80 years of Indonesian independence

On August 17th, Indonesia celebrated its 80th year of independence. After 80 years, the Netherlands still has not fully recognised the independence day of its old colony. Although we try to recognise the horrors of our colonial past, we are still intertwined with the stories our ancestors spread to cleanse us of our sins, making complete reconciliation impossible.

After the Japanese capitulation in 1945, the Indonesians announced the independence of the new republic. In the 4 years that followed, the Netherlands sent troops to Indonesia during the so-called “politionele acties” (police actions). The ensuing war killed over a hundred thousand people and brought further devastation to the country that had just gone through 350 years of colonisation and World War II. On December 27, 1949, under pressure from the United States and the broader international community, the Netherlands ceased their claims on the territory and officially transferred sovereignty, except for New Guinea.

Multiple Indonesian concessions were made to make the Netherlands cease their claims, the most lasting of which was a payment of the Dutch colonial debts and other financial compensations and benefits for the Dutch. This money was used to rebuild the Netherlands into the wealthy country it is today, while it was taken from Indonesia, which was struggling with its own recent wars.

We want to recognise our past
horrors as long as they have no
real consequences for us

Two years ago, our then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands recognised August 17, 1945, as the independence day of Indonesia, “volledig en zonder voorbehoud” (fully and without reservations). Shortly after, Rutte had to retract his statement to ensure it had no political or legal consequences. Rutte made a morally easy statement and didn’t consider that the colonial stories of the past still bound the Dutch in the present. This moment illustrated how the Netherlands relates to its colonial history. We want to recognise our past horrors as long as they have no real consequences for us.

The importance of the two conflicting independence dates for Dutch colonial history is worthy of investigation. If we consider the colonisation of a people to be bad, their autonomous push for independence should be celebrated, which requires us to recognise the 17th of August as their independence day. The territorial claims until 1949 would be rendered illegitimate, and that would mean that we would need to repay the compensation. But, most importantly, we must recognise that our “police actions” were more of a full-scale invasion. It requires a journey into our collective history to understand why we sent over a hundred thousand troops to Indonesia against a backdrop of recent German occupation.

In those years, we truly believed that we were wanted in Indonesia. We still believed Indonesia was better off with Dutch colonial rule, including white-supremacist apartheid, oppression and exploitation. We would need to recognise those narratives and investigate how they influence our current day.

On the other hand, continuing with the status quo of official recognition of the 1945 independence day, but keeping some reservations to ensure we are not negatively affected, delegitimises Indonesian independence and requires us to continue defending our colonial legitimacy. To continue calling the invasion “police actions,” resembling Putin talking about a military operation in Ukraine, we must see pre-1949 Indonesia as legitimate Dutch territory.

Why, then, do we not remember the non-white, indigenous casualties of the Indonesian independence struggle during our annual 5 May remembrance of Dutch deaths during and after World War II? Were they second-ranked civilians as our colonial system designated them? Or do we reject that dehumanising story? Why are we not more determined to investigate and compensate victims of crimes against humanity during those “police actions,” if they were indeed Dutch civilians? The false stories we told ourselves in the past become intertwined with the present truth. It exemplifies what Sinan Çankaya calls the “resounding of histories.”

To make a step towards reconciliation with our colonial past, we must discard the stories we constructed to defend our colonial history. It seems like we are not ready yet, and continue to find ourselves caught up in stories we fail to bring together. Why can’t we mourn the death of Dutch soldiers who fought in Indonesia to defend the lie of colonialism and mourn the death of the Indonesian people who took up arms against us? Why can’t we distance ourselves from colonialism and face the consequences by returning the wealth it brought us? Or, thinking of Palestine, why can’t we reject the ongoing genocide, recognise the foundation of Israel as a colonial mistake and acknowledge Israelis also have a right to live where they were born, if it were on equal footing with the Palestinians?

The continuing struggle of reconciliation with our colonial past brings up conflicting stories. After 80 years of Indonesian independence, we are still not ready and keep on holding tight to our colonial past. We should reject all colonial stories without reservations, no matter the consequences.