Book on Indonesian history to be rewritten
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.