Book sheds light on unsung diplomat

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A newly-published history book has attempted to uncover one of Indonesia's unsung heroes, Ida Anak Agung Gde Agung, whom the book's author claims was a crucial diplomatic force at the time of the country's inception.

"Ida Anak Agung Gde Agung, the founder of a diplomatic body called the BFO (Bijeenkomst Federaale Overleg), has rendered Indonesia an important service, but many people have overlooked him," said the book's author, R.Z. Leirissa, on Thursday.

Addressing the launch of his book, The Third Power in Fighting for Indonesia's Independence, Leirissa said Agung had pushed for diplomatic negotiations circa 1945 to scrap an interim government.

Agung was considered the representative of former East Indonesia, a nation in the archipelago that had not yet become a part of the Republic of Indonesia.

His organization, the BFO, which was established in 1948, has not been represented accurately by history books printed during the New Order era, Leirissa said.

The body was seen by many as driven by the Netherlands to "divide and conquer" the young nation, while Leirissa maintains that the BFO had actually saved Indonesia by opting for the creation of the Republik Indonesia Serikat (The Republic of the United States of Indonesia, or R.I.S.).

"It fought for peace between Indonesia and the Netherlands," he said, adding that Agung had shaped the BFO into a tool to consolidate national power and to utilize the diplomatic channels.

"Agung's fight had ousted the Dutch-Indies governor at the time, H.J. van Mook."

Leirissa, a history professor at the University of Indonesia, said that reading his book would not be an easy feat.

"Many schools don't have national diplomatic history lessons. During the New Order regime, reading this kind of book was prohibited by the authorities, such as the police."

The director for public diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, Umar Hadi, said that reading the book would be difficult for those educated during former president Soeharto's regime.

"To me, the book is obscure," Umar said. "It is gloomy, because I don't have enough reference to understand it."

Umar said more focus should be given to producing history books like Leirissa's, which are able to bridge the generation gap.

University of Indonesia historian Saleh As'ad Djamhari said that Indonesian governments from any era had yet to pay tribute to local diplomatic heroes.

"Diplomats fight not in a physical way, but at the negotiation table."

Frans Seda, a former cabinet minister in the Sukarno and Soeharto administrations, lauded Leirissa's effort in writing the book, but hinted that for him, one thing remained unclear.

"There was a rift inside the BFO itself. There were several versions of the BFO. So could it still be called 'the third power'? I doubt that," he said, referring to the BFO, as described by Leirissa, as the third power next to the Dutch and Indonesian governments during the independence period.