Indonesia's independence: An unfinished business

Anand Krishna ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 08/02/2008 12:35 PM  |  Opinion

Recently I was invited to speak on "Indonesia's Independence and Its Relevance Today". The theme made no sense to me. The line did not sound right. The relevance of Indonesia's independence is the freedom you and I are enjoying today.

"But," one of the organizers argued, "not all of us are prosperous. Not all of us are enjoying the fruits of the so-called independence. Equality is still a far cry away, so is justice."

So the question was not about the relevance of Indonesia's independence and freedom. The question was of prosperity, equality and justice for all. These are purely economic and social issues. Independence is altogether a different issue. Slaves could be prosperous and enjoy their slavery without bothering about independence and freedom.

Independence is a psychological issue. Liberty is a spiritual issue. It is the freedom to evolve without any intervention from anybody. An evolved being may choose to live as a pauper; he or she may have nothing to do with prosperity, as we define the word. An evolved being may choose to let go of his or her rights to equality and accept injustice for any reason they fancy.

The urban Chinese in the mainland of China today are more prosperous than ever before. But are they free to evolve psychologically and spiritually? They are confronted with the state ideology of communism as the sole yardstick. For that matter, even the Saudis have no psychological or spiritual freedom. They must comply with a set of parameters laid down by their clergies.

China and Saudi Arabia are ideologically poles apart. One is communist, the other is religious. Yes, when it comes to ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- they stand together, united. Both of them refuse to be bound by the United Nations' treaty based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Both China and Saudi Arabia are free and independent states, but what about their citizens? Would you consider them free and independent?

Mao Tse Tung, the founding father of communist China, appealed to the people of China and the world to rise together. The people of China responded to his call, and raised him to a status he had never dreamed of. He was "made" by the people of China. Do not ask what he did for those very people. Do not ask why the communist regime initiated by him -- and still in power -- does not want to ratify the international covenant.

"The Saudi government sacrifices basic human rights to maintain male control over women," says Farida Deif, women's rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. "Saudi women won't make any progress until the government ends the abuses that stem from these misguided policies."

Fatma A., a 40-year-old Saudi woman living in Riyadh, cannot board a plane without written permission from her son, her legal guardian. "My son is 23 years old and has to come all the way from the Eastern Province to give me permission to leave the country," she told Human Rights Watch.

What kind of independence is this?

We, Indonesians, at least enjoy a better kind of independence.

Yes, we can say our independence is unfinished business. Our minorities are still being persecuted, not by the majority, but by a section of our society "in the name of the majority". Just a few days ago, a school of Christian theology was attacked by some radicals. Earlier, on June 1, a group of people celebrating the anniversary of nation's all-inclusive pluralistic ideology was brutally attacked.

We are not alone; radicalism is on the rise everywhere. Look at Pakistan and India, even Turkey. The radicals everywhere are gaining more energy. Where is this energy coming from? Who is the supplier?

Some of my friends, all Muslims and living in different parts of Indonesia, have responded to it by declaring an Islamic Movement for Non-Violence. To their surprise, within days several prominent Muslims both at home and abroad had pledged support for their movement.

But what surprised them most was when they approached the youth members of one of the large Muslim groups living in a predominantly non-Muslim region in this very country -- they responded indifferently. How do you explain this? Well, at least they have the liberty, the freedom to respond in such a manner.

In a talk show on television, a student was cheered by his friends when he supported an ex-minister in favor of changing the value-based state ideology to religion-based. Clearly, those students were exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression. They could, very casually, say that if that did not work, the state could go back to its previous ideology, or any other. The question is, with a religion-based ideology as in Saudi Arabia, or the communist ideology in China, would he have the same opportunity to express himself?

Our ministers enjoy the same freedom when they visit the leaders of radical groups in their cells. Our regents can contest the governorship and remain as regent if they fail to become governor. This is some kind of freedom too.

Today, we enjoy more freedom than ever before. Unfortunately, some of us do not appreciate this. Others misuse it by depriving others of similar rights to freedom.

Yes, our independence is an unfinished affair.

But so is this life. We all are living unfinished lives until we die. So if our independence comes to a "finish", then we die as a nation. Our independence must remain an unfinished affair, so not only our generation, but generations to come may work on it.

Independence is not a full stop. There are no full stops in exercising our freedom. From the freedom of movement, to the freedom of thoughts, minds, feelings and expression -- the journey is a long one, and not without obstacles. As we approach the 63rd anniversary of our independence, I think the game is becoming more interesting.

We all must contribute to beautify this gigantic edifice of a nation that we have built. We all must have the freedom to do so in a civilized and intelligent manner. This requires a sharp mind, a mind which can work with other minds in unison. We should be able to work together in harmony, peace and, above all, love.

Some of us have taken a quantum leap to exercising freedom of the soul. Many of us are still struggling to exercise our material freedom. We have the giants among us, and we have the dwarfs. But we all are part and parcel of one and the same independent nation.

We all enjoy the same kind of freedom. The challenge before us is therefore not to decide who is superior to whom. The challenge before us is how a giant's freedom does not come in the way of a dwarf's. This is a great challenge, but so is our nation -- so is our independence.

The writer is a spiritual activist (www.anandkrishna.org, www.californiabali.org, www.aumkar.org).