If Anyone Is Older Than Freedom, It Is Homeless

Pre -independence homeless people (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - What's older than Indonesian independence? Perhaps the answer is marginalization and social inequality. This is a story about homelessness, a representation of marginalization and how unequal social conditions have even been going on and stretching long before Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed independence.

Homeless people became known in the late 18th century. His story was once raised by Ong Hok Ham in a column entitled Tramp from Time to Time in the 1982 issue of Tempo magazine. Ong Hok Ham made this article based on reports from the governor and Dutch residents about the whereabouts of homeless people.

"Between Yogyakarta and Semarang there are about 35 thousand manual laborers called batur. These batur wear cawet trousers, do not wear clothes, do not have a permanent house, nor have permanent families. Most of them work as porters of goods or rough porters. it is said that they often stay near the market, because there are lots of goods being transported there, "he wrote.

Not only in Indonesia. Ong added that the homeless phenomenon had already targeted mainland Europe. They call tramps vogrants. However, it is a little different from the vagrants in Indonesia, these vogrants are a serious risk to security, which means that if there is an opportunity to steal, they will do it. Therefore, they are considered as troublemakers who are kept away from the established groups as much as possible.

Different conditions occurred in the 19th century. At that time, the term batur changed to rough coolie. Continuing into the 20th century, a group that was almost similar to batur was the pedicab drivers and other rough coolies. Even so, their condition is often categorized as 'wild', in the sense that they do not live permanently, which often makes a rickshaw their place to sleep.

Interestingly, in the past, the batur was also the liaison between the Diponegoro troop units or cells in the Central Java region when the Java war took place from 1741-1743. Unfortunately, however, the batur or coolies used by Diponegoro as transporters of goods or liaison did not want to return to the village after peace is restored.

As a result, they roam to various places as wild hordes. Denys Lombard had time to reveal a portrait of a batur in his book entitled Nusa Jawa. "They were called and condemned as zwervers en trekkers, nomads and vagrants, who were on the outskirts of big cities, especially in Batavia, and threatened social order," it wrote.

Even so, Batur still has a job, albeit odd jobs. This made the batur look better than the jembel, a term that was popular during the Japanese occupation. Jembel is the most extreme example of the homeless. The ragged clothes and tired body due to the indication of hunger are proof that there has been an economic gap in the approaching era of Indonesian independence.

Then and now

In the eyes of the Dutch, they were troublemakers. For Japan, they are considered a disease. While in the prejudice of domestic politicians, they are the reason why democracy does not develop. The only thing that keeps the homeless people around is their political rights in elections. Even though they are socially marginalized, politically, the votes of homeless people are still counted and often contested.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 34 Paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution, it is stated that the poor and neglected children are cared for by the state. So it is clear that the government should take an important role in protecting those who are considered homeless.

Unfortunately, instead of protecting them, lately the issue of their existence is that they want to be criminalized. This is stated in Article 432 of the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP). The article reads: Every person who walks on the street or in a public place disturbing public order, shall be punished with a maximum fine of Category I.

The estimated amount of Category I fines that must be paid refers to Article 79 Paragraph (1) of the RKUHP, which is worth IDR1 million. That number is still subject to change. The discussion of the RKUHP itself is currently being postponed to reduce the turmoil of rejection by the people.