SOMETIME, as a nation, we have to learn from other nation’s experience. Quite often, we perceive learning from others will only denigrate our credibility as a proud and independent nation.
(I think, that attitude comes from different sources; maybe some of us believe it’s a sign of weakness to be humble and admit that others have experience that might be valuable for us. It is mere chauvinism and of course self-important feeling has no place in our world today. But, we can
also speculate that that kind of feeling comes from a deeper layer of consciousness: a feeling that was built after hundred years of colonialism-- that is: its always better not to believe in foreigners.)
But, learning from India, of course, is a different case. Indians are hardly considered as foreigners for this archipelago. They had come to the shores of Sumatra and Java islands even before the European arrived-- through trade and spiritual journeys. Dont forget, India was the one who introduced Hinduism to the people in this vast archipelago.
I want to stress out the importance of learning again from India today, not for its religious richness –which we already have learnt and internalized into our values—but from its experience in forging a strong and fair society it is today, out of many ethnict groups and interests-- with almost no blood spilled. I think its also will be a tremendous benefit for Indonesia, if we can also learn from its democracy, that have strive above all else and excel in the last six decades.
India has a --more or less-- similar post-colonial history compared to Indonesia, especially when both countries were struggling for its people's independence. When India was liberated from the British Empire in the late 40’s, their leaders tried very hard and with all means possible to unite their diverse country. Same here. The difference is Indian leaders did it with negotiation, offering concession whenever necessary and appropriate, and ended up creating a strong nation with the consent of its strongest and most representative, stakeholders.
In Indonesia, the story is slightly different. Indeed, as in India, our leaders fought genuinely for the people. The difference began, when they start thinking about how much power should be distributed to districts and provinces.
Back then, during those crucial moments, Indian’s leaders took a very bold step by giving autonomy to regions, which were very powerful under British rule. In return, they received the regions' leaders consent in defending and supporting the newly born nation. But, Indonesian leaders, hiding behind terms like 'unity in diversity' (bhineka tunggal ika--) and 'NKRI, Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia' (the unitarian state of Republic of Indonesia),choose to centralize its power and gave little to provinces and regencies. As the result, Indonesia have to went through a period of turmoil moments triggered by a couple of destructive rebellions. Its all boiling from the feeling of inequality between Jakarta and other provinces within Indonesia.
Judging from that, I think the power distribution mechanism in India is a valuable experience and lesson for Indonesia. Especially today, in the middle of the government's ambitious program to implement the 1999 regional autonomy law. However, the lesson hasn ’t been fully learnt. In Indonesia, autonomy created a bottleneck bureaucracy, regional corruption and shameless looting by government and member of local parliaments. Of course, we cannot only blame them for all this mess. The central government's action to abruptly change the system unilaterally, decentralize power and authority to districts, without setting up a proper check and balances system, is also partly to blame.
As the result, the local government formerly under tight control from their bosses in Jakarta, now have nobody to report to. The idea that mayors and governors have to be held accountable to their own people is totally new and strange for them. So when people try to question their wrongdoings, the official just hide behind legal procedures that already designed to block people from holding their representatives accountable.
The second very important lesson we can draw from India, is their committed beliefs in democracy. Although for a couple of years in the 70s, it seems like Indian economy would never developed into its form today, no Indian leaders ever playing with the idea of implementing totalitarianism, well at least in public. It seems like, Indians always firmly believe that to govern their diverse society fairly, democracy was, is and will always be, the only way. It might be hectic, crowded and sometimes tiring, but it’s better than having an effective government that wouldn’t listen and cannot be held accountable to its own people.
Indonesia today, I think, has come to the most difficult period in its transition toward democracy. We have succeeded in laying down the foundation of the system, by putting a proper rule of law in place and having a fair election. Now it’s time to start deliver something tangible to the people. "Democracy can not make a country better, but through democracy, a country can be better." I quoted that from an Indian too; Amartya Sen, the scholar who won Nobel Prize for economics in 1998. I believe, understanding this logic, is very important. Especially for leaders who nowadays start to complain about the ineffectiveness of democracy when it comes to delivering promises to people.
Last January, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he often bewildered by the fact that foreign investment keep flowing to authoritarian China, instead of to democratic Indonesia. “If
we cant deliver prosperity for our people, they will start to question our decision to democratize,” that was what he --more or less-- said. Well, nothing new, actually. People on the street often said they felt better feed and took care, under Soeharto’s dictatorship.
It’s our challenge now to prove that to be wrong.
Maybe its true, under democracy, things sometime seems chaotic and inefficient. However, by listening to all perspectives before deciding something for the nation, I am convince, we will have a far better chance to come out with the correct decision for our people. That, I think, is the most important lesson we all have to learn from India. (*)
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