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Amnesty says TNI should ignore calls to screen ‘Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI’
Former military commander Gatot Nurmantyo has called on the military to hold a public screening of a controversial movie about the quashing of an attempted coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is seen among military personnel and residents during a public screening of the controversial movie ‘Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI’ (Treachery of G30S/PKI) at the Bogor Suryakencana military command post (Korem) on Friday night. (JP/ courtesy of/Presidential palace)
T
he Indonesian Military (TNI) does not need to follow any forceful suggestions to hold a screening of propaganda film Pengkhinatan G30S/PKI (Treachery of G30S/PKI), a rights group has said.
Amnesty International Indonesia has emphasized that many elites and parties often amplify issues related to the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) or communist movement.
Read also: I am not PKI, says Jokowi
Amnesty's comments came in response to a suggestion by former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gatot Nurmantyo to the military to hold a screening of the film. When he was still TNI commander last year, Gatot ordered military personnel to watch the movie.
Pengkhianatan G30SPKI, directed by revered auteur Arifin C. Noer and funded by the government under Soeharto, the country’s second and longest serving president, tells the story of Gen. Soeharto quashing a coup blamed on the PKI.
In the big-budget film, the party is portrayed as holding an ambition to take power and rule the country under the communist ideology. Communists are depicted as godless savages who torture and kill high-ranking Army officers.
Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid said the choice to watch the film was in the hands of each individual.
“All military personnel, wherever they are, as well as all citizens, should not be forced to accept a history from only [the movie]. They must be aware that there are several accounts of history [of the PKI],” Usman said in a written statement.
