Students help the nation restart healing process

Students help the nation restart healing process

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): Gen. Wiranto's revelation that the Armed Forces
have never been involved in the kidnapping of student' activists
has been received by the public with a great sense of relief. His
statement has had a reassuring effect, albeit not entirely
convincing to some, and his promise that the Armed Forces will do
its best to locate the activists who are still missing has been
heartily welcome by the public.

However, doubts still linger among the public over whether the
Armed Forces really has the capability or the heart to protect
citizens from terrorist acts committed by covert groups that have
thus far remained unknown.

This fear is real, I think, and not just a product of an
overactive collective imagination. News that the groups
responsible for the kidnappings acted in a very professional way
naturally gave rise to such apprehensions, as did revelations
that the gangs issued stern threats to kill anybody released from
captivity if they talked about their whereabouts, or made
statements concerning tortures inflicted by the abductors.

The recent testimony given by human rights activist Pius
Lustrilanang further reinforced this fear. There are even people
who speculate that the kidnappings were conducted by well-
organized paramilitary groups with operation guidelines provided
by elements within the military establishment. Who are these
abductors and their sponsors? This is a question to which the
public is yearning for an answer.

These fears and worries notwithstanding, one thing that is
very reassuring to me is the fact that we do not live in a
country which is guilty of perpetrating widespread state
terrorism, at least not yet. What we have now is, according to
Walter Laqueur, terrorism perpetrated by "sub-state actors of
violence."

However, if we are not sufficiently vigilant in guarding
whatever is left of democracy in our society, Indonesia will
certainly degenerate into a society of terror and counter-terror.
If this happens, our nation will be reduced to a repressive,
authoritarian or dictatorial state, and democracy will become an
illusion, a word without meaning.

Signs of political decline have been evident for quite some
time. Even before the recent kidnappings we tasted terrorism. The
forcible takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
headquarters on July 27, 1996 was just one such act. The
government said it had nothing do with the whole affair, claiming
instead that cadres of Suryadi, the new PDI leader, who had
received two weeks intensive training, had been responsible for
the entire coup d'etat. Can an ordinary person be trained to
become a murderer within two weeks? And who trained them? Here
already we see the seeds of terrorism.

This frightening possibility was brought into sharper focus by
comments made in response to Pius Lustrilanang's testimony. A
military general said there was no way of proving the person who
gave the testimony to members of the National Commission on Human
Rights was really Pius Lustrilanang. Another general believed
proof that Pius was really tortured was still lacking.

Statements like these are nothing more than attempts to defend
the present political system, and to thwart increasingly popular
demands for political reform. It is very obvious that these
comments were made by people without any sense of political
decency.

Any thinking person can see those who sincerely believe Pius
Lustrilanang did not give the testimony must prove their
assertion. They must back up their claims with evidence. To make
such comments in full knowledge that they will never be
substantiated is a thoroughly indecent act.

This argument also applies to those who insist Pius was not
tortured. Anybody who believes this must come forward with
convincing evidence, and unless they can do so, they have no
moral right to doubt the activist's testimony.

All these acts and overtures, in addition to being a threat to
our political life, are a testimony to our lack of political
decency. The basic rules of political decency are to not distort
reality and not to deceive the public. Statements that cannot be
accounted for or substantiated should never be made. To do so is
to insult public intelligence by forcing people to believe the
unbelievable. Indecent political practices will kill any nation
in the long run.

Fortunately, wise people throughout the ages have said that
before disaster strikes, a nation facing great difficulty has the
opportunity to rejuvenate and heal itself. Friedrich Nietzsche
once said that "a nation usually renews its youth on a political
sick-bed, and there finds again the spirit which it has gradually
lost in seeking and maintaining power."

Do we have this opportunity? Yes! The student demonstrations
that have been going on for three months now, and the increasing
support they have received from society at large, is an
indisputable sign of our nation's healing process.

Shall we recover the spirit that guided our forefathers when
they created our homeland?

The majority of our nation has recaptured this spirit. It is
only the hardheaded nepotists, collusionists and opportunists who
have failed to move with the spirit of the time. Worse still,
these people refuse even to understand it.

We need to commit ourselves firmly to this regained spirit if
we are to complete our historic journey. These terrorist acts
should not hinder us in our struggle to restore democracy in our
land. We should never forget that terrorism is not an ideology.
It is, to use Walter Laqueur's words, a mere "insurrectional
strategy", employed by people who always operate in anonymity.

Moreover, throughout history, terrorism has never brought
about radical and lasting change. Finally, the terrorist
reservoir is not unlimited. If enough terrorists are killed or
arrested, a terrorist movement will cease to be an effective
force. Some minor activity may continue, but it is no more than
that, a minor nuisance.

The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.