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ational Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) governor Let. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo smiled when a fellow soldier, retired Army general Maj. Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zen, ridiculed him in front of a convention of military veterans on Wednesday.

Kivlan grabbed and raised Agus’ hand while calling him “the man responsible for favoring the Indonesian Communist Party [PKI].”

Kivlan’s remark was met with a fiery speech from Islam Defenders Front (FPI) patron Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, condemning the symposium that Agus, along with the government and rights groups, held in April to bring together victims, their families and scholars to address the controversial 1965 communist purge that is estimated to have caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people. It was the first dialogue of its kind after the government, especially during Soeharto’s New Order, outlawed the PKI and its former members.

Applause and laughter immediately filled the room afterwards, with shouts of “Don’t apologize to the PKI”, “Allahu Akbar [God is great]” and the provocative “[It’s] war against the PKI”. The audience included several high profile retired Army generals such as former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno and former Army deputy chief of staff Let. Gen. (ret) Kiki Syahnakri.

Wednesday’s event was part of a two-day symposium called “Protecting Pancasila From the Indonesian Communist Party [PKI] and Other Ideologies”, arranged by retired Army generals and their supporters.

The anti-communist gathering was aimed at challenging an earlier government-sponsored dialogue. The gathering featured testimonies from individuals whose family members were slaughtered by members of the PKI.

Agus’s father, Sutoyo Siswomiharjo, was one of the Army generals killed during an attempted coup on Sept. 30, 1965. The failed coup, blamed on the PKI, triggered a nationwide purge suspected communists and the ban of communism in Indonesia.

 Try said he rejected the ongoing reconciliation process that the government had built up, arguing that it would encourage the rise of communism in the country and would lead to the rebirth of a communist party.

“Today, former elites, supporters and relatives of the PKI enjoy their full civil, cultural, economic and political rights. Some of their relatives have secured seats at various state institutions,” Try said.

In his speech, he called for an addendum to the 1945 Constitution to formally prohibit communism, Leninism and Marxism in the country.

 Agus, who was there to represent the government, was not given the chance to deliver his speech.

 On the sidelines of the event, Agus, in response to reporter queries, welcomed the initiative to “raise more input” for the government as it searched for a solution to reconcile with the country’s dark past.

He regretted, however, the “obvious misunderstandings” shown by the participants toward the government’s reconciliation efforts.

 “Reconciliation does not mean that the government will apologize to the PKI. That is incorrect,” he said.

Commenting on the strong anti-communist sentiment during the event, he referred to history, noting that the PKI was the main opponent of the Army, and thus deep distrust between their supporters was understandable.

 “Reconciliation is a comprehensive concept,” he said, emphasizing that the process went beyond the historic rivalry between the two institutions.
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