Send it back! Dutch report on possible return of colonial theft of cultural heritage

On 7 October 2020 a report was handed over to the Dutch Government with the title Koloniale collecties en erkenning van onrecht (= Colonial collections and recognition of injustice). It concludes that thousands, perhaps about more than one hundred thousand cultural objects were stolen by the colonial government in Surinam, the Dutch Caribean Islands and Indonesia. If the objects were honestly paid for, or  given by free owners, there is no problem. But if they were stolen, and the former owners want it back (in fact the states of Indonesia, Surinam, Curacao and other islands) then it should seriously be considered to send these objects back. Examples were given such as the large diamond stolen from Banjarmasin during the war of 1859 and the precious objects in Lombok (Cakranegara) during the war of 1894 (only the manuscript of the Negarakertagama was once given back to Indonesia, during the visit of President Soeharto to the Netherlands in 1970).

Another example is the beautiful statue of Ganesha, taken in 1803 from the temple of Singasari in East Java and brought to the mansion of the Governor of the Northcoast of Java in Semarang at the request of Governor Engelman and later brought to the Netherlands. Now it is a masterpiece at the largest museum of the country, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. If the Indonesian government wants it back there should be no argument that the theft is already outdated because of lapse of time. It will probably a matter of some long deliberations and some time, but the director of the commision, Lilian Goncalves-Ho Kang You, responded that colonialism was a matter of nearly four hundred years (1600-1975) and that its restoration may take some time as well.

Meister Eckhart, Heidegger, and Syafaatun al-Mirzanah on detachment in/is Islam

Through a small book about the philosophy of Heidegger I came across his interest for Meister Eckhart (1260-1329) and his idea  of Gelassenheit, sometimes translated as detachment, releasement. And so I read in the book of the Ph.Thesis by Shafaatun the chapter on Detachment (pp. 121-157). Shafaatun takes another keyword of Eckhart, Abgescheidenheit, also translated as 'detachment'.

In the recent book on The Essential Caputo, a nice analysis of this concept of  Eckhart is given. There is a cool section of detachment: leaving things aside, making free from, like ascetism, which also may lead to indifference, lazyness. This is the negative side of the concept, like the Arab nafî, leading to some kind of purification, but not yet a final situation. But then isbât should of follow, as the fulfillment, realisation of union with God.

 

Caputo writes in this that after detachment a positive action must come: "As the soul transcends into the multiplicity of sensible things of the world to God himself." (61). Here Eckhart writes in a personal style about God, while Heidegger writes in an impersonal mood about Being itself. In fact, here is not only negative theology working (see Shafaatun pp 154-155) but also the positive side is coming in.

From this debate I thought again about the meaning of Islam. It is often translated as 'surrender to God's will and power', and so has the meaning of detachment, but it immediately must be given the positive meaning of sharing God's plan with the world, of a personal union. Entrustment could be a good translation of Islam too.

After 123 years: Ceremonial Dutch Golden Coach banned for reasons of discrimination

 In 1898 the Dutch Kingdom welcomed a new queen, Wilhelmina. The citizens of the capital, Amsterdam, gave her a new coach, commonly called 'the golden coach' for its rich decoration. Much of the wooden parts were made by cratfsmen from Jepara. Since 1903 the coach has been used every year at the third Tuesday of September to bring the royal family to parliament for its ceremonial opening and the King's speech. A few years ago it was decided that the coach should receive treatment for some deficiencies. Now it is finished and fine again and could be used for next Tuesday.

However, in relations to the demonstrations under the label of 'Black lives matter' there is a fierce criticism on colonialism again and especially the treatment of native population in the colonies who had to obey and to bow for colonial rulers, here represented by the former queen. Therefore it has now been decided by the government, no longer to use the Golden Coach for ceremonial purposes and to place in in a historical museum. Times are changing, although slowly!

CMR volume 16: Indonesia in the 19th century

 

CMR, the great series on the bibliographical history of Christan-Muslim Relations has now published volume 16: 825 pages on  North America (54 entries, 430 pages! Islam is a global religion!), interesting articles on China, Japan, some on Australia and 16 on Southeast Asia. - I wrote here five articles, one on L.W./C. van den Berg, further three on colonial conflicts with religious implications (Paderi wars, Aceh, Banjar 1859- and one on Ahmed Ripangi. I write here short remarks on more authors who were important for Indonesia.

