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Your letters: Expecting forgiveness from victims?
I refer to an article titled âAn apology, forgiveness and reconciliationâ, (The Jakarta Post, March 12) by Benny YP Siahaan
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I
refer to an article titled 'An apology, forgiveness and reconciliation', (The Jakarta Post, March 12) by Benny YP Siahaan.
It's a film. The director might have dramatized the whole picture of Indonesia. Let me quote here, 'The audience was more surprised when they were told the topic was openly discussed in Indonesia [...] something unthinkable under former president Soeharto's regime.'
The question is why several open screenings of The Act of Killing, for example in Blitar and Malang, both in East Java, were canceled by police/local authorities?
Why did the police tell the organizers that, in case an unwanted incident was perpetrated by people who didn't like the film, the police ' instead of giving adequate protection for the screening ' wanted the organizers to cancel it?
Why are the police and those attackers always on the same side? Who is actually behind all these thugs? Someone who is more powerful than the law enforcers?
So it was not unthinkable under Soeharto. It was thinkable, but not doable, because the state would have repressed those discussions.
The state would have terrorized any discussions that were critical of the state police, government or the army. Now, we can see is that it is doable, but the repression didn't come directly from the state, because the state has privatized its terror and repression functions to the thugs.
And about forgiveness, well, it's not the forgiveness that is important now. Forgiveness from the victims, the true victims, is an option ' is a right only they have.
They can choose to forgive or not after the state officially utters its apology. Who are we to tell the victims and survivors and their families what to do?
Will the state officially apologize for its crimes against humanity? That would mean the Army admitting that it carried out mass killings.
Will history books from elementary school to high school be revised to include the mass killings and the perpetrators held accountable?
Expecting forgiveness now from the victims?
Dewi Rainny
Jakarta
