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Soeharto’s children hold screening of anti-PKI movie
At the end of September, every year, the country faces an almost routine debate over the screening of Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The Treachery of G30S/PKI), a New Order propaganda movie that was broadcast annually on state-owned television until after the fall of Soeharto in 1998
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t the end of September, every year, the country faces an almost routine debate over the screening of Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The Treachery of G30S/PKI), a New Order propaganda movie that was broadcast annually on state-owned television until after the fall of Soeharto in 1998.
Proponents of screening the film are either anticommunist groups or individuals who want to keep the Cold War sentiment burning or curious enthusiasts who want to learn about the controversial movie, which has been described as pro-Soeharto propaganda used to justify his take over of the country’s leadership in 1965.
Detractors usually oppose the screening because of its one-sided depiction of history and they way its blames the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as being the culprit behind the political crisis of the time. In fact, the bloody incident that begun with the killings of high-ranking Army generals led to anticommunists purges throughout the country, estimated to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
This year, ahead of the 2019 presidential election, political parties, mostly those supporting presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, as well as Muslim groups, will hold screenings of the film directed by auteur Arifin C. Noer.
The Berkarya Party, which was founded in 2016 by Soeharto’s children, Hutomo Mandala Putra, also known as Tommy Soeharto, and Siti Hediati Herijadi, better known as Titiek Soeharto, was the first party to order its cadres, and to suggest that all people, to watch the film.
The party held a screening at the Haji Usmar Ismail Film Center in Jakarta on Sunday night. Titiek, the former wife of Prabowo, attended the event.
Berkarya executive Badaruddin Andi Picunang said the screening was also to commemorate the late Soeharto, who he considered to be the figure responsible for wiping out the PKI.
“And the Berkarya is the embodiment of Soeharto,” he said, adding that the screening would become an annual party event.
Leading opposition party Gerindra, who has endorsed its chairman Prabowo Subianto to challenge President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2019 race, has also ordered its cadres to watch the film.
“Basically, the PKI is just a small issue, but some elites exaggerate it,”
“We call on all Indonesia people to hold a screening of the film to remember the country’s history. Let’s ask our families, our neighbors, to watch it together,” Gerindra executive Fary Djemi said.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has also called for all Muslim groups to hold public screenings.
MUI advisory council leader Din Syamsuddin, who is also a top figure within the country’s second-largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, was of the opinion that it was important for the young generation to watch the G30S/PKI film so that they would be aware of the dangers of communism.
“We advise all Muslim organizations in particular, as well as other religious groups, to watch it. It takes at least two hours to watch it,” Din said.
Analysts have said that certain parties might have deliberately stoked anti-PKI sentiment to attack Jokowi and gain political support ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
Jokowi has repeatedly been accused of being affiliated with the now defunct PKI by his opponents, years after the rumor was first spread during the 2014 presidential election campaigns.
Jokowi’s party, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has also been accused of backing the PKI. Some opponents even spread a hoax that most PDI-P members were communists.
PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said that people should feel free to watch the film if they wanted. However, the party also suggested that people should study the history from various perspectives.
“We are all allowed to watch the film. That’s fine. I used to watch it every year, because [years ago] there was only one TV station, TVRI, and it aired the film every year,” Hasto said.
Under Soeharto’s New Order regime, the movie was made mandatory viewing and was broadcast on public television annually on the night of Sept. 30. The government stopped the annual broadcast in 1998, soon after Soeharto was ousted from power.
However, some of Jokowi’s opponents now blame him for not making the film mandatory viewing.
Jokowi’s campaign team has emphasized that it was former communications and information minister Yunus Yosfiah who stopped the mandatory viewings. Yunus is, in fact, the advisory board deputy chairman of Prabowo’s campaign team.
Rights group Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid said the PKI was basically not an issue, but that certain political actors exaggerated it to gain support.
“Basically, the PKI is just a small issue, but some elites exaggerate it,” Usman said.
“As a consequence, anti-PKI issues can discriminate against the survivors and victims of 1965.”
