“pki” early poster from a communist-affiliated university club Today is the 40th anniversary of one of the most infamous episodes in the history of United States Foreign Policy. On September 30, 1965, the Indonesian military, acting in criminal concert with western embassies and intelligence services, set in motion a plan that would result in the outright murder of nearly 1 million of the nation’s most progressive citizens. Gathered around the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) were nearly twenty million trade unionists, teachers, members of womens and peasant organizations and the very future of progressive Indonesia. Theirs was a powerful movment, but one whose leadership had badly misread the political situation there, seeking alliances with “progressive” nationalists while remaining largely unarmed. It was to cost them and their country dearly and precipitate the 33 year reign of General Suharto. Justice still eludes the survivors of that terrible time; textbooks in Indonesia do not even mention it. And attempts by survivors to bring the guilty to book have so far failed.
Over the coming weeks, I will include some first person accounts of the alleged Communist “coup” attempt and its calamitous aftermath. A number of survivors who are still in the country (a few even are domiciled in their original villages or nearby) have agreed (tentatively) to write brief resumes of their experiences. It has taken a good deal of persuasion on the part of myself and others to do so, but their story needs to be told. And to be heard.
If you look at some of the work that is being done around the 40th anniversary observances, you will see the number of dead and missing is closer to 3 million. See especially articles on JakartaPost.com during the past several weeks.
There is much talk about a truth and reconciliation commission (similar to the one in S Africa after official apartheid). Trouble is, most documents are still considered state secrets and witnesses to the most graphic aspects of the horror are afraid to talk. Radical muslim organizations, which grew out of that period, are still active and powerful. In fact, they have been given new significance with GW’s War on Terror.
Looking forward to reading these personal accounts.
I was in Indonesia last year and the resistance to discovering what really took place (and those responsible for the majority of atrocities) is really fierce, particularly among the muslim youth charities and other urban community organizations. The movement for justice seems to be proceeding apace though but primarily among intellectuals in the print media and in some quarters in academia. 30 years of anti-Communist propaganda have had their effect, unfortunately.
I am pleasing to write about the experiences of my mother and father during that historical time. There they were hunted and tried by the military for being part of the coup before that day; some army generals acted before their time but it was already decided in several capitals that the coup would fail and then they would blame it on the PKI. Malik was one of the brains behind the massacres. He was a former Marxist. Did you know G. Parakattit? He led a secret organization in the army that planned a similar overthrow in April of 1965, but was stopped by the CIA.
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