Speakers urge greater public access to nation's history

Speakers urge greater public access to nation's history

SERPONG, West Java (JP): Speakers at a seminar on the history
of the 1965 turmoil have urged historians and the public to be
given access to all related information.

R.Z. Leirizza who moderated the first session of the seminar
told The Jakarta Post that failure to do so would "continuously
foster mutual suspicion in society" concerning various events.

The seminar focused on events surrounding the communist coup
attempt and the subsequent killing spree of alleged communists or
supporters.

"We do not even know the number of people killed at that
time... data from the local police precincts and military
commands should be accessed," Leirizza of the University of
Indonesia said. Speakers told of the screening by the Military
restricting access to files such as those related to the 1965
events.

"History is about bringing solidarity by achieving
understanding of each other's weaknesses and advantages ... this
cannot happen if we're always suspicious of one another. How are
we supposed to bring about a civil society?"

Learning history in schools so far only means teaching the
version of the rulers, Leirizza added.

Barring even historians to archives "reflects a lack of
understanding of social studies and historians," Leirizza, a
historian of the 19th century, said.

"They think we're all aiming to bring down the government," he
said.

"We've even become suspicious of the role of (former
president) Soeharto in the 1948 uprising in Madiun," Leirizza
said, referring to another communist-related event.

A speaker on the women's organization Gerwani, Stanley Adi
Presetya said that based on available studies, there had been
"more fiction than fact" surrounding the organization. Members
have been charged for allegedly being involved in the torture and
killing of generals abducted and murdered in September 1965.

Historian Ong Hok Ham said "more theories than new facts" have
emerged in studies on the 1965 events.

The talks in Serpong are being held by the Indonesian History
Society (MSI), and will continue till Friday. The society is
contributing to rewriting history and revising text books.

While the Wednesday session focused largely on the 1965
events, on Friday the history of Aceh and East Timor will also be
featured. Talks on history in a transition period will include
the 1998 May riots and the student movement. (anr)