In Memoriam 1992-1997/Saliyanto

In Memoriam 1992-1997 Saliyanto

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SALIYANTO

1941-1993

Saliyanto was born in the small village of Tambakrejo, Magetan, in the province of East Java, Indonesia, on December 10, 1941. His parents were from the same village. His father, Jikin, was a farmer, and his mother was named Sini. They were together until Saliyanto was seven months old; then his father left them, and there was never any news of his whereabouts. When he was eight years old, his mother remarried and moved to her new home in the nearby village of Tambakmas.

This was the time of the Japanese occupation, and there were clashes between them and the Dutch, who had colonized the territories as the Dutch East Indies. Every morning before going to school, Saliyanto would visit his mother who sold vegetables in the local market. During a trip to the market he encountered Dutch soldiers. They searched the market that morning and then ordered everyone to sit down quietly while they searched their bodies. They came to little Saliyanto and pointed their guns at him. He closed his eyes and thought that it was the end, but surprisingly they never pulled their triggers. The soldiers left the market; Saliyanto went to his mother and then to school.

Saliyanto's first school was in the house of a villager. When he was eleven, he was schooled in another village, and because his mother could not afford his tuition, he had to live with a family who were quite well off. (They owned cows.) As was the custom Saliyanto was supported, and in return he had to work for the family for two and a half years. And, as also was the custom, when he finished his term of work, he received a calf as a bonus.

Saliyanto was not very happy there. He finished his secondary school in 1959 and studied to become a teacher, and in 1961 he received his Teacher's Certificate. He left for Jakarta and worked in the Department of Industries. He lasted four months; he became restless and returned to his village.

In 1961 he heard about the Faith from his stepbrother Slamet Sudarmo, who had just become a Bahá’í. Saliyanto wrote to Jakarta asking for more information and was sent two books, The Bahá’í Faith and The Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. He read them over and over but confessed he did not feel anything.

One day a friend asked him to go to a small town in East Java for a deepening on the Faith. Saliyanto agreed and went with another friend who was also a seeker. Before going he had to memorize one prayer.

They went to Bojonegoro, and there they met the pioneer Dr. Nurodin Soraya. The meeting changed his life; Saliyanto wrote in his diary, "After recognizing

49 See Nurodin Soraya, pp. 252-55.

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IN MEMORIAM 1992-1997

Bahá’u’lláh, I believed so much in His Truth, Greatness, Majesty, Glory and Pureness of His Teachings. I was dazzled, and from then on my whole life was for Bahá’u’lláh."

Saliyanto often visited Bojonegoro, and because he could type, he took up the work of writing to the friends and typing the translations of prayers and Holy Writings.

Except for the first year of Saliyanto's Bahá’í life, his beloved Faith was banned in Indonesia. This made his pure-hearted and faithful devotion to the Cause even more meritorious, as he valiantly served at great personal risk.

In 1962 he was asked to go to the island of Kalimantan. After a week of walking and river boat trips, Saliyanto and another Bahá’í arrived in Puruk Cahu. Here he worked first as a night watchman and later as a primary school teacher, living in Paruk Cahu until 1965.

In December 1964 Saliyanto married Sukinem, a girl from his village. He returned to Tambakrejo and was offered a teaching position. As it required him to declare his political party affiliation, he refused.

In 1967 Saliyanto became a member of the National Spiritual Assembly. He made his first trip to the Mentawai Islands and stayed there for four months. On April 5, 1967, Saliyanto and four other Bahá’ís were called to meet with the Attorney General. They explained the Faith to him and were asked to write a formal letter requesting official recognition of the Faith. The letter was written, but the recognition was not granted.

Saliyanto attended the First Oceanic Conference in Palermo, Italy, in 1968. During this time he also made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Four months later the Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir asked him to become an Auxiliary Board member.

Saliyanto again visited the Mentawai Islands for two months. He was fascinated with them and called them "paradise islands."

