Kolom IBRAHIM ISA
Thursday, 15 April 2010
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*Commemmorating The 55th Anniv. Of The BANDUNG CONFERENCE, April 1955 *
*<File 3>*
*Notice:*
Following is the speech of President Sukarno of the Republic of
Indonesia, at the opening session of the Bandung Conference, April
18th 1955. In his speech Sukarno underlined that: -- 'COLONIALISM IS
NO YET DEAD'. It takes a new form, i.e. neo-colonialism.
The actual international situation, in which the majority of he
world's people are still living in poverty; the economic and
financial activities are still dominated from world's financial
centres in New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Frankfurt, -- are very
much similar to the situation, as described by President Sukarno
more than half a century ago. Not much has changed since then.
*Sukarno:*
"*I beg of you do not think of colonialism only in the classic form
which we of Indonesia, and our brothers in different parts of Asia
and Africa, knew. Colonialism has also its modern dress, in the form
of economic control, intellectual control, actual physical control
by a small but alien community within a nation. It is a skilful and
determined enemy, and it appears in many guises. It does not give up
its loot easily. Wherever, whenever and however it appears,
colonialism is an evil thing, and one which must be eradicated from
the earth. . . . "*
* * *
*
**President Sukarno -- The Republic Indonesia: *
Speech at the Opening Session of the Bandung Conference.
"This twentieth century has been a period of terrific dynamism.
Perhaps the last fifty years have seen more developments and more
material progress than the previous five hundred years. Man has
learned to control many of the scourges which once threatened him.
He has learned to consume distance. He has learned to project his
voice and his picture across oceans and continents. lie has probed
deep into the secrets of nature and learned how to make the desert
bloom and the plants of the earth increase their bounty. He has
learned how to release the immense forces locked in the smallest
particles of matter.
But has man's political skill marched hand-in-hand with his
technical and scientific skill? Man can chain lightning to his
command-can be control the society in which be lives? The answer is
No! The political skill of man has been far outstripped by technical
skill, and what lie has made he cannot be sure of controlling.
The result of this is fear. And man gasps for safety and morality.
Perhaps now more than at any other moment in the history of the
world, society, government and statesmanship need to be based upon
the highest code of morality and ethics. And in political terms,
what is the highest code of morality? It is the subordination of
everything to the well-being of mankind. But today we are faced with
a situation where the well-being of mankind is not always the
primary consideration. Many who are in places of high power think,
rather, of controlling the world.
Yes, we are living in a world of fear. The life of man today is
corroded and made bitter by fear. Fear of the future, fear of the
hydrogen bomb, fear of ideologies. Perhaps this fear is a greater
danger than the danger itself, because it is fear which drives men
to act foolishly, to act thoughtlessly, to act dangerously. . . .
All of us, I am certain, are united by more important things than
those which superficially divide us. We are united, for instance, by
a common detestation of colonialism in whatever form it appears. We
are united by a common detestation of racialism. And we are united
by a common determination to preserve and stabilise peace in the
world. . . .
We are often told "Colonialism is dead." Let us not be deceived or
even soothed by that. 1 say to you, colonialism is not yet dead. How
can we say it is dead, so long as vast areas of Asia and Africa are
unfree.
And, I beg of you do not think of colonialism only in the classic
form which we of Indonesia, and our brothers in different parts of
Asia and Africa, knew. Colonialism has also its modern dress, in the
form of economic control, intellectual control, actual physical
control by a small but alien community within a nation. It is a
skilful and determined enemy, and it appears in many guises. It does
not give up its loot easily. Wherever, whenever and however it
appears, colonialism is an evil thing, and one which must be
eradicated from the earth. . . .
Not so very long ago we argued that peace was necessary for us
because an outbreak of fighting in our part of the world would
imperil our precious independence, so recently won at such great cost.
Today, the picture is more black. War would riot only mean a threat
to our independence, it may mean the end of civilisation and even of
human life. There is a force loose in the world whose potentiality
for evil no man truly knows. Even in practice and rehearsal for war
the effects may well be building up into something of unknown horror.
Not so long ago it was possible to take some little comfort from the
idea that the clash, if it came, could perhaps be settled by what
were called "conventional weapons "-bombs, tanks, cannon and men.
Today that little grain of comfort is denied us for it has been made
clear that the weapons of ultimate horror will certainly be used,
and the military planning of nations is on that basis. The
unconventional has become the conventional, and who knows what other
examples of misguided and diabolical scientific skill have been
discovered as a plague on humanity.
And do not think that the oceans and the seas will protect us. The
food that we cat, the water that we drink, yes, even the very air
that we breathe can be contaminated by poisons originating from
thousands of miles away. And it could be that, even if we ourselves
escaped lightly, the unborn generations of our children would bear
on their distorted bodies the marks of our failure to control the
forces which have been released on the world.
No task is more urgent than that of preserving peace. Without peace
our independence means little. The rehabilitation and upbuilding of
our countries will have little meaning. Our revolutions will not be
allowed to run their course. . . .
What can we do? We can do much! We can inject the voice of reason
into world affairs. We can mobilise all the spiritual, all the
moral, all the political strength of Asia and Africa on the side of
peace. Yes, we! We, the peoples of Asia and Africa, 1,400,000,000
strong, far more than half the human population of the world, we can
mobilise what I have called the Moral Violence of Nations in favour
of peace. We can demonstrate to the minority of the world which
lives on the other continents that we, the majority are for peace,
not for war, and that whatever strength we have will always be
thrown on to the side of peace.
In this struggle, some success has already been scored. I think it
is generally recognised that the activity of the Prime Ministers of
the Sponsoring Countries which invited you here had a not
unimportant role to play in ending the fighting in Indo-China.
Look, the peoples of Asia raised their voices, and the world
listened. It was no small victory and no negligible precedent! The
five Prime Ministers did not make threats. They issued no ultimatum,
they mobilised no troops. Instead they consulted together, discussed
the issues, pooled their ideas, added together their individual
political skills and came forward with sound and reasoned
suggestions which formed the basis for a settlement of the long
struggle in Indo-China.
I have often since then asked myself why these five were successful
when others, with long records of diplomacy, were unsuccessful, and,
in fact, had allowed a bad situation to get worse, so that there was
a danger of the conflict spreading. . . . I think that the answer
really lies in the fact that those five Prime Ministers brought a
fresh approach to bear on the problem. They were not seeking
advantage for their own countries. They had no axe of power-politics
to grind. They had but one interest-how to end the fighting in such
a way that the chances of continuing peace and stability were
enhanced. . . .
So, let this Asian-African Conference be a great success! Make the
"Live and let live" principle and the "Unity in Diversity" motto the
unifying force which brings us all together-to seek in friendly,
uninhibited discussion, ways and means by which each of us can live
his own life, and let others live their own lives, in their own way,
in harmony, and in peace.
If we succeed in doing so, the effect of it for the freedom,
independence and the welfare of man will be great on the world at
large. The Light of Understanding has again been lit, the Pillar of
Cooperation again erected. The likelihood of success of this
Conference is proved already by the very presence of you all here
today. It is for us to give it strength, to give it the power of
inspiration-
* * *
*Source: *Africa-Asia Speaks from Bandong, (DjakartaL Indonesian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1955)
* * *
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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