Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Wed, 15 Apr 1992 08:24:22 PDT
From:         "Indonesia Publications/Task Force" <apakabar@IGC.ORG>
Subject:      Rendra: Injustice Everywhere!
X-To:         seasia-l@msu.edu

Forwarded from PeaceNet reg.indonesia conference:
Topic 557Oppression elsewhere
NOSCAreg.indonesia11:04 pm  Apr 15, 1992
(at f207.n900.z90.pegasus.oz.au)(From News system)

[Note: A page 3 report in the national newspaper, The
Australian, on Tuesday, 14/4/92. The article titled, Dili
Hides Oppression Elsewhere in Indonesia, includes a picture
of W.S.Rendra]. Written by NOSCA in peg:reg.indonesia on
15/4/92.]

DILI HIDES OPPRESSION ELSEWHERE IN INDONESIA.

INDONESIA'S leading poet and dramatist yesterday warned
that the international community's preoccupation with East
Timor had blinded it to injustices occuring in other parts
of Indonesia.

W.S. Rendra's works were banned and he was imprisoned for
his anti-government views in the 1970s.

He said in Sydney yesterday the fact that there had been an
admission by the Indonesian Government and army that the
Dili massacre was a mistake, and that those involved had
been punished, was indicative of the success of protests
from inside and outside the country.

"No section, no faction in Indonesian society agreed with
what happened in Dili; everybody protested, with petitions,
with statements, a lot of methods," Rendra said.

That we in the West knew so little of the protests inside
Indonesia was partly because we had our eyes on Dili and
partly because the protests, by necessity, were of a low
profile.

Rendra said street marches provided an emotional outlet for
anger, but they were not effective.

"The important thing is the effect," he said. "The army,
(President) Suharto, the Government (all) acknowledged
their mistakes and expressed their regrets, and a lot of
people lost their jobs," he said.

"The important thing in this kind of struggle is the
result, not the emotional satisfaction. That doesn't have
anything to do with the struggle, that is luxury, it has
nothing to do with achievements."

Although he is clearly sympathetic towards the Timorese
people, Rendra's concern is with the oppression of his own
people, who he says suffer under policies such as
transmigrasi (the enticed removal of families out of urban
areas to developments far from home) and the effects of
business monopolies alledgedly held by the ruling elite,
many of them members of President Suharto's family.

"Right now there are a lot of things happening in terms of
injustice -not just Dili. So the longer you talk about
Dili, the oppressor will like it, because many things that
are unjust can go on unnoticed," he said.

Last month, for example, 150 families in Jakarta were left
homeless after what Rendra said was a "mysterious" fire
that razed their homes.

Such fires were not unusual, and they frequently preceded
the opening up of an area for development. This time,
however, the people had refused meekly to accept their fate
and attempt to find alternative housing. "But now they camp
on the site," Rendra said. "They will fight for their
rights."

It was from the working class that the most dynamic
expressions of protest came, Rendra said.

The new middle class, those too young to remember the
relative freedom of Sukarno years, had been educated in an
"instructive" society and had no commitment to change.

"If you want to look for creative people, (they are) mostly
from the lower class," he said.

Rendra, 56 is visiting this country as the first guest of
Culture Exchange, a group formed last year to promote
cultural links between Australian and Indonesian artists.

During his stay, he will conduct workshops at the
Australian National Playwrights Conference in Canberra and
perform poetry readings in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

--- FD 1.99c
 * Origin: NOSCA (90:900/207)
--
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU