Sixty years on, Indonesia still struggles to achieve Sukarno's

Sixty years on, Indonesia still struggles to achieve Sukarno's
vision

Bhimanto Suwastoyo
Agence France-Presse/Jakarta

Outside a house in central Jakarta on the morning of Aug. 17,
1945, a small group of nationalists gathered for a simple
ceremony to declare independence for the remains of the former
Dutch East Indies empire and Indonesia was born.

"It was a simple ceremony. But the lack of pomp and splendor
was compensated by our hope. I walked to the microphone stolen
from a Japanese radio station and read the proclamation short and
concise," said Sukarno, who was to rule the infant nation for 20
years.

"There was no music, no band. After the flag was hoisted we
just sung the Indonesia Raya ... It was ten o'clock. The
revolution had started," he said, as quoted by Cindy Adams in her
book Sukarno.

After three centuries of Dutch colonial rule and three years
of Japanese occupation, the world's largest archipelago had been
declared one nation, although it was another four years before
the Dutch abandoned their attempts to retake their former
possession and recognized Indonesia.

The 44-year-old Sukarno, fired by his own unique blend of
indigenous, Western and Muslim philosophies, wanted to weld a
unified country from the disparate collection of islands and
ethnicities.

A charismatic and brilliant orator, the goal of "Bung Karno"
("Big brother Sukarno" as he is affectionately known) was to
instill in the diverse peoples of the new country that first and
foremost they were Indonesians, rather than Javanese, Sumatrans
or Balinese.

Sukarno's vision of a unified and secular country speaking one
language was an ideal first adopted at a meeting of young
nationalists in 1928 during Dutch rule.

In June 1945, he first outlined his "Pancasila" concept of
five national guiding principles: humanitarianism, national
unity, democracy, social justice and belief in one God.

This seemed a tall order for a collection of more than 18,000
islands inhabited by more than 300 ethnic groups speaking more
than 200 languages.

Sixty years on, Indonesia still seems far from realizing
Sukarno's vision and faces new problems with much of the
population still mired in poverty.

"Seen from the minimalists' point of view, we are independent,
with our own government, people and territory," said Asvi Warman
Adam, historian and political observer from the state Indonesian
Institute of Sciences.

"But from others' point of view we are still far from having
achieved the true meaning of independence -- that the people's
basic needs are met and prosperity is there for all," Adam told
AFP.

The country is also troubled by ethnic and religious tensions
and separatist movements in the chain of islands which stretches
almost 5,000 kilometers (3,125 miles) from Sumatra in the west to
Papua in the east.

And democracy is a late comer to Indonesia, which last year
held its first direct presidential election following the rule of
Sukarno, who initially toyed with democracy, and 32 years of
repressive dictatorship under the general who usurped him,
Soeharto.

"Not everything is stagnant," said Munarman who heads the
country's leading rights watchdog, the Indonesian Foundation for
Legal Aid.

"We can say that we have progressed as we have now a democracy
developing, we have civilian freedom, we have press freedom, but
other fundamental rights of the people, such as in access to
health and education services, are far from the goals set 60
years ago," Munarman said.

"On nation building, it remains a project that needs to be
worked on continuously by all. We all know that we have problems
in Aceh, in Papua and in the Malukus and the euphoria after
resignation of Soeharto has also seeded separatist sentiments in
some other regions," Munarman said.

"Nation building is indeed our nation's major homework."
Other analysts agreed nation building was the main problem.

"If we look at the text of the proclamation of independence,
we have not really moved far. It starts by: 'We, the Indonesian
nation'," said Kusnanto Anggoro, a political scientist with the
private think-tank Center for Strategic and International
Studies.

Past governments, however, have failed in their efforts at
nation building and problems remain with ethnic and communal
tensions.

"The question of nation building is still problematic, the
Indonesian nation is yet to materialize," he said.

"Can we say that the 'Unity in Diversity' logo on our national
symbol has become a reality in Indonesia?"

Sukarno focused on national unity but his mismanagement of the
country provoked a takeover by the military after an alleged coup
plot and ushered in decades of repression under Soeharto. Now
acclaimed as the much-loved but flawed father of the nation,
Sukarno died in 1970, under house arrest.

While the pressing challenge for Sukarno was to unite a
fragmented nation, Indonesia now faces new and externally imposed
problems.

"The challenges faced by the nation then and now are also
greatly different. We now have not only to deal with
'localization' but also with globalization," said political
scientist Anggoro.

But there is optimism that Indonesia will confront and
overcome its problems.

"The problems faced by our nationhood are just like the
trivial ailments and discomfort that sometimes affect us. The
nation will certainly overcome them," historian Adam said.