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No conclusion yet about 1965 tragedy
The two-day symposium on the 1965 tragedy ended on Monday, but historians could not reach any conclusions about this dark episode in Indonesian history, although the organizers tried to invite all related parties to participate in the discussion.
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Members of Front Pancasila protest the National Symposium 1965 at the Farmers' Statute in Jakarta on Monday. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
T
he two-day symposium on the 1965 tragedy ended on Monday, but historians could not reach any conclusions about this dark episode in Indonesian history, although the organizers tried to invite all related parties to participate in the discussion.
The organizers invited three sides to the symposium: members or relatives of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) who were the primary victims of the tragedy, ex-military personnel who were involved in operations against members of the PKI, and those who were accused of being PKI members and communist academics.
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, was involved in the killings, and historical activist Imam Azis told thejakartapost.com that NU had data on PKI members who were caught in Central Java and Yogyakarta, but exact historical details were difficult to confirm.
“They were brought to a temporary building such as the Vredeburg Port. Then they were brought to Gunung Kidul and killed in October, 1965. But we do not know how and where to confirm,” he said.
Imam said there was no war at the time and PKI members in Central Java did not know what had happened in Jakarta. He denied that NU deliberately helped the military eradicate people associated with the PKI. “NU did not know anything at that time. We were told that we were under attack. The choice was to kill or be killed,” he said.
The 1965 tragedy started with the kidnapping and murder of several military generals. The PKI was blamed for the atrocity. The revenge by the military caused the death of between 500,000 to 1 million alleged PKI supporters throughout many parts of the country. Millions of people were imprisoned without being trial.
The episode has sparked off a good many conspiracy theories regarding what happened within the military and government at the time. Sukmawati Sukarno Putri, the daughter of founding president Sukarno, said the PKI was tricked by information of a “general’s council” that would attempt to orchestrate a coup d’etat against Sukarno.
“They were manipulated by Soeharto to catch the generals through a double agent named Syam [Kamaruzzaman] who worked for both Soeharto and D.N. Aidit. But actually the PKI became a tool for Soeharto to show off his heroism,” she told thejakartapost.com on Monday. Aidit was the leader of the PKI.
Meanwhile, historian Yosef M. Djakababa, said the technical aspects of the events were still blurred and could not be confirmed by any documents.
“There is no evidence yet regarding Syam, who was said to be a double agent. In an extraordinary military court, Syam said he reported only to Aidit without mentioning Soeharto,” he said.
He confirmed that the military had always been anticommunist. It had fought a PKI rebellion in 1948 and the military was afraid Sukarno was getting too close with the PKI. However, despite its fears, Yosef claimed the military remained broadly loyal to the government. The killing of the generals remains a mystery, he said.
“Lt. Col. (ret.) Untung admitted in a military court that there was an order to kidnap the generals but there was no order to kill them. There is a conspiracy theory about possible infiltration in the operation,” Josef said. (bbn)
