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Revising history to legitimize ruling regime
The new, government-commissioned reference on national history presents several problematic issues in its arrangement and content, lending it the appearance of a revisionist exercise that aims to legitimize the current regime.
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Students react to their teacher on April 14, 2025, at SMAN 70 Jakarta state senior high school in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he Culture Ministry has tasked 90 historians with writing a new book on the National History of Indonesia as the official reference on the country’s history, its publication slated to commemorate Indonesia's 80th independence anniversary in August.
Looking at the book’s conceptual framework drawn up on Jan. 16 by the designated steering committee under the ministry, one gets the impression that the historical narrative aims to lend legitimacy to the current regime.
There is zero mention of the 1998 gross violations of human rights (e.g. abduction of activists), to which President Prabowo Subianto has been connected. The cases found to have occurred during the New Order were mere "reactions toward development", and only two are listed: Tanjung Priok and Lampung's Talangsari incidents. In two cases, the victims and the responsible entities arrived at a peaceful settlement (islah).
The term "official history" does not seem to fit the upcoming book. It is more appropriate to refer to it as a "white book", like the ones published by the State Secretariat. The first volume was “The 30 September coup, the Indonesian Communist Party revolts: Background, acts and eradication”, published in 1994. The second was “Session proceedings of the Investigation Committee for Indonesian Independence Preparatory Efforts (BPUPKI) and the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI), published the following year.
The National History of Indonesia (SNI) published as six volumes in 1977 is classified as a standard book, reference book or handbook to provide the basis for all school history textbooks, while the upcoming SNI is more of a standard book for use as a source of history textbooks.
This is why history teachers need to be involved from the start of the book, which should reflect state-of-the-art writing of Indonesian history.
As planned, the new book is to have 10 volumes. The first few deal with national and global ties and relations throughout our history and are to discuss “Nusantara dalam Jaringan Global” (Nusantara in the global network).
