Van Dijk's new book answers questions on RI

Van Dijk's new book answers questions on RI

A COUNTRY IN DESPAIR: INDONESIA BETWEEN 1997-2000
Author: Kees van Dijk
Published by KITLV Press, Leiden, The Netherlands
Price: Rp 290,000

JAKARTA (JP): Human memory is short and note-taking is not the
Indonesian people's forte. These two facts alone are reason
enough to look at this book as a priceless gift for Indonesia.

A professor in the history of Islam in Indonesia at Leiden
University, Kees van Dijk rightly focused his book on the 1997-
2000 period where critical changes occurred so quickly they
became a puzzle even to many Indonesians. Financial crisis became
the backdrop to the collapse of president Soeharto's regime,
preceded and followed by fatal rioting.

Being a historian, van Dijk delved into Indonesia's past
history with ease and has put events into perspective.

Describing the riots during the May 1997 elections, for
example, he noted how easily motor parades of party supporters
degenerated into violence the way it was with the violence of the
1910's involving members of Sarekat Islam.

When the national solidarity group for the Tanjung Priok
incident was set up in June 1998 to probe the case, van Dijk
reminded his readers that it was a repeat of a demand tabled by
the Petition of Fifty dissident group in 1984, the year the mass
killings in northern Jakarta occurred.

Van Dijk divides his book into 20 chapters beginning with the
months prior to the 1997 elections and closing with the time when
Abdurrahman Wahid started to lose support.

In between, he wrote about Soeharto's resignation, corruption,
collusion and nepotism (KKN), his wealth, and about the communal
violence that occurred, among other things.

Through his painstaking record-keeping one could sense the
building up of tension towards a climax and anti-climax of the
nation's historical development.

In essence, van Dijk has reconstructed the public discourse
through local reports and inserted his critical reflections upon
it.

He noted that the people for the first time publicly dared to
refer to what had happened in March 1966 as a coup d'etat.
Because of revelations by people like Sukardjo Wilardjito, doubts
began to creep in, if they had not been there already, about
Indonesia's recent history as it had been written down and taught
during the New Order, van Dijk writes.

In the book, a lot of questions find ready answers.

For example, when did the rift between President Abdurrahman
Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri occur for the
first time?

August 2000.

How many people were killed in Aceh from June to August last
year?

Forty-seven.

Neither do tragi-comic facts escape van Dijk's attention.
During the Aug. 7 to Aug. 18, 1999 annual session of the People's
Consultative Assembly, he noted that old customs were restored
when the members stood up as Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati
Soekarnoputri entered and left the chamber.

He added: "A more serious repetition of past practices was
that four students who staged a hunger strike during the annual
session disappeared on Aug. 14. They resurfaced two weeks later,
still too confused to reveal what they had experienced," (p.
524).

This incident, as many in the past, has had no legal follow-
up.

Sometimes, he leaves a nagging question in the reader's mind
like the controversy surrounding the removal of the chief of the
Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Agus Wirahadikusumah.

Why did such a thing happen to a general who wanted to uncover
a corruption case? And what about the allegations that the
general was scheming to take control of the army?

These questions remain a mystery.

Should the judicial system improve one day, prosecutors only
need to open this book to start their work.

Van Dijk is meticulous in his note taking.

An example from the 1998 Habibie government period: "Because
of the prolonged drought, Bulog had only been able to procure
96,500 tons of rice. The supply of rice stocked by Bulog for the
whole of the year was estimated at no more than a mere 250,000
tons, at the most 500,000."

Bulog is the state body responsible for regulating the
distribution of basic staples.

Likewise, the exchange rate of the rupiah on July 11, 1998 was
Rp 2,450 to the dollar, on July 21 it was Rp 2,700.

The same meticulousness applies to historical data. Gen.
Maraden Panggabean (p. 218) also came in 1966 to Bogor where
first president Sukarno was staying in addition to three other
generals.

And he and Basuki Rahmat, in fact, drew out their pistols to
force Sukarno to sign the Order of March 11, or Supersemar,
assigning Soeharto to take care of security.

A police team was set up to investigate the case but "as was
to become habitual after May in such politically sensitive
cases ... no concrete results have ever been made public."

During the June 1999 elections, van Dijk wrote that the
students doubted "that free and fair elections could be organized
under the Habibie government which, in their eyes, lacked popular
legitimation and was, in essence, a pro-status quo regime (p.
433).

"The new political parties that had emerged they also viewed
with distrust, suspecting that their leaders only wanted power.
This line of reasoning encouraged the students to stick to their
call for a transitional government. Another of their demands was
that Golkar be disbanded or at least be barred from participating
in the elections."

We can see today how accurate the students' assessment was.

Another example. The then military chief Wiranto was reported
to have been trying for three months without success to quell the
Muslim- Christian conflict in Maluku in early 1999 (p. 387).

The conflict is still raging today and is entering its third
year. Few would believe then that it could continue that long.

The book is worth reading for anyone who has an interest in
Indonesia.

The downside of the book? The press only won its freedom three
years ago. A warning is needed for readers about reports which
might not conform with journalistic ethics. Another minor
downside includes less than precise translations. For example,
makan hati (p. 71) was translated literally as "eat liver" rather
than irksome.

Far from listing dull facts, the book is fascinating reading.
Looking at the pictures the reader feels as if they are reliving
that exciting period. The list of ministers and military officers
holding key positions is a welcome bonus.

Given the rapid changes occurring in the country, van Dijk
might have to continue his work to include the year 2001 and
beyond. (Harry Bhaskara