Forty years on, events of 1965 remain a mystery

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."