Aborted PKI coup fades from memory

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Fewer and fewer people in Banjarmasin mourned on Friday the deaths of Army generals that occurred during the aborted coup of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30 forty years ago.

While during the Soeharto regime between 1967 and 1998 almost all government offices and private houses flew the national flag at half mast to commemorate the anniversary of the coup, on Friday only a few government offices flew the flag at half mast.

During the Sept. 30 coup six Army generals were allegedly murdered by pro-PKI military members. General Soeharto, the then chief of the Army Reserves Unit (Kostrad) quickly moved to counter the coup which led to the eradication of the PKI eradication nationwide. -- Antara