Lessons and Fairy Tales

The PKI

Post-1965 development

Despite sporadic resistance, the PKI stood paralyzed after the 1965-1966 killings. As a result of these mass killings, the party leadership was paralyzed at all levels, leaving many former supporters and disillusioned sympathizers, leaderless again, and disorganized. In September 1966, the remnants of the politburo party issued a statement of self-criticism, criticizing the previous cooperation with the Sukarno regime. After the assassination of Aidit and Njoto, Sudisman, the PKI leader in the fourth tier before October 1963, took over the party leadership. He attempted to rebuild the party on the basis of the interconnectedness of three groups of members, but had little impact on progress before he was finally arrested in December 1966 . In 1967 he was sentenced to death.

Several PKI cadres have been displaced in a remote area south of Blitar, East Java following acts of violence against the party. Among the leaders present in Blitar were members of the Rewang Politburo, party theorist Oloan Hutapea, and East Java leader Ruslan Widjajasastra. Blitar is a lagging area with PKI that has strong support among the peasantry. The military was unaware that the PKI had been able to consolidate itself there. These PKI leaders were joined by Lieutenant Colonel Pratomo, a former commander of Pandeglang Military District in West Java, who helped provide military training for the local Communists in Blitar. But in March 1968 violence erupted in Blitar, local farmers attacked the leaders and cadres of Nahdatul Ulama, in retaliation for Nahdatul Ulama who had played a role in the anticommunist persecution. About 60 NU cadres were killed. But Australian political scientist Harold Crouch argues that it is unlikely that the killing of NU cadres in Blitar has been carried out on orders from PKI leaders in Blitar. The military became aware of the PKI enclave in Blitar and destroyed it in mid-1968.

Some party cadres were temporarily outside Indonesia at the time of the September 30th events. Especially a sizable delegation traveled to the People's Republic of China to participate in the anniversary celebrations of the Chinese Revolution. Others have left Indonesia to continue their studies in Eastern Europe. In exile, the party apparatus continued to function. However, most of them are isolated from political developments within Indonesia. In Java, some villages are known as refuges for members or sympathizers who have been identified by the authorities, and are protected under careful supervision for a considerable time.

Until 2004, former PKI members were still banned and blacklisted from many jobs, including if they wanted to work in the government, as the Suharto regime's policy had been in place since the PKI purge in 1965. During the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, he invited former PKI exiles to return to Indonesia in 1999, and proposed removing restrictions on open discussion over communist ideology. In arguing for the abolition of the ban, Wahid quoted from the 1945 Indonesian Constitution, which does not prohibit or even specifically mention communism. Wahid's proposal was opposed by some Indonesian community groups, especially conservative Islamic groups. In a protest in April 2000, a group called the Indonesian Islamic Front of ten thousand people came to Jakarta on Wahid's proposal. The army did not immediately reject the proposal, but promised a "comprehensive and meticulous study" of the idea.

Discourse of apology

The National Human Rights Commission expects the president to take the initiative to apologize or express remorse to victims of post-1965 human rights violations given the ongoing impact so great on children, relatives and related descendants. With no judicial process established in 1965, not all victims who have been killed, exiled or imprisoned are directly involved with the PKI.

Cons

Some organizations and religious elements rejected the apology discourse and held rallies. Menhan Ryamizard Ryacudu refused an apology against the PKI on the grounds that the PKI carried out the killing of 7 generals. An apology against the PKI was also rejected by the KSAD General Gatot Nurmantyo.

The rejection of the apology against the PKI also came from the culture of Taufiq Ismail because according to him the PKI had revolted 3 times, namely in 1927, 1948 and 1965.