Book on Indonesian history to be rewritten

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will write a new book on Indonesian history in a response to the public's rising demand for the truth, an official said on Thursday.

Susanto Zuhdi, the director of history at the Ministry of National Education, said the government would leave the process of rewriting the history book to the public to avoid any accusations that the book is another government version.

He said that during the previous regime, history books were written mainly to serve the interests of rulers by applying only one version of history.

"This is dangerous. A state should not restrain the writing of history. We want to encourage people to write their version of history," Susanto Zuhdi told The Jakarta Post after a media briefing on the National History Conference to be held by the Indonesian History Society (MSI) next week.

Susanto said that since the book would be rewritten by the public, there would be different versions of certain historical events.

"History is no longer about a justification of the facts. It should generate dialog to allow different interpretations. We want to educate the public that different versions in history are normal," Susanto said.

The current history book of Indonesia, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture, was first published in 1974. For decades, the book was the sole reference for history books, including school textbooks.

Susanto reiterated that the new book would not become the sole reference or standard for the writing of other Indonesian history books.

He said that the government would assign the historian society, an organization of history experts, teachers and researchers, to prepare the concept and contents of the new book.

Susanto reiterated that the existing national history book had become obsolete because it did not accommodate new findings in history or new realities in society, which are also a part of Indonesian history, such as the communal conflict in the country.

"Our history has expanded. Researchers and experts have found out new things. It will enrich our history, so that it will deal not only with ancient kingdoms," Susanto said.

He said that the new book would have many fresh topics, including violence by the state, the history of conflict, the history of culture, exploration of local history and maritime history.

Controversial historical events such as the Sept. 30, 1965 aborted coup and East Timor will be presented along with developing versions.

"There is a lot of room that we have to fill in about our history. There are many issues that we haven't explored or have neglected," Susanto said, adding that the process to rewrite the new book could take up to at least two years.