Talk of being undiplomatic

It is common knowledge among the Dutch themselves that their most popular pastime is to point at the dirty laundry outside their borders and to reduce critics from the people about conditions in their country.

Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra was right mentioning the unresolved Westerling affair where hundreds were massacred in South Sulawesi as compared to the so-called human rights abuses in Indonesia.

It is of course undiplomatic for a cabinet minister to tell the truth, but in the meantime it caused considerable havoc in the Dutch parliament.

I think it is quite healthy for the Dutch to hear these accusations not from the 1945 generation but from the new generation as well, who do not easily forget the Dutch atrocities. Since the Dutch themselves acknowledge their weak points, this uproar has probably not many consequences.

SUMARSONO SASTROWARDOYO, Tangerang, Banten