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Introduction
By Mukya*
It is not unusual for friends and interviewers of imprisoned East Timorese resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao, to preface their communiques with expressions of sympathy for his current status as a political prisoner of Indonesia's New Order regime. With typical humility and generosity of spirit, he is quick to remind those who sympathise with his lack of freedom of the far greater hardships faced by his guerrilla fighters who continue, against tremendous odds, to resist Indonesian occupation in the mountains of East Timor today:
"When I think of them, I cry. Yes, I cry! To imagine that I am here, free of the exhaustion, of the physical pain, the injuries, the enemy bullets, the death! To think that while I grow fat, they go hungry, fall ill. These men who never abandoned me, who always believed in me, and yet who abandoned everything themselves, giving up their families and accepting that it was their destiny to die for their omeland".(1)At the current stage in the development of the East Timorese struggle for independence, prospects of achieving a peaceful and internationally recognised resolution of the conflict through UN/multinational intervention would appear to be growing dimmer, in line with the rise of economic rationalism and international trade imperatives as a universal norm.It was the same spirit of self-sacrifice, in the interests of defending his beloved East Timor, which drew Xanana Gusmao into the struggle for independence in 1975. He was appointed to the Central Committee of Fretilin in September of the same year, despite his desire in those first years for "a role outside the political parties, in order to have access to the complete process of liberation of our homeland".(2)
Up until the time of the invasion, he held the position of Vice- Secretary of Fretilin's Department of Information and was given responsibility for media/press affairs. He was later made platoon commander and assumed responsibility for political/military duties in the eastern zone. The following passage describes the long march which he and the population of the eastern-most region of East Timor made in an attempt to flee the bombing campaigns of 1978-1979, and the tales of a visionary which presaged Xanana's eventual assumption of command of the armed struggle:
"September, 1978. The population of the far east of East Timor was enduring the long march to Matebian mountain. They marched the length of the Legumau range, taking the old road made during the Japanese occupation which connected Luro and Baguia path woken from its thirty year sleep by the constant to and fro of people and animals. Some villages had already begun to arrive on the mountain's eastern slopes, but most were still busy, eagerly packing up the scanty possessions which they required in order to survive the daily hardships of the war.
Amongst the "fatalukus" (natives of the eastern part of East Timor) was a man in his forties who was known by all to be a visionary. It was true that many or all of his predictions came true, sometimes within days, weeks or months, and in some cases, years later. I knew him personally, but not for these powers of prophecy which he was said to possess.
At that time, I was responsible for that entire zone, so it was my job to supervise closely the march. I accompanied the people, assisting them with their relocation.
Halfway to Matebian, headquarters of Fretilin's Central Committee were established and it was here that people gathered, either to rest or debate their concerns and problems. The man was there talking to some others, including one who later would become a Central Committee member. When the man saw me passing with a group of people to collect what food remained in the abandoned gardens, he said "He is the one who will lead this struggle!".
Astonished and at the same time incredulous, those present retorted "It's impossible! He is a junior member of the Central Committee, and there are fifty others, all of whom are still alive".
"Yes, I know", he continued. "The President himself will die, like many of them, while others will surrender. A few will remain, and he will be the one to take up the reins ....".
Speechless and afraid, as these prophecies were disagreeable to them, the others asked him to keep silent. In fact, the man was later detained, apparently having become caught up in a dispute involving two factions within the resistance leadership who were fighting it out in order to win the favours of the Political Commissioner. Such were the unfortunate realities of the struggle in those first years!
"What is there to be afraid of?", he asked. "I am only saying the truth. Nobody would arrest me for saying the truth!"
And he continued to describe how the people would not stay for long in Matebian, that it would not be necessary for them to climb the mountain, but that there were orders and that they were obliged to continue their march. He also told how he would be captured at the foot of Matebian mountain, would be taken to Lospalos and released three months later. He described how it would not be long before the people would succumb to the force of /f/ the enemy and, like many of the guerrilla fighters, would be obliged to surrender. The period that followed, he said, would be one of great confusion and, finally I would become responsible for taking the struggle forward .....
Eight years later, one of those who had listened to the man's prophecies and who in 1986 was a member of the Fretilin Central Committee, recounted this story to us. Many things had happened, just as the man had foreseen them. Don't forget that this prophet was only able to read and write his own name!
Could this be what we call destiny?
He had said also that it will take a long, long time but that we will win. Not with the policy of weapons, but with the weapon of policy ... and that multinational forces would supervise the withdrawal of the Indonesian Armed Forces from East Timor!" (3)
Since before his capture, but particularly in the last couple of years, Xanana has sought to ensure that the cause of East Timorese self-determination and national liberation is advanced in tandem with the struggle for greater democratic freedoms within Indonesia. He has spent a good deal of time cultivating links with the most active members of Indonesia's pro-democracy movement, many of whom have done, or continue to do time with him in Cipinang Correctional Institution, Jakarta.
His close links with groups such as AJI (Alliance of Independent Journalists), Pijar (Information Centre and Action Network for Reform), PPBI (Centre for the Indonesian Workers' Struggle), PRD (Peoples' Democratic Party), SMID (Student Solidarity for Democracy in Indonesia) and SPRIM (Indonesian Solidarity with the Struggle of the Maubere People), all of whom place East Timor high on their political agendas, culminated in the historic embassy occupations of December 1995 which marked the 20th anniversary of the Indonesian invasion.
Xanana has also established relationships with the older generation of PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) political prisoners,. In return for the insights they have offered him into the workings of the Indonesian army and New Order political system, he has lobbied on numerous occasions for the rights of these men, many of whom are ill and incapacitated, access to decent medical attention and humanitarian support. With other political prisoners, too, and with the murderers, rapists and robbers who are his fellow inmates, Xanana has shared his vision of an independent East Timor, gaining sympathy and understanding for his struggle and the principles of justice and international law which underpin it.
Xanana's personal courage and acceptance of the efforts of all individuals and political groupings to end the war in East Timor has earnt him the respect and admiration of East Timorese and Indonesian youth in particular. They view him as both a symbolic and very real unifying force of the resistance. He has repeatedly rejected international appeals for his exile until all East Timorese political prisoners are freed. A fact which has strengthened the already considerably moral authority he commands and disgruntled the Indonesian authorities who would no doubt embrace the chance to be free of their most famous, outspoken and well-loved political prisoner!