Seeking new meaning of independence
Seeking new meaning of independence
By Harkiman Racheman
JAKARTA (JP): Every year the anniversary of Indonesia's
independence has been commemorated in a most ritualistic manner.
The monotony of celebrations, as evidenced by the virtual absence
of creativity or novelty on a national scale, has made all
rituals quite formal.
Over the past five decades what can be best remembered on
these anniversaries are instances of physical mass mobilization.
Except for a handful of involved historymakers, those ceremonies
do not seem to really touch the psyche of most Indonesians.
The absence of participation, apart from people taking part in
all sorts of community contests and matches, can be traced back
to the monopoly and the "mummifying" of the standard
interpretation of independence.
As a result, the dynamic substance of independence has hardly
been unraveled. Renewed or refreshed interpretations have been
discouraged and prohibited out of fear of shaking well-
established assumptions and axioms.
After it was gained in 1945, independence meant "being free
from" alien intruders and breaking free of suffering under
colonial rule. Liberation stressed heavily the concept of
vengeance. Every symbol of colonialism, including various forms
of infrastructure, was demolished.
Such emotions are still encountered today. Ambiguous attitudes
are still around, reflecting a hatred towards anything alien or
foreign. Such attitudes seem to stem from a diminished sympathy
toward the religion of the former colonizer, Christianity, and
the legacy of the leading economic role of the Chinese Indonesian
minority.
Typical xenophobia towards former colonizers was reinforced
throughout the New Order era by the annual broadcasting of films
depicting the independence struggle.
In other words, the celebration of independence under the New
Order from 1967 to 1998 was in fact an emotional commemoration of
350 years of torment. More specifically, however, it was a
special celebration of the excellent services of the 1945
Generation in liberating the people, largely through armed
struggle.
This has led to a uniform way of thinking about the
significance of independence. Everything disagreeing with the
values and interests of Generasi 45 was unacceptable. In
contrast, blind loyalty to the determined yardsticks surrounding
"independence" manifested in the protocol of anniversaries --
they were excessively regularized and militaristic.
So to transform celebrations of independence, Indonesians need
to broaden their traditional definition of independence. It
should now also mean being free to carry out any activity during
such anniversaries; otherwise commemorations would only have
special meaning to a handful of people involved in that part of
history.
Independence should really mean the freedom to embrace any
religion, the right to lawfully protected human rights, the
freedom to observe one's culture and so forth.
People should feel free to express their opinions,
to join any political organization without being charged with
subversion, to freely earn a living without being chased around
by local authorities.
To be meaningful, any celebration of the country's anniversary
should accommodate the entire populace who have been emancipated
from all kinds of structural oppression, either by alien or local
authorities.
Today, Independence Day should therefore be a commemoration of
people regaining their long lost personal sovereignty and human
dignity.
The writer graduated from Victoria University in Wellington,
New Zealand. Based in Medan, he is currently a freelance writer
and university teacher.