1. Ismail Hakki Göksoy from Isparta, Turkey, found in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul a rich documentation of the correspondance between the sultanate of Aceh and the Ottomans in Mecca and Istanbul between 1849 and 1873. The Acehnese sultan wanted to put Aceh as part of the Ottoman empire and asked for protection, especially warships: 'For if we do not expell them from the Muslim lands, we fear all the people of the island will apostasise and leave Islam once and for all' (583). The Ottoman government did not act positively in favour of Aceh.

2.  Thomas Stamford Raffles wrote 1807 in private letters very positive about Islam: 'Mohamed's mission does not invalidate our Saviour's. One [= Islam] has secured happiness to the Eastern and one [= Christianity] to the Western world, and both deserve our veneration.' (526). But at the end of his career in Asia, in 1823, has was very negative about the role of Islam.

3. Nico Kaptein wrote about Sayyid Uthman, the most prominent Arab scholar in the Dutch East Indies between 1850 until his death in 1914.  He defended the position that the Dutch rule gave safety and protection to the Muslims and therefore it was illegal to steal from them or take their property in any means. (550). Kaptein adds that also 'traditional fiqh might provide arguments in favour of harmonious Christian-Muslim relations. (550). Kaptein also wrote about the mufti of Mecca, Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan (1816-1886), who issued several fatawa in the same line, that Muslims should obey the infidel colonial rulers in everything and that also the appoinments of mosque leaders are legal (565).

4. A very interesting person is Abdullah Abdulkadir, usually called Abdullah Munshi, of mixed Arab (Hadramaut) and Tamil ancestry. He was born in Malacca and fluent in languages, teacher of missionaries and colonial officials. Although he received his salary from the British and Americans, he remained critical and independent and in translating the gospels: he defended his Muslim confession, although he also admired the dedication of the colonial administration. Finally, through this contact 'Malay Islam became more defensive due to the mossionary presence.' (535).

The project has also some missing issues: the Java War of 1825-1830 and the position and writings of Prince Dipanagara are not discussed here, but in such a work always some deficiences are left to be corrected by others later.

The Indonesian roots of Prime Minster Rutte and his dilemma between 15-17 August

 For Dutch people a commemoration is held on 4 May each year of the people who died in World War II, while the new freedom in the country is celebrated on 5th of May. This year has a more elaborated celebration because of 75 years after 1945. On 15 August there is a special celebration in The Hague at the monument for the victims of Japanese rule in Indonesia, January 1942- 15 August 1945. This year the monument in The Hague was smeared with red paint by an Aliansi Merah Putih who claim that The Netherlands should not only mourn for the fate of their own citizens, but recognize that it made the wrong choice not to celebrate Indonesian Independence on 17 August. Instead the Dutch tried between 1945-1949 to renew their control in Indonesia.

This year prime minister Rutte was not only present in his official function, but talked about the fate of his family: his father (working in a Dutch firm in Indonesia) was imprisoned and had to work for the Japanese. his wife and two cildren were in separate camps and his wife died just before the end of WWII. Back in the Netherlands his father remarried and had four more children, among them Mark Rutte. In his speech he discussed the difficult and different choices and memories of Dutch citizens. They all have their own priorities: the largest group are the Eurasion or Indo people. They emphasize, together with the offspring from Dutch people who suffered in Japanese camps and from the bersiap violence, between September 1945 and early 1946, that Indonesian freedom fighters killed thousands of people, just coming out of the Japanese camps. But also the Moluccan and Papua people in the Netherlands have their own ideas about the past and the difficult divorce between the Dutch colonial power and the Indonesian nationalism under Soekarno. An academic research about the last colonial war of 1945-9 has not yet published its results, but the focus of research is already criticized by many people concerned. One should not forget that about 2 million out of the Dutch population of 17 million in the Netherlands in some way have 'Indonesian roots'. As an involved academic in this process I am still very happy that in the fight against the Dutch, the difference of  religion was not an important issue (it became a cause of civil war in various regions like West Java, South Kalimantan, Sulawesi). Anyway, this debate still proves that Indonesian-Dutch relations still are influenced by different interpretations of the past.

