Even after the passing of 50 years, Indonesians are still reluctant to bring up the events of 1965 in a discussion as they always relate it with the communist idelogy that led up to the 1965 purge and remain close-minded about the topic without seeing the wider context, say art activists.

" '1965' is a taboo number, which is somehow still traumatic for Indonesians, as if they are frightened by a ghost from the past that didn't even exist," Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ) chairman Irawan Karseno told thejakartapost.com recently.

The DKJ was scheduled to hold a reading and discussion of a drama script titled "Family Album: #50years1965" at the Jakarta Theater Festival (FTJ) on Tuesday, but which was banned by the Jakarta Police because of fears of trouble from opponents of the event.

Letter No. B/19811/XII/2015/Datro states that the police refused to issue a permit as a result of pressure from a group calling itself the Jakarta Theater Family Who Cares for the Jakarta Theater Festival, which had informed the police about its plans to hold a rally in protest at the event.

Previously, FTJ project officer Malhamang Zamzam claimed that the opposition group comprised long-standing members of the FTJ who felt a particular ownership of the FTJ and thus believed that the FTJ should not become embroiled in sensitive issues.

Responding to the matter, DKJ theater committee chairman Dewi Noviami said the event actually only consisted of reading and discussion of drama scripts created by participants who examined 1965-related photos and wrote the scripts according to their perception and imagination.

Irawan added that even though the DKJ had set 1965 as the basic theme for all of this year's programs, the selection of the theme was far from what the opposition group claimed it to be, an infiltration of ideology.

"We see 1965 as a human tragedy with vast dimensions. Theater is actually a channel for us to discuss about humanity; all classic theaters also deal with human tragedy and political intrigue," said Irawan.

According to artist Dolorosa Sinaga, by selecting 1965 as a theme, arts and education institutions had taken their position of criticism of the government, which could not repay its debts to the people.

Dolorosa added that artists should use their position to find a chance to urge or motivate the government through art and helping Indonesian victims who were now moving forward by daringly bringing this unresolved problem to the international level and demanding the government to take responsibility.

"As human rights and arts activists, we reject oppression from a repressive state that forces all of us to keep silent," added Dolorosa.

Director and scriptwriter Benny Yohanes who was supposed to lead the event said that people should stop politicizing 1965-themed discussions and relating them to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as the 1965 tragedy was also a period of history where ideological conflicts among the elites spread into all levels of society.

However, said Benny, paranoia among the people about talking about the tragedy prevented 1965-themed discussions taking place in public as people still had psychological barriers about the issue.

"Including at the government level, there is an ideological barrier to revealing the truth of this event publicly," said Benny.

However, as Indonesia was a democratic country, people should be willing to sit together and discuss the issue to articulate their own version of the truth, instead of imposing their will and thinking that they were right, he added.

"We cannot create ideological or social segregation. In the experience of humanity, all of us can re-position ourselves," said Benny, adding that the discussion was intended to share how people could re-read history. (kes)(+)

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