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A lesson of empowerment from the 17th anniversary of Kamisan
The Kamisan event showcases the best of activism in present-day Indonesia: There, people continue to stand with grit and resilience week after week as they see denial upon denial hammered against their demand for justice.
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Members of the Victim Solidarity Network for Justice (JSKK) hold the 792th Kamisan rally in front of the State Palace on Oct. 26, 2023. Commemorating Youth Pledge Day every Oct. 28, the network urges the government to commit to building democracy and supporting the reform agenda by stopping corruption, collusion and nepotism and guaranteeing a constitutional enforcement of law and human rights. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
H
ow do you measure the success of a movement? Is it by numbers, policy changes or political power? When I attended the 17th anniversary of the Kamisan (Thursday) movement in Jakarta, one parameter stood out to me: Resilience.
Amid the pouring rain, more than 100 people turned up for the weekly rally held every Thursday on Jan. 18 and stayed until the sun came down.
The protest started with people, dressed in black, standing in glaring silence as they stared at the State Palace, defiantly reminding those in power that after 17 years, no sitting president has managed to remove the dark spot on Indonesia’s history. None of them have managed to resolve the country’s cases of gross violations of human rights.
The Kamisan’s continued presence serves as a reminder of the failure to resolve such cases. Since its inception in 2007 by families of victims of human rights violations, The Kamisan has highlighted cases of past human rights violations such as those that occurred during Soeharto’s New Order regime (the May 1998 tragedy, Semanggi 1 in 1998 and Semanggi 2 in 1999, the 1965-1966 tragedy) and even more recent ones such as the killing of rights activist Munir Said Thalib, the Wasior tragedy, the Wamena tragedy and the Paniai tragedy, the latter three in Papua.
I remembered the first time I attended the Kamisan more than a decade ago, wearing batik and formal pants as I had just come from my previous work at a nearby government office. It was also drizzling. I remember the first time I saw Ibu Sumarsih. She was the first who stood in silence in front of the barricade facing the presidential palace. I felt strength from her silence. I felt like, then, there was hope.
However, last week’s Kamisan gave me mixed feelings.
Charles Dickens famously opened his Tale of Two Cities with “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. How true that is for Indonesia today. The Kamisan event showcases some of the best activism in present-day Indonesia. There, people continue to stand with grit and resilience week after week as they saw denial upon denial hammered against their demand for justice.
