http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/31/kopassus-and-legend-'mpu-gandring'.html
Kopassus and the legend of 'Mpu Gandring'
Aboeprijadi Santoso , Jakarta | Wed, 03/31/2010 8:41 AM | Opinion
Men and weapons are sometimes seen as a pair of symbolic importance in
maintaining the greatness of the state. In Javanese mythology, one such weapon
was named after the great master artisan (Mpu) who created it: Mpu Gandring.
But once the master was illegitimately disowned from his creation, the weapon -
the Mpu Gandring kris - turned into a curse that shaped a bloody discourse in
which its users lost their divine blessing (wahyu).
Modern reality is complex. However, the imagery (rather than the reality) and
the public discourse (rather than the history) about Indonesia's elite Army
Special Forces (Kopassus), as a killing machine, has shown parallels with the
bloody Mpu Gandring legend.
The American journalist Allan Nairn recently accused the Kopassus of killing
unarmed civilians. Such allegations are not new, except that they now refer to
what he claims to be "a program of assassinations" of former rebels, who led
the Aceh Party in the run up to the general elections last year.
While the details are not fully known, the tragic events could hardly be
surprising to Aceh observers and local journalists.
At least 29 mysterious assaults and killings (the party claimed 55 incidents)
occurred in Aceh early last year when this writer was there to cover the
elections, and now Nairn has attempted to substantiate the story of just two of
them.
It is a fact that Army members continue to harbor a deep distrust toward former
GAM (Free Aceh Movement) rebels, including even the regional commander most
respected by the ex-GAMs, in particular since the latter won the 2006
gubernatorial election.
However, never since the Helsinki peace (2005) have conditions been so bad,
since early last year when the regional command was led by a Kopassus general
who was dismissed shortly afterwards.
Such was the tense atmosphere then that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
the visiting Helsinki architect Martti Ahtisaari (March 2009) expressed serious
concerns.
A bomb was put under the car and various dirty tricks were played out to
victimize or incriminate ex-GAM leaders, but none of the incidents have been
resolved despite the fact that three of the perpetrators have been brought to
Jakarta. The local police was unable to handle the cases and witnesses chose to
remain silent - both apparently out fear of reprisal.
The Jakarta media and commentators have alas stopped short of considering Aceh
sources, while the military denial ("there is no Kopassus there") have missed
the point. For, at issue is not a formal Kopassus assignment (which was
probably none since this would explicitly violate the Helsinki pact), but
covert operations involving individual Kopassus members.
Neither, unfortunately, has the military been able to spell out the reform of
the Kopassus, which they claim to have performed during the last 12 years.
Nairn's investigation was intended to hit Indonesia's bid to lift the US ban on
military training that President Barack Obama reportedly intended to review.
Recalling the Aceh incidents is important for us, first because they highlight
the urgency of unresolved human rights cases here; second, they refresh the
public memory by reinforcing the existing Kopassus' imagery in Aceh and
elsewhere.
Many of the atrocities in the former conflict areas, the killings, poisoning
and missing activists elsewhere in Indonesia have been linked to the Kopassus
or its individual members. None of these has been brought to justice or
satisfactorily resolved. Impunity thus runs as a thread from the 1965-66
tragedy, to troubles in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.
This series of repeated state violence - many cases of which have been well
documented for example, see the C.A.V.R. (Timor-Leste Commission for Reception,
Truth and Reconciliation) report on East Timor (2004) - have created the
imagery of what Kopassus "did" among the people affected.
Ask any local around the former Rumah Geudong in Pidie, Aceh, or the surviving
families in Kraras, near Viqueque, East Timor. They will tell you what they
know about the Kopassus (or its predecessors, the RPKAD).
To be fair, the killing-machine image should include some infamous battalions
of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command or Kostrad (in the case of East Timor)
and the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Aceh. The point here, however, is
that this popular image was shaped by recent history of brutality as
interpreted in the local discourse and blamed on the Kopassus.
Now legend has it that the Mpu Gandring kris precipitated a series of
assassinations, each of which led to power usurpation. A villager named Ken
Arok betrayed and killed the great master Gandring and used the unfinished kris
to kill the King in order to claim the throne and the divine blessing. The
kris, however, took its own course and later disappeared. Only then did the
killings stop and could the kingdom celebrate its greatness.
This discourse shows that once you use the weapon for a purpose without the
consent of its great master-creator you will lose your legitimacy: A powerful
moral message.
Army members continue to harbor a deep distrust toward former GAM rebels since
the latter won the 2006 gubernatorial election.
The writer is a journalist.
Comments (1) | Post comment
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Crispin Waugh (not verified), Vancouver - Wed, 03/31/2010 - 1:17pm
Wonder why we're not surprised? And perhaps just a little cynical (to the point
of paranoia) especially with the continuous references in the article about
Javanese mythology (why not Sunda, Minang, etc.?). Perhaps because we see in
reality it's just another manifestation of the continued unofficial policy of
the Javanese-isation of Indonesia from Acheh to Papua. Javanese domination of
previous transmigration policies, the civil service, military, police - you
name it, they're top! - way beyond that which constitutes the 55% Javanese
racial make-up of Indonesia. Perhaps the Indonesian government would do well to
desist following in the footsteps of Suharto and stop attempting to wipe out
any opposition to the continued Javanese domination of Indonesia. Perhaps they
should try something they seem allergic to: DIALOGUE. It works a lot better
than killing your enemies. Perhaps they should also try giving other races a
slice of the economic and power pie, and stop trying to keep everyone else
(non-Javanese) down before it all implodes on them. They create a lot of
ill-will. Ask any ordinary (non-Javanese) citizen in the street.... <<mail.gif>>
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