The Spirit of Bandung lives on 40 years later
The Spirit of Bandung lives on 40 years later
By Santi W.E. Soekanto
BANDUNG (JP): Forty years after the Asia Africa Conference in Bandung, which gave birth to the "Ten Principles" that honor peace, conflict remains as rife as it was before the 1955 declaration.
Many countries, however, believe that the Bandung Declaration is still very relevant and plays a role, at least as a guide, in any attempt to establish peace in the world.
Therefore, today's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the meeting, which led to the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), is also crucial in reminding the world that effort must be exerted to keep the spirit of peace alive.
The last 40 years of conflict shouldn't cause the campaign to diminish.
"History never proceeds in a straight line, there are bound to be ups and downs," Hasnan Habib, NAM Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean told The Jakarta Post.
The former Indonesian ambassador to the United States pointed out that the wars fought by countries that signed the declaration shouldn't be the sole yardstick with which to judge the relevance of Bandung.
"This world is getting more and more complicated, and more chaotic," he said. "We are facing an increasingly greater challenge...but the Spirit of Bandung should still be our guide."
"The relevance of the Declaration does not hinge on whether the signatories have gone to war, but on the commitment itself," Hasnan said. "The relevance lies on the question whether the countries that are currently busy clawing one another are willing to return to that commitment."
International politics expert Juwono Sudarsono of the University of Indonesia agreed that the historical value of the Declaration hasn't diminish, even though the countries involved have engaged in one conflict after another.
"I believe that even then, there were already seeds of conflicts due to differences in history, in economic interests, in geopolitical considerations," he said. The declaration is valuable in itself because at the time of its birth, it "symbolized reform".
The forty years that have passed, he said, have inevitably brought about changes and transformation in politics, economics and culture. The acceleration with which those changes has been gaining also contributes to the marked differences that the countries experience now in NAM, he said.
"But the declaration is still relevant even now," Juwono asserted.
The historic meeting was held between April 18 and 24, 1955, in the Merdeka (Freedom) Building in Bandung, some 180 kilometers southwest of Jakarta.
Presided over by Ali Sastroamidjojo and attended by the leaders of 29 nations, the conference sowed the seeds which resulted in the 1962 foundation of NAM which now has 111 members and is currently chaired by Indonesia.
The legacy of the conference was intended to be a peaceful one, promoting talk instead of war as a way to solve disputes.
The event united delegates from newly independent Africa and Asia countries caught in the increasingly tense Cold War, which pitted the world's superpowers against each other and threatened world security.
The idea was to encourage emerging nations to combine the strength of their respective populations to create a unified diplomatic force which could achieve its ambitions through negotiations instead of going to war.
Yet, since the signing of the conference's final communique, most of the 29 countries represented at the meeting have gone to war either among themselves or with other nations.
North and South Vietnam, both present at the conference and newly partitioned following a decade of anti-colonial struggle against the French, were in 1955 about to embark on a conflict which would epitomize the Cold War for 20 years.
Even the nations which proposed the Bandung conference-- India and Pakistan, -- were not able to avert armed conflicts with each other. Of the Middle Eastern countries present at Bandung, Syria became involved in a long war in Lebanon, Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war, while Saudi Arabia battled Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
There were other wars. And many of the leaders of the states have passed away. But Indonesia is still optimistic as to the value of the declaration.
Fifteen years ago, President Soeharto during the 25th anniversary celebration of the conference, said that "the spirit of Bandung will not disappear with the passing away" of the participating state leaders.
"...because what they have voiced was none other than the voice of the innermost feelings of the human race,
"They have voiced the determination of mankind to build a new world with peace, tranquility and happiness of every one of us," he said.
The Ten Principles of Bandung include the principles of mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, of refraining from intervention and interference in the domestic affairs of the other countries, and from aggression or the use of force against political independence of other countries.
"These principles...became even more suitable to the needs of our world today," Soeharto said then.
Hasnan and Juwono believe that what's even more important is to prepare nations to face the challenges of a more complicated, chaotic world. Courage to undertake the campaign could and should be derived from the Spirit of Bandung.
Juwono said that differences and conflicts notwithstanding, every nation committed to the peace building should rely on partnership and cooperation.
"These are the key words," he insisted. In terms of the current global condition, the two concepts become even more important and should be applied in regard of the relationship between the developing countries in the south and the industrialized ones in the north.
Juwono pointed out that the main themes of the current peace efforts are "partnership and cooperation with the north".
"There's no use for us to take a confrontational stance against the Western countries, because they have the political, economic, culture, trade and military equipment, and they are the ones who dictate world order," he said.
"Confrontation is not feasible, so it rests upon us to convince the West that it's in their own interest to cooperate," Juwono said. "At the same time, the developing countries in the south have to get their own houses in order, build their political stability, economic development and social equity."
Juwono also said that most of the nations in the Asia Africa need to attend to the basic issues of population control, security establishment and debt management, and also adhere to policies of sustainable development.
"These points should echo throughout the regions," he said.
He listed a number of tasks that the regions need to handle in order to better face the greater challenges of the world, including enhancing partnership amongst developing countries in the south.
In addition, there should also be a campaign to encourage the richer nations to help "the poorest of the poor", he said.
Juwono and Hasnan believed that the significance of Indonesia's roles and leadership both at the Asia Africa conference and in NAM lies on the fact that the nation has been campaigning the need to follow up words with deeds.
"The strategy laid down by President Soeharto is that every nation should first put their house in order before they take care of other people," Juwono said. As for the approaching transfer of the leadership of NAM to Colombia, Juwono said that "We haven't finished perfectly, but for the first time in NAM's history, the chair of the movement, Indonesia, has implemented what the movement has planned to do."
"We'd hope that our basic strategy will be followed up by the next chairman, so that there will be a continuous, persistent struggle toward realizing the spirit," he said.
Hasnan said that the effort to return to the Bandung Spirit should now be funneled through the United Nations and through improving the functions of the international body.
"I believe this campaign to return to the spirit would fare better if we are able to change the structure of UN, especially in its Security Council," Hasnan said.
Only with those changes can other forms of cooperation, including NAM, have more leeway. "But that's a hope...if it doesn't work out, we'd still be building friendship through other forms of cooperation, like in ASEAN, OIC and others," he said.