Past deeds of the Dutch
Past deeds of the Dutch
I refer to Mr. Y. Santo's letter titled To Mr. Oltmans in The
Jakarta Post on March 28, 2000, and to Mr. Oltmans'
letter Soeharto's crime in the Post edition of March 27, 2000. I
would like to say that what Mr. Santo wrote about the bad deeds
of the Dutch in Indonesia during 350 years of colonization is
possibly true. Nevertheless, you cannot put all of those bad
things on Mr. Oltmans' shoulders. Mr. Oltmans is only a freelance
reporter. Mr. Oltmans is Dutch.
Mr. Oltmans' letter on Soeharto's alleged crimes may not be
very palatable for Indonesians. The accusations toward Soeharto
may be rather harsh and the words chosen may be a little brunt.
On the other hand, I agree with Mr. Oltmans that finding out what
really happened from 1965 to 1968 in Indonesia is more important
than finding out whether Soeharto and his family did indeed
enrich themselves during the New Order. Many people were killed
and many more were imprisoned without the benefit of a trial
since the beginning of Soeharto's rule. This was and is not right
and cannot be just forgotten and forgiven.
I met Mr. Oltmans about a year ago in Bandung. He is a very
outspoken person and sometimes very blunt with his statements.
Yet I know that he knows a lot about Indonesia, about Sukarno,
about the Gestapu (communist abortive coup) and the aftermath of
the Gestapu. He was a personal friend of president Sukarno (see
his book My friend Sukarno) and saw our first president while
Sukarno was incarcerated by the New Order in Wisma Yaso in
Jakarta. He knows firsthand about the suffering and humiliation
of Sukarno at the hands of the "Smiling General". I know also
that Mr. Oltmans wrote to his own government about the wrongs the
Dutch did in Indonesia. He even wrote to Queen Beatrix before and
after her visit to Indonesia some time ago.
He is a self-appointed critic of his own government.
This letter of mine is definitely not in defense of Mr. Oltmans.
He can defend himself. But it may help you put things in the
right perspective. If I may, I would like to recommend that you
read Mr. Djiwandono's opinion in the Post on March 29, 2000, and
an article by Aryeh Neier in the Post on March 28, 2000. Failure
to deal with past crimes can bring about revenge. By the way, not
all the things the Dutch did in Indonesia were bad. The Dutch
built us the best narrow-gauge railroad in the world at that
time.
The Dutch also had a hand in educating intellectuals like
Sukarno, Hatta, Syahrir, Iskaq, Soetomo, Juanda, Sukiman, Roem
and many others.
DJOKO SOEJOTO
Bandung, West Java
I refer to Mr. Y. Santo's letter titled To Mr. Oltmans in The
Jakarta Post on March 28, 2000, and to Mr. Oltmans'
letter Soeharto's crime in the Post edition of March 27, 2000. I
would like to say that what Mr. Santo wrote about the bad deeds
of the Dutch in Indonesia during 350 years of colonization is
possibly true. Nevertheless, you cannot put all of those bad
things on Mr. Oltmans' shoulders. Mr. Oltmans is only a freelance
reporter. Mr. Oltmans is Dutch.
Mr. Oltmans' letter on Soeharto's alleged crimes may not be
very palatable for Indonesians. The accusations toward Soeharto
may be rather harsh and the words chosen may be a little brunt.
On the other hand, I agree with Mr. Oltmans that finding out what
really happened from 1965 to 1968 in Indonesia is more important
than finding out whether Soeharto and his family did indeed
enrich themselves during the New Order. Many people were killed
and many more were imprisoned without the benefit of a trial
since the beginning of Soeharto's rule. This was and is not right
and cannot be just forgotten and forgiven.
I met Mr. Oltmans about a year ago in Bandung. He is a very
outspoken person and sometimes very blunt with his statements.
Yet I know that he knows a lot about Indonesia, about Sukarno,
about the Gestapu (communist abortive coup) and the aftermath of
the Gestapu. He was a personal friend of president Sukarno (see
his book My friend Sukarno) and saw our first president while
Sukarno was incarcerated by the New Order in Wisma Yaso in
Jakarta. He knows firsthand about the suffering and humiliation
of Sukarno at the hands of the "Smiling General". I know also
that Mr. Oltmans wrote to his own government about the wrongs the
Dutch did in Indonesia. He even wrote to Queen Beatrix before and
after her visit to Indonesia some time ago.
He is a self-appointed critic of his own government.
This letter of mine is definitely not in defense of Mr. Oltmans.
He can defend himself. But it may help you put things in the
right perspective. If I may, I would like to recommend that you
read Mr. Djiwandono's opinion in the Post on March 29, 2000, and
an article by Aryeh Neier in the Post on March 28, 2000. Failure
to deal with past crimes can bring about revenge. By the way, not
all the things the Dutch did in Indonesia were bad. The Dutch
built us the best narrow-gauge railroad in the world at that
time.
The Dutch also had a hand in educating intellectuals like
Sukarno, Hatta, Syahrir, Iskaq, Soetomo, Juanda, Sukiman, Roem
and many others.
DJOKO SOEJOTO
Bandung, West Java