Lessons and Fairy Tales

PKI TO 4

Mass murder and the end of the PKI

Sukarno acted in a balance between the PKI, the military, the nationalist faction, and the Islamist groups threatened by the PKI's popularity. The growing influence of the PKI raised concerns for the United States and other anti-communist western powers. The political and economic situation became more unstable; annual inflation reached more than 600 percent and Indonesian life deteriorated.

The PKI was felt by political circles, a few months before the G30S Event, getting stronger. So that the PKI competitors began to worry that the PKI would win the next election. Movements against the PKI began to emerge, and were spearheaded by the Army. In December 1964, Chaerul Saleh of the Murba Party (formed by former PKI leader Tan Malaka) declared that the PKI was preparing for a coup. The PKI demanded a ban on the Murba Party, a demand it imposed on Sukarno in early 1965. In the context of the Confrontation with Malaysia, the PKI called for 'arming the people'. Most Army soldiers forbid this. Soekarno's attitude remained official not to take too much of a stance on it because Sukarno tended to support the Confrontation with Malaysia like the PKI. In July about 2000 PKI members began conducting military training near Halim airbase. Especially in the concept of 'arming the people' which has won a lot of support among the military circles of the Air Force and Navy. On 8 September PKI demonstrators began a two-day siege at the US Consulate in Surabaya. On 14 September, Aidit addressed PKI guerrillas to urge members to be on the lookout for things to come. On September 30, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani, both PKI-linked organizations held mass rallies in Jakarta against the inflation crisis that hit.

On the night of September 30 and October 1, 1965, six senior Indonesian generals were killed and their bodies dumped into wells. The assassins of the generals announced the next day that a new Revolutionary Council had seized power, calling themselves the "Movement of 30 September ("G30S"). With many senior army generals dead or missing, General Suharto took over the leadership of the army and declared a failed coup on October 2. The army quickly blamed the PKI coup attempt and instigated it with anti-Communist propaganda campaigns across Indonesia. Evidence linking the PKI to the assassinations of the generals was inconclusive, leading to speculation that their involvement was severely limited, or that Suharto organized events, in whole or in part, and scapegoated the communists.[citation needed] In the subsequent anti-communist purge of violence, an estimated 500,000 communists (or suspected) were killed, he said, general Suharto later defeated Sukarno politically and was appointed president in 1968, as it consolidated its influence over the military and government.

On 2 October the base in Halim was captured by the army. The People's Daily took issue with an article in support of the G30S coup, but speculation then arose as to whether it really represented the opinion of the PKI.[who?] Instead the official statement of the PKI at the time was that the G30S effort was an internal affair within their armed forces. On 6 October Sukarno's cabinet held its first meeting since 30 September. The PKI minister was present. A resolution condemning the G30S was passed. Njoto was arrested immediately after the meeting.

President Sukarno repeatedly defended that the PKI was not involved in events as a party but rather because of a number of party figures who acted out of control and were provoked by Western initiation, and therefore Sukarno would not dissolve the PKI. Later, the Army leadership and officers gave a full version of the PKI's involvement, in the kidnapping and killing of six generals and a first Army officer at midnight on 30 September to 1 October 1965. This version was immediately accepted in general according to visible facts presented and supported by bad experiences with the PKI in social and political life in recent years. It must be admitted that a number of lighting officers have added dramatization to the atrocities, beyond the real events (in factum). The kidnapping and later killing of the generals by fact was already cruel, but the dramatization by hyperbolic exposure in the presentation, had given a terrible effect beyond the limits originally imaginable. And finally, inviting equal retaliation in the bloody crackdown between people in Indonesia.

A major manifestation was held in Jakarta two days later, demanding a ban on the PKI. The main office of the PKI was burned. On 13 October the Islamic organization Ansor held anti-PKI rallies throughout Java. On 18 October about one hundred PKI were killed by Ansor's side. Systematic annihilation for the party has begun.

Between 300,000 and one million Indonesians were killed in the mass killings, including non-communists who were killed for mistaken identity or "mistakes by association". However, the lack of information became impossible to determine the exact number of the victims killed. Many researchers today describe the victims who were killed between 200,000 and 500,000 people. A study from the CIA on events in Indonesia assessed that "In terms of the number of victims of the massacre by anti-PKI, Indonesia ranks among the worst mass killings in the 20th century ..."

the following news on December 17, 1966:

The assassination campaign was particularly violent in some rural areas of East Java, with Islamist militias pinning the heads of victims on poles and parading through villages. The killings have existed on such a high scale that the disposal of corpses creates serious sanitation problems in East Java and North Sumatra where moist air is full of the stench of rotten meat. Visitors from the area said the small and large river had been completely clogged with dead bodies.

Although the motive for the killing appears to be political, some experts argue that the incident was caused by a state of panic and political uncertainty. Part of the anti-communist forces responsible for the massacre consisted of criminals such as thugs, who had been given permission to engage in senseless acts of violence. Other motives that have occurred have also been explored.

At the international level, PRC News Agency (People's Republic of China), Xinhua, China, giving a version that the 30 September 1965 Event was an internal matter of the Indonesian Army which was later provoked by Western intelligence services as an attempted coup by the PKI.[April 2010]

Among the worst affected areas was the island of Bali, where the PKI had thrived before the crackdown. On 11 November clashes erupted between the PKI and the PNI, which ended in a massacre of PKI accused members and sympathizers. If many of the anti-PKI pogroms throughout the rest of the region were carried out by Islamic political organizations, the killings in Bali were carried out in the name of Hindus. Bali stands as the only place in Indonesia where local soldiers in some way intervene tend to reduce the practice of such massacres.

On 22 November, Aidit was arrested and killed.

In December the military declared that Aceh had been cleared of communists. Simultaneously, a special Military Tribunal was set up to prosecute and imprison PKI members. On 12 March, the PKI party was officially banned by Suharto, and the pro-PKI trade union SOBSI was banned in April.

Jails in Jakarta are so full that almost all prisons are used to hold PKI members. Many political prisoners are held without clear grounds. Since then, Indonesia's identity has changed completely after 1965. The spirit of anti-colonialism was lost and anti-communism became the basis of the nation's identity. Hatred of fellow Indonesians becomes the basis for determining who is a bad and good citizen.

Some of the events were depicted in a popular fiction novel and filmed under the same title, The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).