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Dutch could benefit from apologizing for colonial era
The village of Rawagede has been in the news a lot recently after a group of widows and one survivor held the Netherlands responsible for a Dec
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he village of Rawagede has been in the news a lot recently after a group of widows and one survivor held the Netherlands responsible for a Dec. 9, 1947, massacre by Dutch troops. During the bloodbath, possibly 431 villagers, almost the entire male population, were killed.
Recently, the Dutch government prosecutor insisted the case was superannuated and compensation was not under discussion. In December, Dutch Ambassador Nikolaos van Dam was present at the commemoration of the massacre in Rawagede (now called Balongsari) in West Java.
He offered the Dutch government's "excuses" for the violence in the 1945-1949 period. What followed was a debate on the semantics of the ambassador's words. Did the ambassador offer apologies, or did he just express regret? The ambassador himself said his words could be interpreted as "apologies".
The case of Rawagede is symbolic of the way the Netherlands deals with its colonial past. No doubt attention for the killings is completely justified. But as usual, the broader framework in which the bloodbath took place has been ignored. Again the chance to fully expose the role the Netherlands played in Indonesia has been missed.
The Dutch was a colonial power that ruled over the huge Indonesian archipelago, which it had conquered some 350 years ago by violent plundering. The bloodbath in Rawagede was not an exception, but fitted in a bloody pattern that stretched over a very long period of time.
However, in the collective memory the Dutch people still perceive the Netherlands merely as a paternalistic governor, not as a ruthless colonizer.
"Therefore it would be appropriate for the Dutch government to apologize for an occupation that did not last three years, but three centuries."
When in 2002 the Netherlands celebrated the fact that 400 years earlier, in 1602, the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) was established, ceremonies cheering the colonial past dominated. Later, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende prolonged that myth when he pleaded ardently in parliament, with his fist in the air, "Let's say: the Netherlands are again capable of it. That VOC-mentality. Looking beyond borders. Dynamics!"
In 2000, as a journalist I visited for the first time Maluku, where civil strife was waging between Christians and Muslims. My research into the roots of the conflict resulted also in a confrontation with the dark sides of Dutch colonialism.
It was 1599 when the first Dutch ships arrived at the Banda Islands, which were at that time the only place in the world where nutmeg was grown. The VOC tried to force a monopoly on the trade in these very valuable spices.
The Bandanese resisted these attempts with all their abilities. In 1621, the VOC's governor general in Asia, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, sailed to the small archipelago. In a few weeks' time, VOC troops wiped out most of Banda population.
According to a plaque on a monument erected for the victims in the town of Banda Neira, some 6,000 people were murdered and about 700 Bandanese were enslaved, while only 1,700 managed to flee to other areas. The decimated Banda Islands were divided among VOC officials who became the owners of the nutmeg plantations. The Banda Islands were not the only places in Maluku where the VOC committed genocide. After Banda, it was the turn of Ambon and the surrounding islands to be conquered by the VOC, this time forcing a monopoly on the clove trade. During the Ambon Wars, an estimated 40,000 people were killed and whole islands were depopulated.
These war crimes were committed in the 17th century. More recent history offers lots of other tragic examples. Like the conquering of Aceh (1873-1912) and the "pacification" of islands like Lombok.
Or just think of Captain Raymond Westerling and his Depot Speciale Troepen (a corps that as was usual consisted largely of Indonesians) who in 1946-47 during their "contra-terror" campaign, burned down villages and tortured and summarily executed people. According to Dutch estimates, 3,130 people were killed in these operations, while Indonesian sources claim 40,000 people were killed.
Dutch war victims have always demanded apologies from Japan because of war crimes committed against them during World War II. These victims deserve the apologies.
Therefore it would be appropriate for the Dutch government to apologize for an occupation that did not last three years, but three centuries. That gesture might not only alleviate the pain and sorrow in Indonesia. It could also lead to a more realistic view among the Dutch people of their own colonial past.
This would be more than desirable now that the Dutch - in the current time of local, regional and global changes - are showing so much interest in their national history.
The writer is a freelance journalist. Her book, The Sorrow of Ambon: A history of the Moluccas, was published last year by Balans in the Netherlands.
