The two faces of Kartini

The name Kartini has almost always been associated with the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia. Each year on April 21, the nation commemorates Kartini Day, so named after the late 19th century Javanese aristocrat whose letters to friends exhibited her inner struggle against unjust gender discrimination, especially in the field of education, during her time. Raden Ajeng Kartini, the daughter of the Jepara Regent, may have endorsed polygamy through her own marriage -- a fact that fueled controversy over her claim as the first Indonesian woman to fight for emancipation -- but her legend lives on to this day nevertheless.

The Kartini who has been in the news these past few days, however, is a far cry from what Indonesian women should be as envisioned by the legendary Kartini some 100 years ago. This one is a commoner and only known by her name and her father's. There are no aristocratic titles attached to her name. But those who claim that women's emancipation has come a long way in the past century should look at Kartini bin Karim. She is in fact archetypical of millions of Indonesian women: Poor, uneducated and as she is also ignorant of her rights as an Indonesian citizen, she is almost totally unprotected by the law.

Today, Kartini bin Karim, 35, is lingering on death row in the United Arab Emirates. Working there as a housemaid, she was recently sentenced to death by stoning by a local court for committing adultery. She apparently gave birth to a son from her relationship with an Indian cook who worked for the same Arab employer. No other details are available about the circumstances surrounding this affair, but the Indian cook is at large, while Kartini bin Karim is now awaiting execution.

The government's response to this affair is classic: almost too little and too late. This is not the first time that our citizens have been tried and sentenced to death in foreign courts without the benefit of the Indonesian government's assistance, which is the job of Indonesian embassies and consulates. There have been other instances when help came only after the due process of law had been completed. Just as in Kartini's case.

As such, Kartini bin Karim did not receive assistance from the Indonesian government when she was being investigated, tried and later sentenced to death. She was all alone. Unable to speak the language, Indonesian officials believed she might have inadvertently confessed to incriminating statements and testimony during the trial.

How could we have let this happen?

The Indonesian embassy or consulate in the United Arab Emirates must assume some responsibility for acting too late in this case. It is its duty to monitor the presence of all Indonesians working in the country it serves, not simply by means of registration but also by means of ensuring that their welfare, and particularly their rights as aliens in the host country, are well protected.

The Ministry of Manpower should also shoulder some responsibility, for it has been its obsession all along to generate as much foreign exchange as possible for the country by arbitrarily sending Indonesians to work abroad. The government has repeatedly assured us it would only send skilled and educated workers, and that all would be given basic training in language and their civic rights. But the case of Kartini bin Karim shows that hundreds of thousands of uneducated and naive Indonesians are still being shipped abroad each year.

Ultimately, the nation must take the lion's share of the blame for Kartini bin Karim's tragic fate. Although an independent nation for 55 years, we have continued to keep the poor, particularly the women, in perpetual poverty and ignorance by depriving them of their right to a decent living and their right to basic education. We as a nation have essentially betrayed Raden Ajeng Kartini's wishes for emancipation, not just of women, but also of the poor. Since many of our people are not even aware of their rights in their own country, what chance do they have of knowing their rights when they are in foreign lands.

The government and the various non-governmental organizations still have a last legal chance to save Kartini bin Karim from execution by appealing for clemency. Let's hope they do it right this time and save her life. Anything less and Raden Ajeng Kartini will surely turn in her grave, and we may as well forget about commemorating Kartini Day this year, or forever.