Do not repeat 1965 massacre: Gerwani
Do not repeat 1965 massacre: Gerwani
JAKARTA (JP): A former executive of Gerakan Wanita Indonesia
(Gerwani), a women's group associated with the now defunct
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), has called on Indonesia's
younger generation not to repeat the mistakes of their
predecessors who in 1965 massacred tens of thousands of people
linked to PKI.
"Learning from history, Indonesian youths should not let such
massacres happen again in the future," Sulami, former deputy
secretary-general of Gerwani, said at the launch of her book
titled Women: Truth and Jail at Gedung Joang '45 in Central
Jakarta on Friday.
Present at the launch of the 104-page autobiography were
Feisol Reza, deputy chairman of Democratic People's Party (PRD),
Esther I. Jusuf, a lawyer from the Foundation of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and Sutomo Pradopo and Sudibyo, both
members of president Sukarno's 100-minister Cabinet in late 1965.
The 73-year-old Sulami said the young generation should learn
the truth behind the massacre.
"The youth should know the truth behind the 1965-1966
massacre, when soldiers and the people ran after PKI members and
activists of its affiliated organizations, following the murder
of six Army generals and one captain," she said.
The seven Army officials were brutally killed before dawn on
Oct. 1, 1965. A group led by Col. Untung, a senior official of
Cakrabirawa presidential guards, was believed to have executed
the officials.
The murder peaked the political rivalry, which had been
present for years, between the progressive revolutionary camp
backed by PKI and the Army camp.
The murder stirred anger among the military and non-communist
camp, who then struck back at the communists, who were unprepared
for the assault.
The Cornell Paper, a well known reference of the tragedy
written by US scholar Ben Anderson, quoted president Sukarno as
saying in a 1965 speech that some 87,000 had been slaughtered.
The 1991 international edition of Encyclopedia Americana said
about 250,000 PKI members and sympathizers were killed.
Meanwhile, the New Order government in its Sept. 30, 1965, White
Book, published by the State Secretariat in 1994, did not give a
figure for the deaths, merely saying, "the government has
conducted intelligent operations, field operations and court
trials to sentence PKI members and sympathizers".
Sulami denied Gerwani was part of PKI.
"Only two Gerwani executives, Salawati and Mudigdo, were also
PKI members," she said, saying the New Order government had no
grounds to jail Gerwani members.
Feisol Reza hailed the launching of the book, saying that it
had become one of the "artifacts" of the Indonesian history.
"The book will broaden the people's understanding on the 1965
abortive coup of PKI, amidst various versions of the story
circulated in the community," he told participants.
Esther criticized the way the military and non-communist camp
arrested and killed the PKI members and sympathizers.
"They unlawfully arrested PKI members and sympathizers as they
failed to show warrants," she said, adding that the non-communist
camp also killed people who were not involved in the murder of
the seven officials. (asa)