Flags fail to fly half-mast on Sept. 30<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was hard to find any national flags being flown at half-mast
\non Tuesday, signaling that many Indonesians have forgotten about
\nthe shadowy Sept. 30 incident.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 30 incident refers to the night when alleged members
\nof the military wing of the Indonesia Communist Party (PKI)
\nabducted and killed seven Army generals in a failed coup attempt
\nin 1965. This is the official government view but accounts of
\nwhat actually transpired vary widely.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, there were few red and white flags flying at half-
\nmast. Even the State Palace failed to lower the flag.<\/p>\n
State Palace official Garibaldi Sudjatmiko blamed the
\noversight on the Ministry of National Education, which he said
\nshould have told the palace and other government offices to
\ncommemorate the incident and fly the national flag at half-mast.<\/p>\n
The national flag also failed to be lowered in other cities
\nthroughout Indonesia, including Bandung in West Java, Solo in
\nCentral Java, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya in East Java. In those
\ncities, the national flag only flew at half-mast at government
\noffices, while residents did not fly the flag at all.<\/p>\n
\"We haven't got instructions to fly the national flag at half-
\nmast, so we didn't do it,\" a Surabaya resident said.<\/p>\n
The scene was repeated in areas outside Java, including in
\nBengkulu and Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The scenes were in contrast to those under the military-backed
\nSoeharto regime when government offices, schools and even
\ncivilian houses were ordered to lower the flag.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was very much anti-PKI, and was the Army general who
\nassumed a leading role in aborting the alleged PKI coup.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Jakarta, high ranking active and retired Army
\ngenerals gathered in Lubang Buaya in East Jakarta Tuesday evening
\nwhere the Sept. 30 tragedy took place.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, the Army chief of
\nStaff, said communism had not died yet and the nation must be
\nvigilant to ensure communism was not revived in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He warned there was an indication that remnants of the
\noutlawed PKI had used the media to form public opinion that the
\nmovement to crush the PKI in 1966 had violated human rights.<\/p>\n
\"The gathering is held in order to make us vigilant over the
\ndanger of the PKI revival,\" he told the gathering, attended by,
\namong others, former Army chief Gen. (ret). Edi Sudradjat.<\/p>\n
Separately, Muslim figures urged the government to fight
\npoverty, because poverty had led to the communism movement, said
\nChalid Mawardi, the chairman of Majelis Dakwah Islamiyah.<\/p>\n
Communism once took a leading role in Indonesian politics in
\nthe 1960s. Its only rival was the Army.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung urged President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri to attend the commemoration of the
\nSanctity Day of Pancasila on Oct. 1, held in Lubang Buaya, East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Oct. 1 was a turning point for the PKI, and through
\ncommemorating this day, the Soeharto regime wanted to show the
\npeople that the state ideology, Pancasila, could not be replaced
\nby communist ideology.<\/p>\n
Akbar said that Oct. 1 was a great moment for all, which
\nsymbolized the demise of communism, so the President must not
\nmiss it.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of founding
\npresident Sukarno who was ousted after the alleged coup, failed
\nto attend the commemoration last year, drawing strong criticism
\nfrom family members of the seven murdered generals.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/flags-fail-to-fly-half-mast-on-sept-30-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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