Renewing old relations
Renewing old relations
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands arrives in Jakarta for a ten-
day visit today amid the exuberance of 50th anniversary
celebrations. Needless to say, the Queen's visit at this
particular time is bound to raise a few comments, particularly,
it seems, in her own country. The celebrations, after all, are in
remembrance of the country tearing itself from centuries of
colonial rule by Holland.
Much has happened in Dutch-Indonesian relations in the past 50
years. When the Dutch returned to their erstwhile Southeast Asian
colony at the end of World War II, they found it had already
proclaimed itself free and was prepared to defend its newly-found
independence by force.
Conservatism still reigned in Europe and much of Asia and
Africa continued to live under the yoke of colonialism. In
Holland, conservatives still believed in the motto Indie
verloren, rampspoed geboren -- the loss of the Netherlands East
Indies (as Indonesia was called) would certainly bring calamity
to the Dutch motherland.
Between 1945 and 1949, bands of Indonesians armed with bamboo
spears and obsolete weapons seized from the Japanese fought a
bloody guerrilla war against well-equipped Dutch troops. By some
estimates more than 100,000 Indonesians died during the war for
independence. Some 6,000 died on the Dutch side. Atrocities were
reported to have been committed by both sides.
Relations have had their ups and downs in the decades that
followed, the latest case being a row over human rights abuses
which led Indonesia to shun all Dutch aid in 1992. But just the
thought of what passed in those fateful years of the late 1940s
is enough to arouse strong sentiment in Holland -- so strong in
fact that it appears to have been the reason why Queen Beatrix is
visiting Indonesia on Aug. 21 and not Independence Day. For the
Queen to honor Indonesia with her visit on Aug.17 would have
meant the Netherlands acknowledging that Indonesia obtained its
independence in 1945, instead of in 1949.
To add even more fuel to the controversy, recent reports
disclosed in Holland have reawakened the memory of the willful
killing by Dutch troops of more than 400 Indonesian villagers in
Rawagedeh, West Java, during the war for independence. The
question now seems to be: should the Queen apologize to the
Indonesians for Dutch conduct during the period when she meets
with President Soeharto?
Oddly, at least so it seems to Indonesians, this question is
being asked in Holland, not in Indonesia.
As far as Indonesians are concerned, everything from that
period has been forgiven, though perhaps not entirely forgotten.
There may be some truth to the saying that we are a forgiving
people.
To be fair, it must be noted that on the Dutch side, too, the
dawning of a new spirit seems to have taken place. If official
statements made recently are any measure, the old attitude of
condescension which prevailed in at least some official quarters
in Holland seems to be making way for the genuine intention to
renew relations on a truly equal basis. If this is true, we see
no reason why future Dutch-Indonesian relations cannot mature
into a mutually beneficial bond of friendship and cooperation. We
hope Queen Beatrix's visit will help move both countries in such
a direction.