Nicholas Ryan Aditya, Robertus Belarminus, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from a number of 1998 activist groups gathered at a hotel in South Jakarta on Saturday May 24 to discuss and express their position of rejecting the proposal that the second President of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharto, be made a national hero.
Kompas.com observed that a number of activists and event committees from the Volunteers for Democratic Struggle (Repdem), Barikade '98, the National Association of 1998 Activists (Pena '98) and FK '98 were present at the location since 12 noon.
A banner hanging behind the stage read "Public Discussion Reflecting on Reformasi 1998: Suharto, Hero or Human Rights Criminal?".
The event only started at 2 pm with various actions and the reading of speeches. The participants at the event were also encouraged by the moderator to shout, "Don't Be Silent, Fight!" and "Long Live the People".
Also seen scattered in front of the stage were thousands of imitation skulls which apparently had their own symbolism related to the event.
"So, while the New Order dictatorship was in power in the Republic of Indonesia, there were many victims", said one of the event committee members, Jakarta National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN) '98 activist Jimmy Fajar Jimbong, when explaining the philosophy behind of the thousands of imitation skulls.
"So, the symbolism of the skulls and bones is that in the past there was Petrus [the mysterious shootings], the abduction of activists, then land cases, [the murder of trade union leader] Marsinah, [the enforced disappearance of] Wiji Thukul, and so on, the Kedung Ombo [dam project]. So many citizens or Indonesian people have not been found to this day", he added.
Another '98 activist, Mustar Bona Ventura, said that the hundreds of '98 activists were not just gathering at the event, but were there to confirm that they agree to reject the proposal for Suharto to be given the title of national hero.
"This is a commemoration, not just a gathering, but a commemoration, in our opinion there is a discourse or an idea to bestow the title of national hero on Suharto, clearly we agree to reject this", said Ventura.
"We object to this and it is far from the values that we fought for when reformasi was born in '98", he added.
He believes that the idea of proposing Suharto as a hero has injured and tarnished the spirit of the reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998. According to Ventura, democracy in Indonesia was not obtained for free or born all of a sudden.
"Democracy is because of the fruit of sweat and struggle, maybe even the victims, there were thousands of victims, there were lives lost, there were tears there. So in our opinion it's not right (to propose Suharto as a hero)", he said.
As reported earlier, the proposal for Suharto's name to be a candidate for national hero this year has raised pros and cons. The 2nd President of Indonesia is considered to have overseen several controversial policies during his 32-year leadership of the country.
1998 activist and Central Tapanuli Regent Masinton Pasaribu stated earlier that he does not agree with awarding of the title of national hero to Suharto.
"This history is still ongoing. Don't give him the title yet", said Pasaribu when speaking to Kompas.com at a separate gathering at the JS Luwansa Hotel in South Jakarta on Wednesday May 21.
Pasaribu also invited all '98 activists to reflect together on awarding the title of national hero to Suharto.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aktivis '98 Berkumpul Tolak Soeharto Jadi Pahlawan, Ada Simbolisasi Ribuan Tengkorak".]