Tatang Guritno, Robertus Belarminus, Jakarta – Musician Baskara Putra has revealed the reasons behind the making of a song in collaboration with Maria Sumarsih, the mother of the Benardinus Realino Norma Irawan, or Wawan as he was known by friends, a student who was killed in the Semanggi I tragedy in 1998.
Putra revealed that the main message being conveyed by the song was from the point of view of a mother who lost her child due to the actions of the state apparatus.
"There's a kind of interesting parallel between what I put in the working space of the first album, there is my mom, how she watched me grow up until she saw me entering college age", said Putra on the Gaspol program which aired on the Kompas.com YouTube channel on Thursday April 3.
"At the same time, there were other mothers who were not as fortunate whose children died when they were still students", he continued.
In his latest album titled Doves, Putra created a song called Kamisan (Thursday) which tells the story of Maria Sumarsih and about Wawan's death.
He asserted that his work was not intended to be seen from the political point of view, but to show the feelings of a mother who lost her beloved child due to the actions of the state apparatus.
"My focus was to provide space for a mother who lost her child to tell the story from her perspective. Incidentally this mother is a mother who lost her child and they are an Indonesian citizen, like I said, coincidentally there is a connection with the state related to how her child lost his life", he explained.
Putra also said he wanted to convey an important message regarding the Wawan's death so that the younger generation understands the struggle of those demanding justice at the Kamisan actions in front of the State Palace every Thursday.
He also expressed concern over the wrong views many young people have about Kamisan actions. "Like one-and-a-half, one year back I saw very alarming comments on the internet about how most young people see the Kamisan actions", he added.
The Kamisan actions themselves are a movement which demands that the state be held accountable for various past gross human rights violations.
To this day, the government has yet to apologise or acknowledge a number of gross human rights violations that occurred in Indonesia, including the Semanggi I and II tragedies that resulted in the death of student activists in 1998-99.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Alasan Hindia Buat Lagu bersama Maria Sumarsih yang Berisi Cerita Kematian Korban Tragedi '98".]
