Attempts to dodge Sukarno questioned
JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), gave a belated response to the recent polemic about the role her father, Indonesia's first president Sukarno, played in the events before and after the communist attempt to grab power in 1965.
"Isn't it enough for this nation of 50 years old to continue dodging Bung Karno," Megawati told reporters on Monday referring to the popular name her father was often called.
The polemic, she said, has raised questions about the consistent way in which the nation respected Sukarno, who was posthumously dubbed a national hero for his role in proclaiming Indonesia's independence in 1945.
Sukarno was removed from power in 1967 after months of political turmoil sparked by the communist plot to wrest power on Sept. 30, 1965. He died in disgrace in 1970 but his name was reinstated by the government of President Soeharto in 1986 when he was conferred with the title of "Proclamation Hero" along with Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice president.
The two have been immortalized and Jakarta's international airport has been named after them.
The polemic about Sukarno's role in the tumultuous months between Oct. 1965 to his downfall in 1967 was reopened with the publication of a book by one of his admirers, columnist Manai Sophiaan, last month who said that Sukarno was no communist.
A white book on the events surrounding those events issued on Oct. 1 by the State Secretariat however depicts Sukarno as defending the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) to the point of trying to absolve it of any guilt in the Sept. 1965 plot.
One entire chapter of the book is devoted to the way Sukarno reacted or responded to the series of events between 1965 and 1967.
Founder
Megawati said she found the conferring of the hero title and the attempt to dodge her father as inconsistent.
"Bung Karno is the founder of this republic and nation," she said.
Regarding the white paper, Megawati said she has not read it and has not received a copy of the book.
Meanwhile, former vice president Sudharmono said that the white book is intended to set the record straight about the events surrounding the communist plot.
This, he added, is the final version, but he did not rule out the possibility of revising it if any accurate evidence is presented.
Manai's book has spawned off another debate, this one about his allegations that student leaders who mobilized massive anti- Sukarno street demonstrations in 1966 and 1967 received CIA funding.
The student leaders grouped in the Laskar Arief Rachman Hakim have denied the accusation and plan to bring Manai to court for defamation.
The Laskar is planning to hold its five-year congress in Jakarta this week and Manai's accusation will be addressed, according to the group's proponents. (emb)