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Sri Margana: History demands truth
(JP/Simon Sudarman)History serves as the foundation of a nation or state
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(JP/Simon Sudarman) (JP/Simon Sudarman)
(JP/Simon Sudarman)
History serves as the foundation of a nation or state. Therefore, history should be based on truth and humanity, covering a nation's multifaceted life and luminaries.
This principle was recently emphasized by Sri Margana, who earned his doctorate in history from the University of Leiden, Holland, in 2007 and is now chairman of the postgraduate historical study program at the school of cultural sciences, Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta.
'No nation or state was born without going through its history, which makes it so important that every ruler is interested in writing the relevant nation's history to provide the basis for education,' affirmed the man born in Klaten, Central Java, on Oct. 15, 1969.
According to him, without any knowledge of its own history, a nation would be deprived of the feeling of nationalism, the sense of belonging, the pride in being a nation and even the desire to contribute to its own state.
However, in the view of Sri, the writing of Indonesian history has tended to be political. It means that it is dominated by the much black and white history that simply gives a list of heroes and losers. Such teaching is incapable of nurturing patriotism.
'History should, thus, be written in its totality, covering all the aspects of a nation like its culture, way of thinking, system of democracy, philosophy, fair leadership, tradition, ethnicity and other features,' he pointed out.
This method of total history writing would add color to Indonesian history and enhance its contribution to world history, by including the accounts of historical figures in different fields rather than just politics, such as cultural, philosophical and literary luminaries of relevant times.
The historian, who has toured Holland, Britain, Africa, Australia, China, Taiwan and Vietnam for historical research and seminars, maintained that Indonesian history failed to give prominence to local figures, such as Java's great poet and philosopher Ronggo Warsito, along with his thoughts and visions.
In an attempt to popularize this regional literary personality, first president Sukarno built the Ronggo Warsito's statue in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java, where he had served at the Kasunanan Surakarta Palace, hoping the poet would gain world fame. Sadly, this did not come to fruition.
Sri, who in 1999 was one of the speakers at a historical conference in the Netherlands, noted that history outside the context of power had not been allocated a proper place in history and had been restricted by the authorities
Worse still, there have been attempts to reduce the teaching hours of history by only offering this subject at certain schools and certain departments.
'In other countries history is taught in all schools ' even at medicine, architecture or engineering institutions. They are aware that history is a vital means of teaching patriotism,' said the writer.
'In Indonesia, the high dependence on the state for historical research and compilation poses a problem. We have yet to establish an independent agency capable of writing our history appropriately. We only have research and writing by order of the establishment. No wonder the national historical compilation project has ever been completed,' he indicated with concern.
Nonetheless, Sri has reason to feel a bit relieved as some progress has been made over the last decade with alternative history at the college level and communities beginning to undertake research on and compile alternative history.
'They're growing into independent forces in society although their presence is sometimes seen as insignificant. This happens because the public's mindset is conditioned by formal history ' written and promoted by those in power,' said the man now delving into Indonesian history of 1700 to 1800.
'If this present politics-centered writing method is continued, the outside world will only be acquainted with Indonesia as a conflict stricken nation and we are to blame for writing this sort of history,' added Sri, who was invited to speak in Australia this year.
Sri described the many regions proposing figures for the status of national heroes or heroines because local figures are not accommodated in the nation's history.
Unless this phenomenon is properly responded to, regional people will feel they are being sidelined.
'This is a bad omen for our state affairs in the future,' warned Sri.
'Sukarno realized that our nation's ethnic, religious and cultural diversity was important so that other countries would appreciate and recognize us by learning our history. Regrettably, the authorities have been dishonest to their people by covering up and even orchestrating historical events,' revealed the historian.
