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'€™m not doubting that colonizers would have omitted records of numbers killed; my own colony is a testament to the propaganda behind imperialism as late as into the mid 20th century.

If you want a balanced conversation based on the inclusion of evils like colonialism and imperialism, you'€™ll have absolutely no opposition from me. However, certain things need to be borne in mind while we go there.

The first is that this was the imperialistic era; European countries had ideologies that were embedded in the '€œprinciple'€ that the world was essentially theirs and that '€” using false science such as eugenics and Social Darwinism '€” other races were inferior. On the question of the Dutch, the country'€™s royalty actually denounced the VOC'€™s actions and the country instigated a so-called Ethical Policy in the early 20th century.

This was, I believe, a move for which the terrible suicide massacres that happened in Bali were a catalyst in necessitating. The Company, of course, ignored many of these policies. However, the independence movement was widely supported in Europe, as, in a long overdue '€œliberal era'€, Europeans were finally beginning to see these terrible crimes against people deserving of self-determination.

The second is time frame and intent. Even if you are correct about the numbers, we have to realize that the wide-scale genocide, colonialism and the like of the Javanese in Indonesia in the 20th century not only happened over a much shorter period of time, but also that these contemptible actions '€” disgusting abuses that reflect nothing but hate for the people '€” were conducted in, and oftentimes predicated upon, a love of country, the unity of its people and a disdain for imperialism and colonialism (the two greatest skills of the Javanese).

And this is where we get into the confusion of Indonesia in general; a confusion that, while I definitely draw many comments, European countries have now largely dealt with and have also paid reparations for.

This confusion, my third point, would simply not be an issue if the actions of others in the past were not constantly utilized by overly zealous nationalists in the modern era to promote ignorance of the numerous crimes against humanity committed by Indonesia.

I know, of course, you are not doing this, but am simply explaining the heavy-handedness of criticism toward the country.

There is a mass of self-delusion to break through that is simply not shared by any European country regarding its colonial past. I hope this doesn'€™t sound condescending; it'€™s not my intention.

The point about numbers may be true and that about even-handedness is sound. As usual, we lack sufficient evidence.

L Millar
Jakarta