Betrayal of Pancasila tragedy commemorated

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)