Welcoming the rising sun in E. Timor

Welcoming the rising sun in E. Timor

Menyongsong Matahari Terbit di Puncak Ramelau (Welcoming the
Rising Sun at the Top of Ramelau);
By George J. Aditjondro;
Published by: The Foundation of Law, Rights and Justice and
Fortilos (Solidarity Forum for the People of Timor Lorosa'e),
January 2000;
312 pages;
Rp 20,000

JAKARTA (JP): George Junus Aditjondro is one of the few
Indonesian intellectuals who was concerned about the military
occupation by Indonesia in Timor Lorosa'e (East Timor). At a time
when other intellectuals kept silent, Aditjondro, with his
investigative capabilities as a former journalist and his
attitude in favor of marginalized groups, played a great role in
expanding the horizon of attention of human rights activists as
well as political activists to the problems of Irian Jaya and
Timor Lorosa'e. It was he who also reintroduced the original
names of Papua (instead of Irian Jaya) and Maubere or Timor
Lorosa'e (instead of East Timor) in intellectual discourse and
movements.

Aditjondro's book, Welcoming the Rising Sun at the Top of
Ramelau, the Impact of the Timor Lorosa'e Occupation and the
Emergence of the Pro-Timor Lorosa'e Movement in Indonesia, is
proof of his seriousness and courage in closely following the
Timor Lorosa'e affair. The greater part of the material of this
book (collected from his writings, mostly published by
alternative media and the student press) was written at the time
the Indonesian Military (TNI) was still enjoying its political
power, and Timor Lorosa'e issues were still a subversive
discourse. The result of his courage compelled him to become a
permanent resident in Australia.

His efforts, in fact, were not futile. On Jan. 9, 1999, then
president B.J. Habibie launched two options for the future of
Timor Lorosa'e: Independence or extended autonomy. In August, the
majority of its people voted for independence and, accordingly,
Indonesia withdrew its troops from the region.

At the beginning of the book, Aditjondro makes a critical
comparison between Timor Lorosa'e's culture and Indonesian
culture to reveal the mystification of cultural similarities
which became the legitimate tool for the "integration process"
between Indonesia and Timor Lorosa'e. The study even presents the
process of the paralyzation of the local culture (which at the
time was the source of inspiration for resistance). It was
unavoidable that there was a process of Indonesianization to
remove the Porto tradition and to paralyze the Tetum culture.

The analysis of the process of TNI's occupation in Timor
Lorosa'e is the focus of the book. Starting from this theme,
Aditjondro explains in a comprehensive way the ecological,
economic and social impact of the process of TNI's occupation. He
especially discussed the experiences of women in Timor Lorosa'e.
Aditjondro also criticizes the masculine characterization of the
resistance movement of Timor Lorosa'e that only highlights male
figures (e.g. Xanana Gusmao, Jose Ramos-Horta) and neglects the
political role and the sacrifices of the political organization
of Timor Lorosa'e women (Organizacao Popular da Mulher de Timor),
which was systematically crushed and banned by TNI.

The comprehensive analysis is supported by an exaggerated
perfectionism (as the editor of this book says) of Aditjondro who
laid bare the data, not only from the reports on human rights
violations, testimonies and textbooks, but also from official
data of the government (interpreted critically) and the aviation
magazine Angkasa (it was from here that Aditjondro found proof of
the sale and purchase of fighter planes to exterminate the
resistance movement of Timor Lorosa'e). The critical
interpretation of the government's official data even pushed
Aditjondro to write especially on the process of "fake
statistics" to cover up for the reality taking place in Timor
Lorosa'e. The faking process was done by simplification which
compared arbitrarily "the fruits of development of the New Order
in East Timor" with "the remnants of Portuguese colonization".

Aditjondro found the facts of "forced removal or forced
expulsion" of the people of Timor Lorosa'e at the time of the
January 1975 occupation by studying the "unofficial" statistical
figures obtained from statistical data from the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) research and Catholic
church records. According to the CSIS research, the number of
inhabitants in 1980 was 555,350 (70,196 less, compared to the
figure of 1973: 626,546). According to the Catholic church, the
population decreased drastically from 688,771 in 1974 to 329,271
in October 1978. Where did they go and why did they go/disappear?

An inseparable part of the struggle of the Timor Lorosa'e
people is the role of the Catholic church. Aditjondro tries to
reveal the ups and downs of the support of the Catholic church
and the process of state intervention (TNI) against the hierarchy
of the Indonesian Catholic church in the attitude toward Timor
Lorosa'e. The book also exposes the "doubts" of the church about
the realities. A big challenge had to be faced by Bishop Belo
when he wrote to the UN secretary-general to immediately hold a
referendum, when he gave an interview to Der Spiegel and when he
received the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. Under this pressure, the
Indonesian Catholic church did not show a firm stance.

In the final part of the book, Aditjondro discusses the
support of the Indonesian prodemocracy movement for the struggle
of Timor Lorosa'e people. Only in 1991 (after the Santa Cruz
incident) was there open support for self-determination for the
people of Timor Lorosa'e. Previously, the Timor Lorosa'e affair
had rarely been on the main agenda of the struggle of human
rights and prodemocracy activists in Indonesia.

There are a number of analyses which are interesting but not
much has been followed up on. The history of the diplomatic
struggle of Timor Lorosa'e was one of the determining factors in
the success of the struggle of the Timor Lorosa'e people.
This book could also have benefited from the inclusion of
Aditjondro's latest writings on the postreferendum situation in
Timor Lorosa'e and its prospects. Nevertheless, these
deficiencies do not reduce the importance of this book in lifting
the mist surrounding the history of Timor Lorosa'e.

-- Wahyu Susilo