Historian calls for study on communist coup
Historian calls for study on communist coup
JAKARTA (JP): Noted historian Taufik Abdullah yesterday called
for a thorough study of the events surrounding the abortive
communist coup attempt on Sept. 30, 1965, in order to give people
a better understanding of the "national tragedy".
"There are still holes surrounding the G30S/PKI because many
events were not recorded, while the number of people who can
provide the information is declining,' Taufik told Antara.
G30S/PKI is the shorthand for Gerakan 30 September/Partai
Komunis Indonesia (September 30 Movement/the Indonesian Communist
Party). The putsch, widely considered a dark page in Indonesia's
national history, began with the abduction and killing of six
generals and a junior officer and later triggered massive
killings between people of opposing political convictions.
Taufik, a historian at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences,
said the nation's history is still largely written on a piecemeal
basis.
Recent accounts of the G30S/PKI events highlight the murder of
the generals and overshadow the events preceding that event, he
said.
"For example, the intellectual terrorism that was launched by
a group of artists and writers and those published by Bintang
Timur," he said referring to the PKI newspaper.
And then there were also the killings that occurred in
villages. "There has never been a tragedy on that scale in
Indonesia...people were killing their own relatives, neighbors
slaying one another," he said.
Although almost 30 years have passed since the violent
tragedy, many of the survivors are still affected, complicating
the work of historians trying to unearth the facts, Taufik said.
Another obstacle is the fear of social conflict that could
erupt if the facts are established, he said.
"National unity and cohesion are crucial. Maybe they are
tiresome, but they remain important. Therefore, for the sake of
unity and cohesion, maybe some things are best forgotten and only
those that are important are remembered."
Oct. 1, when the putsch was put down, has since been
remembered as Pancasila Sanctity Day, a symbol that the state
ideology can withstand any attempt to replace it.
Like in previous years, Pancasila Sanctity Day will be
commemorated this Sunday with a pilgrimage to the Lubang Buaya
(Crocodile Hole) area, in East Jakarta, where the bodies of the
abducted generals were ditched.
The site has now been converted into a museum.
President Soeharto is scheduled to officiate the ceremony.
The government this week banned the autobiography of Oei Tjoe
Tat, a member of President Sukarno's cabinet, in part because of
some of his allegations about events surrounding the G30S/PKI
incident.
The Attorney General's Office, which issued the ban, said that
the content of the book could mislead the young generation. (emb)