he spoke.

But behind his back some passed comments, such as: "What does he think he is doing? That is not his concern. He is neither a village official nor a preacher," some would say.

"We have to understand that this chap is jobless," said one villager. "No, he isn't. He is an active farmer, said others defending Markum as a proper and respectable person. The man added, "He is also active in the village community. One day when a canal in the paddy field was damaged, Markum started the repairs earlier than anyone else including the village officials.

Earlier the village officials had called on the people to work together to repair the canal but only five people showed up. And Markum started the job without complaint although by afternoon work was still only half finished. So they decided to go home because they were already very tired. But Markum did not go home straight away. He went to see the village chief instead.

"Oh, Markum. Please, come in," said the official welcoming Markum, whose clothes were covered in mud.

There were also other village officials present. They sat on the floor playing cards. There was coffee and snacks on the table. Actually, the village chief was displeased by Markum's visit. Moreover Markum's feet had dirtied the carpet.

"What's the matter, Markum?", asked the chief, who is popularly known as Ki Kuwu.

"The drain is damaged. Where were you since morning when we were busy repairing the canal? I did not see anyone from the village administration -- including you -- only myself and a few others repaired it.

"Pak Comat visited me. So, I couldn't join the repair work," explained Ki Kuwu.

"And you, did you have guests too?" Markum asked the three other officials.

"You're our village leaders. Please, provide us with a leadership model," Markum took the opportunity to share his counsel.

At night, when he was supervising the night watchmen, Markum asked the villagers to join the repair work in the paddy field. But it seemed to no avail. The persons who helped the next morning were the same persons who did the job yesterday. So, it took another full day to finish the job.

The following day Markum fell sick, seemingly of exhaustion. But with the repair of the canal many people were happy.

As soon as the local Islamic teacher heard the news about Markum's health he visited him to wish him a speedy recovery.

"I hope you feel better soon, Markum. The mosque is inactive without you. Every day it is visited by three to four people now. Tomorrow is Friday, Markum, I don't know what would happen if there are only a few people," said the ustaz (religious teacher).

On Friday, Markum tried to wake up, even though he felt the fever nailing his body to the mattress. At last he got up and went to the river to take a bath. With the help of a rattan cane he walked to the riverbank. When he saw some villagers planting padi (young rice plants) in the field he got angry.

"Why are you planting padi now? Who asked you to do that?" Markum asked.

The people were surprised by his question and said nothing.

"Don't you remember what the agriculture instructor asked you to do?"

The people seemed shocked.

"Do you know when you have to plant the padi?"

They kept silent.

"Don't keep quiet, say something!"

"I do," said an old man sitting by a shack. But he did not continue.

"You must plant the padi next month" Markum said while walking toward the old man.

"Don't listen to him. Plant the padi now," ordered a young man standing in front of the shack.

"What did you say?" Markum blasted.

"It's my paddy field. I'll plant in my field ... " the young man said but he couldn't complete his sentence. He immediately fell to the ground as Markum beat him with his rattan cane.

"Pull out your padi immediately and throw it away," Markum shouted.

Immediately the two looked at each other with angry eyes.

"Pull it out!" Markum barked.

The young farmer started to pull out the young padi. Others followed.

Markum explained that the government would kick off the padi planting campaign next month. That policy, drafted by experts was created because locusts would soon come to attack our fields.

"In other words, we will be the losers if we don't accept the instructions of the government," Markum said while watching the women pulling out the padi.

After saying that, Markum walked around the other sections of the paddy field and he would get angry if anyone failed to follow his instructions.

On Friday, Markum, wearing a black cap, a shirt and sarong started another campaign. Before noon he knocked on every door to call the men to go to mosque for the Friday prayers.

"Hey, let's pray together at the mosque. I will hit you with my cane if you defy my orders," he said.

Markum's voice was so deafening that every man in the village left their house as they were told. Everyone, including those who had never visited the mosque, obeyed his order. During the service Markum displayed the quality of his religiosity. Listening the sermon, he shed tears of emotion.

After the service several villagers hurried to see Ki Kuwu, the village headman at his office. Meantime, Markum headed for a factory here he found some employees gambling.

"You bastards!", he said. "While others were praying, you were busy with such irreligious activities," he shouted.

The gamblers shouted and tried to hit him amid the scattered money and playing cards. Markum struck them with his rattan stick and managed to subdue them.

Meanwhile in the village hall, after receiving a report from some villagers, Ki Kuwu, the village chief, and other local officials discussed Markum's actions. After due deliberation they decided that Markum was mentally disturbed.

"If he hurts somebody else, what will you do?, asked Kuwu.

"What ever you say. It's up to you," said one of those present.

"OK. How about if we lock his legs between two planks of strong wood?" suggested the chief.

"It's up to you." asserted the old villager. Kuwu instructed someone to arrest Markum.

On the verandah of his house, Markum was busy putting up a sign board on the wall with difficulty. While doing so he sang a popular nationalistic song: Garuda Pancasila,. Meanwhile, Kuwu's men approached Markum's house. They were so close that they could read the writing on the sign: Pancasila must be victorious.

Finally they unjustly jailed the man.

Note: Pak means Sir or father.