Nation mourns the passing of Gen. Muhammad Jusuf
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
Former military chief Gen. (ret) Andi Muhammad Jusuf was buried on Thursday afternoon in a Muslim cemetery in Makassar, next to the grave of his only son, Jaury Jusuf Putra.
The burial ceremony was led by the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.
All the military's top brass -- including Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, Navy chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh and Air Force chief Marshall Chappy L. Hakim -- attended the funeral. Muhammad Jusuf, a modest and low profile general, was buried with full military honors.
Also paying their last respects were Jusuf Kalla, himself a native of South Sulawesi, and vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, and Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno, a former vice president.
Before being buried, Jusuf's remains were brought to the Al Markaz Al Islami Grand Mosque in Makassar city for prayers.
Thousands of people lined the streets as the funeral cortege later made from the mosque to the Panaikang Muslim Cemetery on Jl. Urip Sumohardjo in the city.
Tens of thousands of other people attended the military burial, while a constant stream of wreaths arrived at the deceased's home on Jl. S. Pangka in Makassar city -- one of them from president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The TNI chief has ordered all TNI installations nationwide to fly the national flag at half-staff out of respect for Jusuf. The same order had been issued following the death of another former chief of the TNI, Gen. (ret) Leonardus Benjamin "Benny" Moerdani, last week.
"We have lost one of the nation's best sons -- a man who was modest, upheld justice, loved his subordinates and was honest," Endriartono told the listeners while officiating over the military burial ceremony.
"Muhammad Jusuf was a man of integrity and honesty," Jusuf Kalla commented later on his fellow South Sulawesian.
During his time at the helm of the TNI between 1978 and 1983, Jusuf was known to have been close to his men, especially the rank and file. He also set a good example to the soldiers and the public in general -- something that added greatly to his popularity.
Many people expected him to be rewarded with an important position after he ended his military career in 1983, but this was not to happen, and what he got instead was the then less important job of director of the Supreme Audit Agency.
Besides being known as an exemplary military officer, Jusuf was also one of the key figures behind the historic transfer of power from president Sukarno to Maj. Gen. Soeharto.
The public have always been intrigued about whether Jusuf and two other generals had actually been assigned by Soeharto to coerce Sukarno into signing a document in 1966, which later become known as the Supersemar (the March 11 Document), which legitimized the seizing of power by Soeharto from Sukarno.
But, this was strongly denied by the military, Soeharto and Jusuf, who has now taken whatever secrets he may still have to the grave with him.
Muhammad Jusuf passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 76 of natural causes.