Setiono Sugiharto, Jakarta – Thousands of history textbooks used in Indonesian schools have been confiscated by officials under the instructions of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which claims the books could perpetuate a resurgence of communism notoriously linked to the attempted coup of 1965.
Sections of the books are allegedly spreading the teachings of figures such as Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. The books were also withdrawn from circulation because they bore photos of former Soviet Union president Michael Gorbachev and the Holocaust committed by Nazi Germany.
It is not the first time the AGO has exercised its authority to ban books related to communism. Previously, a number of books on Marxist teachings, written by local scholars, were also seized for similar reasons.
Banning school history textbooks on the grounds that they disseminate communism and depict photographs of well-known communist figures is hardly an acceptable argument. One may seriously inquire as to who has the authority to assert whether or not communism is linked to Indonesia's murky past and claim that it poses a danger to young generations who are eager to study it. With regard to the former, we are still surrounded by endless controversies and left in the dark.
In seeking the truth behind the events of 1965 and the alleged links to communism, we are faced with this question: should we trust the AGO on behalf of the government, or should we rely on the findings of empirical studies published by historians?
It seems that historians, assuming they have a sound knowledge of communism, are more apt to provide reliable information. By shedding light on Marxism and counter-arguing the misperceptions of it, which seem to prevail in our modern society, historians have public accountability. This accountability is evident in their involvement in evaluating history textbooks used in schools.
Whether or not books are worthy of publication as school textbooks is decided on the basis of experts' recommendations to the National Books Center, which is authorized by the Education Ministry as the "national book censorship body". Therefore, the AGO's interference and confiscation of the books seems to be politically, rather than academically, motivated. It is beyond the AGO's authority to do so.
As a reference for history lessons in schools, the textbooks provide information related to different kinds of "isms" (be it Marxism, liberalism, structural functionalism, feminism or post-structuralism), and include photos of their pioneers. Students are exposed to these various schools of thought to help expand their knowledge and foster critical thinking on national and world history.
Furthermore, the books' contents can be used to exchange ideas in the classroom between students, their peers and teachers. With this method, students are given the opportunity to analyze, question, test, critique and even challenge the ideas or concepts written in the textbooks.
The banning and withdrawing of these history textbooks is tantamount to restricting intellectual freedom and will create a phobia of communism among school students. Teachers and students should be given the opportunity to learn different ideologies that both match, and differ from, their own national ideology.
Moreover, most Marxist teachings are irrelevant in this era of globalization. In fact, one can say that the idea of Marxism has become so obsolete that it is no longer able to embrace the complexities and contradictions emerging in this postmodernist era.
Communism should not be something to be feared. Discourse on the resurgence of communism through the publication and circulation of these history textbooks in Indonesia is a sheer gimmick.
As campaigners for democracy, we need to learn to become open-minded and judicious citizens. Different ideologies should not be prematurely rejected and critically unaccepted. As philosopher William James said: "We must be tender-minded in accepting new ideas, but tough-minded in ever accepting them."
[The writer is chief-editor of the Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching.]