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I think about those once mighty and pure rivers, endless tropical forests, deep and ancient cultures of local people. I close my eyes, trying to imagine hundreds of already vanished species of fauna and flora. Then, I imagine the huge, repulsive, kitschy dwellings of local 'elites', in Jakarta and Surabaya. I imagine European and North American cities built from the loot of places such as Kalimantan.
"Will Dayak people fight for their rights?" I asked.
"Maybe the next generation will," comes the hesitant reply. "But not this one. Definitely not this one."
In Palangkaraya city, we spoke to one of the most prominent Dayaks, an author J.J. Kusni, a man who spent long years in France, but finally returned to his native land.
I filmed his long, passionate testimony, in which he expressed sadness, even outrage over the state into which the Dayak people were reduced.
"Philosophically, a Dayak is a fighter," he said.
But the spirit of Dayak people was obviously smashed. Most of them have become victims, while others were convinced to convert themselves into collaborators. The entire Indonesian part of the Island of Borneo is now burned down, poisoned and logged out. There are few 'protected parks', but even in the middle of them, commercial activities are now detectable. Entire original cultures here are humiliated. People are confused. Most of them gave up, accepted, resigned.
Destruction and thorough ruin are being propagated as 'progress', by the Indonesian regime. Brainwashing is passed as 'education'.
"Through the national and even village government structures established by Suharto, everything in Kalimantan became "Javanized"," explained J.J. Kusni.
"So, what are the Dayak people doing?" I asked.
"They are crying," he replied curtly.
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[First published by NEO New Eastern Outlook]
Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Four of his latest books are China and Ecological Civilization with John B. Cobb, Jr., Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism, a revolutionary novel "Aurora" and a bestselling work of political non-fiction: "Exposing Lies Of The Empire". View his other books here. Watch Rwanda Gambit, his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky "On Western Terrorism". Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter. See Patreon.
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