Speakers urge greater public access to nation's history<\/p>\n
SERPONG, West Java (JP): Speakers at a seminar on the history
\nof the 1965 turmoil have urged historians and the public to be
\ngiven access to all related information.<\/p>\n
R.Z. Leirizza who moderated the first session of the seminar
\ntold The Jakarta Post that failure to do so would \"continuously
\nfoster mutual suspicion in society\" concerning various events.<\/p>\n
The seminar focused on events surrounding the communist coup
\nattempt and the subsequent killing spree of alleged communists or
\nsupporters.<\/p>\n
\"We do not even know the number of people killed at that
\ntime... data from the local police precincts and military
\ncommands should be accessed,\" Leirizza of the University of
\nIndonesia said. Speakers told of the screening by the Military
\nrestricting access to files such as those related to the 1965
\nevents.<\/p>\n
\"History is about bringing solidarity by achieving
\nunderstanding of each other's weaknesses and advantages ... this
\ncannot happen if we're always suspicious of one another. How are
\nwe supposed to bring about a civil society?\"<\/p>\n
Learning history in schools so far only means teaching the
\nversion of the rulers, Leirizza added.<\/p>\n
Barring even historians to archives \"reflects a lack of
\nunderstanding of social studies and historians,\" Leirizza, a
\nhistorian of the 19th century, said.<\/p>\n
\"They think we're all aiming to bring down the government,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We've even become suspicious of the role of (former
\npresident) Soeharto in the 1948 uprising in Madiun,\" Leirizza
\nsaid, referring to another communist-related event.<\/p>\n
A speaker on the women's organization Gerwani, Stanley Adi
\nPresetya said that based on available studies, there had been
\n\"more fiction than fact\" surrounding the organization. Members
\nhave been charged for allegedly being involved in the torture and
\nkilling of generals abducted and murdered in September 1965.<\/p>\n
Historian Ong Hok Ham said \"more theories than new facts\" have
\nemerged in studies on the 1965 events.<\/p>\n
The talks in Serpong are being held by the Indonesian History
\nSociety (MSI), and will continue till Friday. The society is
\ncontributing to rewriting history and revising text books.<\/p>\n
While the Wednesday session focused largely on the 1965
\nevents, on Friday the history of Aceh and East Timor will also be
\nfeatured. Talks on history in a transition period will include
\nthe 1998 May riots and the student movement. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/speakers-urge-greater-public-access-to-nations-history-1447893297",
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