Snapshot on the role of women in an era of armed struggle

Larasati; Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Hasta Mitra, Jakarta, 2000 ; viii + 176 pp; Rp 23,000

JAKARTA (JP): What was the role of women in defending Indonesia's independence during the revolutionary era?

At that time, most of the women involved in the independence struggle worked as nurses at Red Cross centers, were active at public kitchens or provided logistics for independence fighters. Very few were involved in militias, such as the Laswi (Indonesian Women's Militia), or in politics.

What were female film stars doing at that time? Very few film stars were involved in the historical struggle.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, through his realism in this revolutionary tale, has taken a snapshot of the life of a popular female movie star named Larasati, nicknamed Ara, during the armed struggle between 1945 and 1950.

After spending one year with independence fighters as an unpaid stage star in Yogyakarta, Indonesia's capital at the time, Ara returns to Jakarta, under occupation by the Allied and Dutch troops, to meet her mother and resume her career as a film star.

During her journey on the train, Ara meets many young people and artists who have relinquished their lives in the big cities to join guerrilla forces, particularly in the West Java towns of Cikampek, Karawang, Bekasi and East Jakarta.

In the demarcation area of Bekasi, Ara meets an indigenous colonel of the Netherlands Indie Civil Administration (NICA), Suryo Sentono, as well as Marjohan, a former announcer during the Japanese occupied era who became an opportunist. Marjohan offers Ara the star role in a NICA propaganda film.

Because she sympathizes with the independence fighters, Ara refuses the offer and is jailed by the indigenous colonel, angry at her stubborn behavior. However, ultimately she is freed by a Dutch colonel, Drest.

Ara manages to enter Jakarta thanks to the assistance of a NICA sergeant from Papua, who has deserted the armed forces. He leaves Ara at one of the city's kampongs.

In the kampong, she lives with an old woman who was her mother's neighbor. Her mother, Lasmidjah, works as a domestic servant for an Arab family, who turn out to be Dutch spies.

At their home, Ara meets a yellow-eyed Arab youth named Jusman, who asks her to join his gambus (Arabian music) group as a singer. She refuses the offer.

Ara becomes involved in the smuggling of ORI, new banknotes issued by the republic's government to replace the Japanese currency. The money belongs to the state.

She joins the youths fighting as city guerrillas, led by a brave young man named Martabat.

Meanwhile, her mother is arrested by the NICA troops. A year later, Jusman persuades Ara to meet her mother, who has returned to his home. But, at Jusman's home Ara becomes a sex slave. Jusman, whom Ara knew while he spied on local fighters and residents, falls in love with her.

Jusman claims that he had nothing to do with the battle between local fighters and NICA troops, but, eventually, he is captured and tortured by local fighters for his espionage activities, leaving him in hospital for several weeks.

Ara does not visit him and she is treated in hospital for several months as a result of Jusman's sexual assaults. Jusman does not marry Ara because of the changing political situation. After the Round Table Conference is finalized and President Sukarno returns to Jakarta, Jusman flees to Singapore.

Eventually, Ara meets Captain Oding, who provides her with travel documents and an assignment to collect a suitcase of money from Yogyakarta. Oding invites her and her mother to live at a Dutch house in Jakarta.

In this romance, Pramoedya tells the role of people of Arab descent in Jakarta, who sided with the Dutch colonialists. The Arabs are described as doing nothing but playing gambus.

Through Ara, Pramoedya says "the Arabs know absolutely nothing about politics. What they look after is money and they only came to Indonesia for money".

It is, of course, an over-generalization to say that Arabs couldn't care less about politics and do not care about anything but money.

As recorded in history, many people of Arab descent in the country were involved in various fields, such as journalism, politics, social welfare, education and religious propagation, including the establishment of modern organizations like Jamiat Kheir, Al Irsyad and the Indonesian Arab Party.

As noted poet Taufiq Ismail once said, Pramoedya used to portray all of his figures who performed prayers and had a haj title as a bad guy.

In his early years as an author, in the late-1940s, Pramoedya was well-known for his genre of "long short stories", such as Perburuan (The Hunt), Keluarga Gerilya (Guerilla Family) and Kerandji Bekasi, which was republished as Di Tepi Kali Bekasi (By Bekasi River).

The long short story Larasati was published for the first time in Bintang Timur newspaper's cultural supplement, Lentera, between April 2 and May 17, 1960.

Later, it was published in the form of book, together with Gadis Pantai (The Girl from the Coast) and Panggil Aku Kartini Saja (Just Call Me Kartini), where a woman become the main protagonists out of respect for Kartini Day, which falls on April 21.

The publication of this story was made possible due to the work of two Indonesian students, Alfred D. Ticoalu and Ben Abel, who handled the Lentera/Bintang Timur documentary project at Cornell University, Ithaca.

--Darul Aqsha