Betrayal of Pancasila tragedy commemorated

JAKARTA (JP): In a sign of the changing times, the country commemorated on Sunday what used to be called Pancasila Sanctity Day but has been renamed "Commemoration of the National Tragedy due to the Betrayal of Pancasila".

The ceremony, which is usually full of ritual, was scaled down to a brief 20 minutes and was led by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Megawati, who opened the ceremony at Lubang Buaya (crocodile hole) Monument in East Jakarta at 7:55 a.m,, also skipped the annual ritual of visiting three prominent spots in the compound, namely the monument of seven national heroes, the diorama room which was the 1965 torturing site of the victims and a dried-out well in which the bodies of the slain victims were dumped.

Anhar Gonggong, committee event chief and director of history and museum at the Ministry of National Education, said the President, Vice President and related officials agreed to change the name of the day as they wanted to change the misperception that Pancasila, the national ideology, was sacred.

"The Sept. 30, 1965 incident was a tragedy and therefore we altered the title of the commemoration," he said.

"It's also important for the people to learn the essence of the truth and the revision of history which was manipulated during the rule of the past regime," Anhar remarked.

The event is an historical watershed in Indonesian history which helped usher in the New Order era and was the beginning of the end for then president Sukarno.

The official version of events has it that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) kidnapped and murdered top Army generals to topple Sukarno and pave the party's way to power.

The generals killed in the incident were Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ahmad Yani, Maj. Gen. R. Soeprapto, Maj. Gen. S. Harjono Mas Tirtodarmo, Maj. Gen. S. Parman, Brig. Gen. D.I. Pandjaitan and Brig. Gen. Soetojo S.

Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution, who at the time was minister of defense, was also targeted but managed to escape. However, his five-year-old daughter Ade Irma Nasution and his loyal adjutant, Capt. Pierre Andreas Tendean, were mistakenly shot by his assailants.

History books officially recount that it was during this time of commotion that a young Maj. Gen. Soeharto, who was then commander the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), came on the scene to crush the communist uprising.

During Sunday's ceremony, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais read the Pancasila text while Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin read the preamble of the 1945 Constitution.

House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung then read an oath on the nation's united stance to defend and practice Pancasila (as a state ideology).

"The national tragedy was made possible by a careless condition in which the people were tricked and manipulated by the leaders of PKI," Akbar said reading the oath.

Also present during the ceremony were the families of the slain national heroes as well as Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo A.S., Air Force Chief of Staff Hanafie Asnan, National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro and several Cabinet ministers.

Commenting on the scaled-down ceremony, minister Yahya later told journalists that it was "merely due to efficiency".

"Besides, Ibu Mega has another immediate appointment in Yogyakarta today."

Megawati was reportedly expected to attend the wedding ceremony of former presidential secretary Ratih Hardjono and Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Fajrul Falaakh in Yogyakarta.

Akbar Tandjung, however, expressed disappointment that a complete tour of the monument was not taken.

Speaking to journalists, Yahya and Anhar Gonggong revealed that teachers and students would be given revisions of historical events.

"Many of the country's major events have been manipulated," Yahya said, citing the examples of the March 1, 1949, attack in Yogyakarta in which former president Soeharto was solely credited as the initiator.

"It turns out that the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was the main initiator. On the historical accounts of the controversial Supersemar letter in 1966, there is also a rather illogical view that Panggabean, a second lieutenant at the time, would dare to point a gun at Sukarno," Anhar explained.

While the ceremony itself seems to have been watered down, warnings against the dangers of communism and fundamentalist movements prevailed.

After the ceremony Amien Rais said: "Communism as an ideology has not yet died.

"It still works day and night to gain the momentum to return. As a nation we have been warned that 1965 was the darkest moment of this country and it must never occur again."

On Islamic fundamentalism, Amien warned that without proper education and general awareness, it could easily spread.

"I think that since the country has set a national consensus from the very beginning on the formation of the state ideology, Pancasila is thus an irrevocable conclusion," he said. (edt)