Getting the message out there

Historical witness: The present look of Diniyah Puteri School sets up by women pioneer Rahmah El Yunusiyyah in Padangpanjang. JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb.

The names of West Sumatran women pioneers Rohana Kudus, Rahmah El Yunusiyyah and Rasuna Said may not ring a bell among some. But many believe that they deserve a spot alongside the legendary Kartini for their work and initiative that had a great impact on the women of their times.

Historian Mestika Zed from Padang State University said the three women deserved more, including to be named national heroines. Only Rasuna ever received such a title.

He said it did not make sense that Rohana and Rahmah had not been national heroines.

Kartini, he said, was a heroine created by the Dutch colonial rulers as political propaganda on education.

“We know of [Kartini’s] fight through her letters, not through real actions. But these three women proved their work for women’s empowerment through consistent and tireless work despite all the challenges,” he told The Jakarta Post.

A number of scholars and women’s rights activists once demanded the government annul Kartini’s status as a heroine, saying she did not contribute to the founding of Indonesia as a nation state and did little to fight for her own rights – bowing to pressure and entering into a polygamous marriage.

The government, however, played down the call, saying Kartini was a thinker of women’s empowerment, fighting so that no woman in her country would be a victim like her.

Mestika accused the government of naming heroes based on like and dislike instead of maintaining objectivity.

“Many of the country’s heroes came from West Sumatra, but in reality Java-ism is a powerful determining factor.”

He pointed out that there were many other women from outside of Java who deserved to be recognized as pioneers of women’s empowerment. Their achievements could be measured by making statistics of their intellectual achievements, concrete involvement in education institutions and real involvement in the fight for independence.

“These three women should be given the recognition they deserve. They should become symbols of development and inspiration for the country,” he said.

He said recognition should not come in the form of routine rituals, such as visiting their graves, holding ceremonies or providing allowances.

Most important of all was to use their fighting spirit to create inspiration to deal with the country’s many challenges, he added.

“Day after day, we look up to the West even more while we have an education system that was perfectly initiated by our heroines from the past. We want their vision to help open the way for us.”

Currently, many women-related cases go unnoticed by the government while women are one of the groups most vulnerable to poverty and social problems.

The government, he said, set up the Women’s Empowerment Ministry but it did not fully, or directly, touch upon women’s issues.

“The ministry should work to empower women by pushing for pro-women policies. These three pioneers should become its role models.”