Indonesia's city of soul in mourning

Rifka Annisa workers told us of their most painful work in Yogya’s red light district. They told us of otherwise religiously observant women of all faiths forced by poverty to become sex workers, either on the streets or in brothels. Many such women suffer violence at the hands of clients, including a large number of foreign tourists.

During our question and answer session, I asked the Rifka Annisa workers whether they faced resistance from conservative sectors of Indonesian society. One told me, “If we were in Jakarta or elsewhere, that might happen. But Yogya is different. People here aren’t afraid of reality.”

Perhaps the most awesome experience was watching a ballet of the ancient Hindu epic known as the Ramayana. The ballet was performed in a small auditorium in the shadow of an ancient complex of Hindu temples. Part of the temple was damaged in the recent earthquake.

The Ramayana is the story of an Indian prince, Rama, whose wife, Sita (or “Cinta” in Indonesian), is kidnapped by a demon, Ravana. Rama fights Ravana with the assistance of an army of monkeys and rescues his princess.

The birthplace of Rama is a North Indian town known as Ayodhya. This has been the scene of bloody rioting between Hindus and Muslims after a mosque there was destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992.

The Ramayana story may be the basis for rioting in Lord Rama’s birthplace. But in the city of Yogya, Muslim artists regularly perform the Ramayana ballet in the shadow of the city’s Hindu temple and to a mostly Muslim audience.

And in case anyone thought Yogya was just a place for Muslims to celebrate Hinduism, it is important to note that Yogya was also the place where the progressive yet orthodox Muhammadiyah movement was founded in November 1912.

The movement was started by Shaykh Ahmad Dahlan in the humble Kauman district of Yogya. Its emphasis was on al-Maun, a concept of small kindnesses expressed in Chapter 107 of the Koran. The shaykh taught his young students this chapter of the Koran repeatedly, telling them that the essence of Islam is to serve and care for others and to be aware of the needs of the broader community.

Shaykh Dahlan established this small movement, hardly 3,500-strong at the time of his death in 1923. Today, it has a membership of over 29 million, making it one of the largest Islamic organisations in the world.

The vibrant, progressive and lively city of Yogya is now overcome with grief following the massive loss of life from the recent earthquake. Yet for anyone who has spent time in Yogya, it isn’t hard to imagine this cultural heartland of Indonesia reviving itself from among the rubble.