Nationalism and justice

Nationalism and justice

No sooner has the problem of East Timor entered the early stage of a final settlement then a similar demand (for an internationally supervised free referendum) is aired by the people of Aceh. The ulemas, who represented Islamic educational institutions all across the province, obviously did not make this demand lightly.

It is quite possible that other troubled provinces such as Irian Jaya will follow with similar demands in the days that are ahead. But why is this happening? What has become of the sense of nationalism which our government officials are so fond of touting? What is happening to the Indonesian nation?

One crucial step that we can make toward restoring our sense of belonging as a nation is by paying due regard to the sense of justice that is alive in our community. But this can only be done by the next government. The current administration has obviously already failed in this respect, and not only are its days as good as numbered, its policies tend to create rather than solve problems.

Our community leaders and political elites could do much to achieve this -- among other things by showing a greater degree of statesmanship in their response to problems, by listening more attentively to the people's wishes and by working to establish a dialog among the various components of our society.

This job must be started now or people will continue to make demands that could lead toward the nation's disintegration.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta