Muladi calls on intellectuals to end war of words
Muladi calls on intellectuals to end war of words
SEMARANG (JP): Respected scholar Muladi has called for an end
to the war of words between prominent intellectuals over their
role in society, saying they ran the risk of confusing the
public.
The rector of Diponegoro University and member of the National
Commission on Human Rights said yesterday: "the polemics must
stop. It's already obvious the role of an intellectual is to give
voice to the truth, not (to concoct) justifications.
"At this moment, it is the intellectuals who have been
creating public anxiety, because they often fail to fully analyze
issues," he said.
Muladi was commenting on a controversy which ensued after
several political analysts spoke in a recent seminar on the
conflicts besetting the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
They also touched on the close ties that PDI chief Megawati
Soekarnoputri appeared to have been enjoying with Abdurrahman
Wahid, chairman of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem
organization.
Nazaruddin Syamsuddin and Amir Santoso of the University of
Indonesia, in Jakarta, and Afan Gaffar and Riswandha Imawan of
Gadjah Mada University, in Yogyakarta, were the speakers in the
discussion. Some participants commented that, except for
Riswandha, the speakers were not objective and leaned toward the
government.
Abdurrahman, himself a noted scholar, said the speakers were
"targeting" NU and PDI, and called them intellectuals who could
be bought. He also said they were examples of intellectuals whose
speeches are made to order.
The Merdeka daily quoted Abdurrahman last week as saying
intellectuals were experiencing "a crisis" of identity; they were
striving to enter the power system by selling out to even more
ambitious government officials.
"They are willing to do rotten things. They are 'hooligan'
intellectuals," Abdurrahman said.
Afan took offense at the statement of Abdurrahman, better
known as Gus Dur, and said the Moslem leader was being
undemocratic. "If I'm paid after I give speeches, that's because
I sweat, I prepare papers. What's wrong with the organizers of
seminars paying expenses?" he said.
Through Merdeka, Abdurrahman again responded to Afan's
statement, reportedly saying: "Does Afan understand democracy?
Taking offense at my comments like that shows he shouldn't have
made speeches about politics if he does not even understand what
democracy is."
Muladi yesterday suggested that, in order to end the
controversy once and for all, an open debate should be held,
featuring Abdurrahman Wahid and the four intellectuals he
reportedly accused of being corrupt.
"However, I'm not sure Gus Dur really made that remark," he
said. "Corrupt intellectuals are those who make justifications
rather than speak the truth, and speak as they are ordered to."
In addition, the open debate would be expected to clarify
whether Abdurrahman really made the remarks, Muladi said.
Earlier this week Afan again lashed out at Abdurrahman, and
found another target on which to train his criticism; the press.
He told reporters in Yogyakarta that the Indonesian press
lacks objectivity. In fact, "the media has begun to show signs of
being partisan," he said.
He pointed out a report in Kompas which said that the seminar
participants had failed to come up with solutions to the conflict
in PDI.
"It's not true. All the speakers had formulated their own
solutions, but the moderator did not read them out," he said.
He cited as another example of partisanship being the press'
coverage on the congress of Nahdlatul Ulama in Dec. 1994 in
Cipasung, West Java. At that time, most of the media showed
blatant support of Abdurrahman Wahid at the expense of the truth,
he said.
"The press has even manipulated facts in order to achieve
certain goals," he charged. (har/02/swe)