Nation mourns the passing of Gen. Muhammad Jusuf

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.