Nineteen sixty-nine saw the beginning of Saliyanto's difficulties and persecution. On May 18 he was called by the head of the village and was asked to recant his Faith. He refused. In April 1970 he was called by the public prosecutor of Magetan and Madiun and was interrogated for his religious beliefs. A few weeks later he was put into prison for a night with ten other friends in Cepu, Central Java. Again in 1971 he had to deal with the police in Magetan on the matter of teaching the Faith. There was a brief period of happiness when he attended a Regional Conference in Singapore; then more persecutions followed. In June and July 1972 he was again interrogated by the public prosecutor in Magetan who tried to force him to recant. On December 4, 1973, the police confiscated all his Bahá’í books and his passport. The next day his wife, Sukinem, was called by the police, and five days later Saliyanto was again summoned by them. On February 19, 1974, and again on the day before Naw-Rúz he had to face the military authorities. This time the interrogation lasted a month, and he and Sukinem were treated like criminals. Sukinem was tortured, and Saliyanto was questioned at gunpoint and slapped hard in the face.

Saliyanto was never daunted by the exercise of intimidation and the brute force.

In August 1962 the Indonesian government banned the activities of some religious minorities including those of the Bahá’ís. Ten years later the Bahá’í administrative institutions were dissolved by another official ban. The restrictions were eased twenty-eight years later by a presidential decree (May 2000). [Page 92]behavior of the authorities. Eventually, when the military realized that he and his wife would not recant their Faith, Saliyanto and his family were asked to leave the town. They moved to Semarang, where they lived for three years, then Waru Sidoarjo, where they stayed for another two years. He was questioned by the authorities of Purwokerto in Central Java. In 1977 Saliyanto attended the Regional Conference in Singapore which brought him great happiness. Then in March 1978 he went to visit eight of his Bahá’í friends who were imprisoned in Banyuwangi, East Java. Saliyanto was also imprisoned and released five months later.

Saliyanto never wasted his time. He would travel to remote villages and towns throughout Java, Bali, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, often under difficult conditions and circumstances, to inspire and encourage the friends. He was a tireless and dedicated servant of Bahá’u’lláh, and there was never a task that was impossible for him. In times of crisis he would convey information and instructions back and forth between the imprisoned friends and the National Spiritual Assembly. Later, when the Assembly was disallowed, he served the consultative group overseeing the protection of the Faith.

Monthly he would send newsletters and deepening materials to the friends throughout Indonesia—materials which kept their spirits high and faith strong. He would personally convey the Ridván and other special messages; in some instances it was not wise to send information by post, so Saliyanto would personally deliver them to the friends, greeting them with his shining, smiling face.

His outstanding services in contacting prominent people and government officials to explain to them the true nature of the Faith and to attempt to lift the ban in Indonesia will never be forgotten. He met with people in the Ministry of Religion, Ministry of Education, and Attorney General's Department and contacted Members of Parliament. He answered arrogance with imperturbability, adversity with perseverance, and calamity with cheerful patience. He earned the respect and admiration of the Legal Aid Foundation that, in 1993, asked him to serve as the Bahá’í representative on their Religion and Human Rights Committee. As a sign of obedience to the government, he did not take up the offer. In all his efforts and travels his wife, Sukinem, and children—Gatot, Nurwanto, Ita, and Elmi—supported him fully.

On the morning of October 14, 1993, he was busy typing and posting letters to the friends. In the afternoon he complained of a severe headache and was taken to the local hospital. He died at 7 PM. Saliyanto was buried early the following morning in his village of Tambakrejo, Magetan. Over the next days and weeks, the friends from around the country came to pay their respects to his grave and his family. His unforgettable services were acknowledged by the Universal House of Justice on October 15, 1993:

DEEPLY DISTRESSED PASSING DEARLY LOVED MR. SALIYANTO OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH IN INDONESIA. HIS DEVOTED SERVICES MANIFOLD FIELDS ADVANCEMENT INTERESTS FAITH WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED. ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITIES IN INDONESIA. KINDLY CONVEY CONDOLENCES MEMBERS HIS FAMILY ASSURANCE PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS LUMINOUS SOUL ABHÁ KINGDOM.