Revised history to focus on Soeharto issues
Revised history to focus on Soeharto issues
A. Junaidi and
Indra Harsaputra
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta/Surabaya
A team of 80 historians tasked with revising the national history
book, are gathering new data and information on former president
Soeharto's roles in a number of crucial events.
Controversial issues linked to Soeharto's past, which is to be
included in the new history book, include the abduction and
murder of six military generals on Sept. 30, 1965, the Supersemar
letter that led to Soeharto's rise to power and the invasion of
East Timor.
The book is also to clarify Soeharto's role in the March 1949
battle against the return of Dutch occupation forces to
Yogyakarta.
Anhar Gonggong of the University of Indonesia, who is a member
of the team, said the rewriting of the book -- which started two
years ago and expected to be completed next year -- would be
based on new data and accounts from people, including
eyewitnesses.
He said the book, which would consist of eight volumes, is to
replace the five-volume Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian
National History) book written by a team led by historian and ex-
minister of education and culture Nugroho Notosusanto, one of
Soeharto's former aides.
The existing history book, which is still taught in schools,
blames the Sept. 30 incident on the now-defunct Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI).
Anhar said the new book would reveal hitherto undisclosed
facts behind the tragedy, which has been the cause of life-long
trauma among many Indonesians.
"Is it only the PKI that should be blamed, or also elements
within the Army? The book will discuss it," he said, but declined
to go in details.
He said the account of the Sept. 30 incident, when six Army
generals were abducted, killed and their bodies thrown into a
well in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta, would be rewritten.
However, Anhar said reports by military-backed newspapers and
also Nugroho's book, which said the generals were tortured, their
eyes cut out and sexual organs severed, before their bodies were
thrown into the well would be reviewed, because these "facts"
were not verified by the post-mortem examinations.
About one million supporters and sympathizers of the PKI were
killed after the incident, and their children, grandchildren and
other relatives denied entry to politics during Soeharto's 32-
year rule.
Any suspected PKI supporters, sympathizers and their families
were also banned from civil service and suffered discriminatory
treatment from the Soeharto administration, as well as from the
general public.
Another team member, professor of Indonesian history Aminuddin
Kasdi at the State University of Surabaya, suggested that the
alleged PKI victims of the Sept. 30 incident "demand compensation
from the government and reconcile with other elements of the
nation".
With regard to the March 1949 incident, Anhar said the war
against the Dutch re-occupation was not initiated by Soeharto,
but Yogyakarta's then-Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX.
"Of course, Lt. Col. Soeharto played an important role in the
attack, but he just followed the orders of his commander Col.
Bambang," he said.
However, Soeharto claimed the success of the battle as an
individual achievement to qualify him for the presidential seat.
Anhar also said the book would replace the term "integration"
used in Nugroho's book with "annexation" in regards Indonesia's
invasion of East Timor in 1976.
"The 'integration' was conducted unilaterally. Our
Constitution has excluded East Timor from the very beginning," he
argued.
The new book is expected to draw strong opposition from
Soeharto's loyalists, military officials and civilians, many of
whom are still in power.
"I will resign if they (the loyalists) -- or even President
Megawati Soekarnoputri -- intervenes in the rewriting of
history," Anhar vowed.
Some controversial issues in RI's history:
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Issues: Controversies
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1. Founder of State Ideology M. Yamin, Soepomo or Sukarno?
Pancasila on June 1, 1945
2. Initiator of the battle of Soeharto or Hamengkubuwono IX?
Yogyakarta on March 1, 1949
3. G30S/PKI 'abortive coup' Only PKI or military elements?
on Sept. 30, 1965
4. Supersemar Power transfer or mere
presidential order?
5. East Timor Integration or annexation?