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RI’s Independence Day - A Forgotten Piece of History (by Karina Soemarwoto)

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RI’s Independence Day - A Forgotten Piece of History Karina Soemarwoto* , Leiden, The Netherlands Thu, 01/14/2010 9:24 AM | Opinion, The Jakarta Post   On Nov. 15, 2009, a seminar was held at the Central Museum of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Besides its title, “Images of the Truth”, what made the event interesting was that it analyzed the Indonesian independence movement from a Dutch perspective in the presence of experts on Indonesia, such as Prof. Dr. Nico Schulten Nordholt, as guests. Had an Indonesian attended the meeting, they would have felt offended at the occasion. If they were familiar with the Dutch view of the issue, only the element of surprise would have vanished. An expressive attitude on the Dutch behalf created the impression that the demand for independence by the indigenous East Indian population was truly notable only after the Japanese presence and the “occupation” by the Westerners. Occasionally, the view that colonization is beneficial to the occupied popu