Jakarta – In a sign of the changing times, the country commemorated on Monday what used to be called Pancasila Sanctity Day but has been renamed Commemoration of the National Tragedy due to the Betrayal of Pancasila".
The long title was officially introduced in the ceremony on October 1 last year, which was led by then Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Megawati, now leading the commemoration as President, attended the brief ceremony – which is usually very ceremonial and full of ritual – at the Lubang Buaya (crocodile hole) Monument in East Jakarta.
The ceremony which started at 8am was over 17 minutes later. As she chose to do last year, Megawati skipped what used to be an annual tradition of visiting three prominent spots in the compound, namely the monument of seven national heroes, the diorama room which was the 1965 torture site of the victims and a dry well in which the bodies of the slain victims were dumped.
It was earlier reported that then President Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati and government officials agreed to change the name of the commemoration day as they wanted to change the perception that Pancasila, the national ideology, was sacred.
Minister of National Education Malik Fadjar said on the sidelines of Monday's ceremony that "it is important for the people to learn the essence of the truth and the revision of history" which was manipulated during the rule of the past regime.
The event of aborted coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30, 1965 is a historical watershed in Indonesian history which helped usher in the New Order era and was the beginning of the political demise for then president Sukarno, Megawati's father.
During Soeharto's authoritarian New Order regime, October 1, 1965, or a day after the abortive coup, was named "Pancasila Sanctity Day", marking the victory of Pancasila over communism.
The official version of events has it that the PKI kidnapped and murdered top Army generals to topple Sukarno and pave the party's way to power. The generals killed in the incident were Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ahmad Yani, Maj. Gen. R. Soeprapto, Maj. Gen. S. Harjono Mas Tirtodarmo, Maj. Gen. S. Parman, Brig. Gen. D.I. Pandjaitan and Brig. Gen. Soetojo S. Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution, who at the time was minister of defense, was also targeted but managed to escape. However, his five-year-old daughter Ade Irma Nasution and his loyal adjutant, Capt. Pierre Andreas Tendean, were mistakenly shot by his assailants. History books officially recount that it was during this chaotic time that a young Maj. Gen. Soeharto, who was then commander the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), came on the scene to crush the communist uprising.
During Monday's ceremony, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais read the Pancasila text while Minister of National Education Malik Fadjar read the preamble of the 1945 Constitution. Among those attending the prominent event were Cabinet ministers, military and police top brass, families of the seven heroes murdered in the abortive coup, veterans and student choirs.