Sarmin, Head of the Pundenrejo Farmers Movement Group (black t-shirt holding mic), Peace Place Pati, August 10, 2024.Photo:Petrus

In Friends Peace Teams, we practice nonviolence and reconciliation to effectively work for justice and peace in our own and neighboring communities. One hundred and forty-three families in Pundenrejo Village, farmers and manual laborers, are struggling to defend their right to their ancestral land that was seized by private Indonesian companies.

In Village Society in the Changing Times – History of Social Differentiation in Java 1830-1980, Frans Hüsken explains how the Indonesian Government nationalized Dutch companies in Java during the peak of political tension between Indonesia and the Dutch over West Papua. In 1958, the Indonesian government turned management of land used by Dutch companies over to the Indonesian National Army, Diponegoro Division. Much of that land should have returned to local tribal authorities in accordance with existing tribal law, called Adat, which co-exists with Indonesian law. This was the case for the Pundenrejo villagers.

According to Mbah Suriyanto of Pundenrejo, about 15 hectares belong to their tribe. In 1907, they gave temporary management rights to the Dutch for the Dutch Pakis Sugar factory. In 1950, the land returned to the management of the Pundenrejo Village. In 1965, during the coup d’etat in Indonesia, the community was driven out by a group called “Pioneers of the Diponegoro Sari Cluster.” If they did not hand over the land, these rogue military men threatened to name the villagers as members of the Indonesian Communist Party, which meant they would be executed without trial. So they gave in. Due to economic pressures in 1999, the community once again took control of their land for agricultural cultivation. But in 2020, during the COVID pandemic, they were again forcibly evicted by a private company escorted by military and police. Today, the community still struggles to reclaim their land rights so they can meet their needs.

Saturday, August 10, 2024, was an interesting moment. Members of the Pundenrejo Community Movement came to Peace Place in Pati to share the experiences of their struggle. We invited the Sedulur Sikep. They are Samin, an indigenous community in Central Java. In the past, we supported them in their successful struggle to retain their land rights against a cement factory in the Kendeng Mountains. The Sedulur Sikep were so grateful they dismantled and rebuilt a Joglo building on the Peace Place site, which now houses the Joglo Preschool. We also invited the Semarang Legal Aid Institute and a lawyer from Pati. One of their goals was to build friendships among them, so the villagers could seek support for their struggle.

Dikha acted as the moderator of the meeting. He noticed the Cooperative Agreements to Practice and Transforming Power posters on the wall. We explained how we use these as important guides for organizing to effectively advocate for our rights. After opening with the purpose of the meeting, the group took time together to read and understand the Cooperative Agreement to Practice.

Pundenrejo women, who are members of the Pundenrejo farmers movement at Peace Place Pati, August 10, 2024, photo: Petrus

Cooperative Agreements to Practice

  • Affirm self and others, no put downs or put ups.
  • Stop, listen, don’t interrupt.
  • Speak simply and truthfully, without fear of mistakes.
  • Speak about one’s own experience, not others without permission.
  • Make friends not enemies with people similar to and different from yourself.
  • Ask for and offer hospitality, feedback, and assistance.
  • Tend to emotion, then speak directly if in dispute.
  • Use what’s needed and share the rest fairly.
  • Use your rights to pass and to ask for consultation.
  • Volunteer yourself only, not others.
  • Care for each person, the group, the community, and the natural world.
  • Live in integrity with life’s transforming power.

Sarmin, who is the head of the movement, said he was very happy and grateful to Peace Place Pati for providing a place for this meeting. Enthusiasm, exploring solidarity, finding friends, and struggling without violence or being criminalized are the goals of this meeting. The Pundenrejo community hopes to learn from the experience of the Sedulur Sikep in their nonviolent struggle against the cement factory over control of the Kendeng Mountains.

Basier said many of the agreements are very difficult to follow during the community struggle, especially stopping, listening, not interrupting, speaking briefly and honestly without fear of being wrong, tending emotions, speaking directly to someone if there is a dispute, and caring for everyone, the communities, and nature. They do not find these points easy to practice.

Supriyadi, who is the former Head of Pundenrejo Village, said that he felt cool and comfortable in Peace Place. He felt it may be a sign that his problems can be resolved. When reading the twelve points of the Cooperative Agreement, he said that it was a philosophy of life, of religious life, daily life, national life, life in general, and also of village life. In the struggle to demand justice for people’s land rights, he reflected on an insight about truth. Truth might be attacked or might even lose, but it can’t be wrong!

Pundenrejo is one case of agrarian conflict in Java. According to this press release (Feb. 27, 2024) from the Agrarian Reform Consortium and the Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, of the six Asian countries of Indonesia (India, Cambodia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Nepal), Indonesia has the greatest number of agrarian conflicts. (The press release, which is very informative, is in Indonesian. We suggest using Google Translate or similar online translator, to translate into your language. -JA)