Martabat Tujuh and the three hares of Paderborn

 Last week, Paule and I were in Münsterland again, the German province with its many castles, churches, feudal memories and old buildings amidst quiet landscape. It was the first foreign trip after the corona crisis made life rather dull and monotonous. More on this trip in my Dutch blog.

We saw very special image in Paderborn of three hares running together with three ears seen only. It is found as a decoration in front of some houses, the oldest in the great mediaeval cathedral (Hoher Dom). It is also founrd in some twenty more churches of Europe, in Jewish synagogues and below we will also see an Indonesian Muslim equivalent.

 

 

On top we see the three hares of Paderborn in front of a common house, in the middle in the cloister of the great cathedral. Some people interprete it as a symbol of the unity within the trinity: the three animals sharing ears. But a friendly guide gave us the common poetic riddle in German: 3 Hasen und der Löffel 3,  und doch hat jeder Hase 2 ('Three hares and their three ears, and still each one has two!).

It reminded me of an image found in the dissertation of Rinkes on the doctrine of Martabat Tujuh, the seven emanations of the divinity, where the three first are still united: God's knowledge, God knowing, the object of divine knowledge: all three are still united in the divinity, because God's knowledge creates, not something outside the divine being, but still inside God. This is the way God creates the obnject of his knowledge and love. Remaining one God only!

Breaking the taboo on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, also in Indonesia

The Jakarta Post had between 26 July and 7 August a series of articles, also an editorial on the difficult issue of the taboo on information about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church of Indonesia. The editorial of 4 August wrote: 'Last week The Jakarta Post published a series of articles addressing the issue of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, which many may perceive as a “taboo” as it could undermine the Church’s authority. It was the second time that the Post collaborated with Tirto.id after our joint investigative report on sexual abuse on campuses last year. Our recent tandem effort followed a report published by a West Jakarta parish magazine last December about 56 cases of alleged sexual abuse within the Church community.' It turned  out that it is still difficult for Catholic leadership to acknowledge these cases. The priest Joseph Kristanto, secretary of the Catholic Commission on Seminary Education reported 56 cases in a confidential report, but archbishop  of Jakarta, Cardinal Suharyo denied that he knew any case. Confronted with the official report he stated that it was confidential, the same status as sins confessed to a priest and therefore should be silenced! 'Breaking the taboo' is quite difficult! The same I heard about several bishops who were dismissed from their office, cases like Bishop Belo of Dili and more recently the bishop of Ruteng. No reasons for their withdrawal from their function was given, but rumours had stories of sexual stories. In a very open series of statements missionary Dr. John Priori is quoted by Jakarta Post that it would be much better if these cases are openly acknowledged, so that the circuits of gossip can be cleared and rather an open debate about these cases should take place.

Above: father Joseph Kristanto, below Cardinal Suharyo

These cases are not from the last decades only. In my first volume on Catholics in Indonesia, pp. 270-274 as Document 19) I included one case of 1851 (in fact the only case for the whole period of 1808-1940 found in the archives). A Capuchin Friar Kooy had committed sexual acts with young military trainees in Surabaya, one of them a 14-year old son Pallandt, lieutenant colonel of the army. Through two high Catholic connections, Resident P.J.B. de Parez as Resident of Surabaya and Colonel Count Von Lütsow, as army commander of East Java, the case was silenced, and Father Kooy was sent back to the Netherlands before the case was brought before the court. The letter in Dutch and partly in Latin (where the kernel of his deeds, even in the church building, in the confessional room was told), was like all non-Malay/Indonesian documents not included in the Indonesian translation of this volume. Only in the third volume (with much less documents) translation of all documents was included.

Another case of sexual abuse in the 19th century was in West Java. Tom van den End skipped this case in his publications of documents about the Protestant mission in Sundanese regions, but Maryse Kruithof, who later worked on the same Protestant Mission in West-Java, told it with documentation (about missionary Simon van Eendenburg). I related this in the blog Relindonesia.blogspot.com of 28 December 2014.

For me it was also the first time I read the website Trito.id: a nice resource.