Forty years on, events of 1965 remain a mystery

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Noted Muslim cleric Yusuf Hasyim held up a number of large mug- shots -- people whom he said were victims of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) scheme to take over the country four decades ago.

Yusuf, who was a young Muslim leader at the time, revealed the details of the assassinations during a book launch on Thursday. He argued that the PKI indeed masterminded two abortive coup attempts in 1948 and the Sept. 30, 1965, and was responsible for the killing of its opposition.

"There are two versions of the history. But by overlooking the involvement of PKI in the coup, we tend to whitewash a black part of our history," said the Nahdhatul Ulama (NU) cleric and an uncle of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Known by Indonesian acronym as G-30S/PKI, the 1965 incident revolved around the killing of six Army generals. Another general was injured, while his daughter was shot and killed by the attackers.

With only a few key eyewitnesses of the incident left alive today, the 1965 coup attempt, which led to the widespread massacre of communists and the establishment of New Order authoritarian regime, has remained one of the most controversial events in the country's history.

Historians are still debating the role of PKI in the event, with some saying the party was only a scapegoat. Other versions say Gen. Soeharto, who assumed power following the incident, conflicting factions in the Army, or the CIA were the culprits of the murders.

During 32-year of Soeharto's rule, thousands of people linked to the party were jailed without trial, while their families and offspring were robbed of their civil, economic and political rights.

Several historians have written revisionist histories, saying that old government line blaming the PKI was heavily biased. Meanwhile, the latest school history textbooks have left out completely the coup attempt and the 1965 bloodbath.

These textbooks were later were pulled by the Ministry of National Education after numerous complaints from the public.

Earlier this month, the Central Jakarta District Court overturned a class action from a number of former PKI political prisoners who demanded the government apologize and restore their rights. The judge's unusual decision left the case to the administrative court, although that court could not hear the prisoner's suit because their arrests occurred outside of its time frame, a lawyer for the former prisoners said.

Historian Aminuddin Kasdi from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said while he was not against the rehabilitation of former political prisoners, it didn't mean that the PKI was not culpable in the coup.

"Rehabilitation does not necessary means they (PKI members) are innocent. Facts and witnesses show that PKI was indeed the mastermind of the abortive coup. We cannot deny that," he said during the launch of his book titled G30S PKI/1965, Bedah Caesar Dewan Revolusi Indonesia (the Caesarean Section of the Indonesian Revolutionary Council).

In an interesting turn of events, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to preside over a commemoration of the military crackdown on people behind the coup on Oct. 1. Such a ritual has been absent since Soeharto stepped down in 1998.

Historian Anhar Gonggong told The Jakarta Post recently that controversy over certain historical facts was inevitable, as happened with the holocaust in Europe or regarding Japanese abuses during World War II.

The education ministry, he said, needed to take a firm stance as to which version or which facts it would choose, to avoid confusion.

"It's up to people to criticize," he said, adding that history (lessons) were aimed at imparting knowledge.

Meanwhile, noted cleric and human rights activist Solahuddin Wahid said that if historians could bridge the differences, they should agree to disagree.

"It seems that our historians are unable to shed the mystery of the 1965 event. Then give people both versions, as long as it is backed by strong evidence (each way). Let people decide which (story) is true."