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

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