A nation divided?<\/p>\n
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's promise this week to put national
\nreconciliation at the top of his government's agenda once he is
\ninstalled as president on Oct. 20 could not have come at a more
\nopportune moment as, today, history once again comes knocking at
\nthe door of the nation's collective conscience. Though 39 years
\nhave elapsed since Indonesia's biggest human tragedy in modern
\ntimes began to unfold in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 30, 1965,
\ntime, it seems, has done little to expunge the memory of that
\nday, when alleged communist death squads roamed the still-quiet
\nstreets of Jakarta, seeking out marked homes in the city's elite
\nresidential neighborhoods, killing or abducting targeted army
\nofficers for assassination in a remote spot in the city's eastern
\nsuburbs.<\/p>\n
Six army generals and one lieutenant were killed in what
\nmilitary judges and historians of the time say was a communist-
\ninspired plot to wipe out the entire army leadership and take
\nover the government. Catastrophic as those events may have been,
\nwhat came in the weeks that followed defies all imagination.
\nTroops of the then Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), led by the
\narmy, swarmed out across Java's towns and countryside, rounding
\nup known and suspected members or sympathizers of the now-banned
\nIndonesian Communist Party (PKI). Anticommunist groups, with the
\nencouragement of the Army, took part in the rampage.<\/p>\n
No one to this day knows how many \"communists\" precisely were
\nkilled in that orgy of retaliation that swept across the country
\nduring those first few weeks of what has since become known as
\nthe G30S tragedy. Rough estimates, however, put the number at
\nleast 500,000. The tens of thousands of others who escaped the
\nkillings were jailed or banished to remote prison camps,
\nincluding the infamous Buru Island camp in eastern Indonesia. And
\nmore: Their kin, close friends and associates were barred from
\ntaking government jobs or others that would enable them \"to
\nspread their influence\". The G30S tragedy eventually led to the
\nouster of President Sukarno and the establishment of the New
\nOrder government under president Soeharto. Sukarno's left-leaning
\npolicies abruptly gave way to Soeharto's rightist, dictatorial
\nand corrupt regime. In short, the G30S movement, as it is
\npopularly known, heralded a complete turnabout in policies.<\/p>\n
With the known penchant of Soeharto's New Order regime for
\nmanipulating or falsifying historical facts, however, doubts have
\nsince emerged among many scholars as to the validity of the
\nexisting interpretation of this crucial episode of the country's
\nmost recent history. As a consequence, not only are calls being
\naired for a reevaluation of the New Order version of Indonesia's
\nmost recent history, demands are rising for the rehabilitation of
\nthe good standing of families unjustly punished for their alleged
\nleftist and communist sympathies in the past.<\/p>\n
In fact, a first step in this direction was made by president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, but was never followed up due to the strong
\nopposition he faced. The president had to see his term cut short
\nby the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which accused him of
\nincompetence. The emphasis that is being placed on national
\nreconciliation by the man who is most likely to become
\nIndonesia's new president after Oct. 20, Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono, now seems to offer a new opportunity for such a
\nrehabilitation, and for a redress of injustices committed in the
\npast against tens of thousands of Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not a program of
\nreconciliation aimed specifically at compensating for these
\ninjustices is deemed acceptable by those who will be in power as
\nof Oct. 20. Nevertheless, the spirit of atonement and
\nconciliation that has been repeatedly conveyed by Susilo, and the
\nprospect of the establishment of a proposed Truth and
\nReconciliation Commission, raise the hope that, at long last, the
\nnation will be able to confront the past before it lets bygones
\nbe bygones. What that means is that the Indonesian nation will at
\nleast have a better chance to stride forward into a better future
\n-- united and undivided -- in accordance with Susilo's campaign
\nslogan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-nation-divided-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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