TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The government still thinks it is necessary to ban books considered dangerous to the nation’s unity. Certain books could form the wrong collective conscious and trigger a separatist time bomb Source
“We do not want to see Indonesia separated,” said the Head of Research and Development of the Justice and Human Rights Department Hafid Abbas in his office yesterday.
He deemed that separatists know the hardship of armed resistance so they chose to do their campaign through publications.
Before forbidding its distribution, the government will produce a comparable publication.
Separatist issues dominate 20 books evaluated by the Research Body.
Among the books to be banned are The Indigenous World 2009 published by the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs, edited by Kathrin Wissendrof.
The book was launched at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA, in May 2009.
The second book, published by the Watch Papua and the Galang Press, Hak Asasi Masyarakat Adat: UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, was authored by Sem Karoba. Sem translated United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous People.
The third book, published by the Galang Press, Jeritan Bangsa: Rakyat Papua Barat Mencari Keadilan (A Nation’s Plea: West Papua People Looking for Justice), authored by Sendius Wonda. The book is considered to be a potential trigger for separatist acts.
The Head of the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation Patra M. Zein said that the Justice and Human Rights Department was still unable to pick its priorities.
“This shows that the Justice and Human Rights Department cannot sort its priorities yet,” he said in his office yesterday.
Rather than banning books, the Department could prioritize other programs.
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