Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – Senior history teacher Retno Indarti has a solid reason for supporting the recent ban on history textbooks that fail to mention the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) when discussing the September 30 (G30S) movement that lead to the rise of Soeharto.
"I was there and was old enough, I know that the PKI was definitely involved," Retno said, arguing with other participants during a discussion on the banned books over the weekend.
"The PKI was also involved in the 1948 coup d'etat. My family fell victim then, my uncle was killed, they took his head off and displayed it on his fence," said the teacher at state high school SMUN 66 in South Jakarta, insisting that her students must know about a historical event that she witnessed.
Scholars and human rights activists filed a petition Tuesday with the Attorney General's Office to revoke the book ban. The PKI has long been associated with the bloody putsch in 1965 that led to the fall of Sukarno and the rise of Soeharto in 1966.
Earlier this month, the Attorney General's Office banned dozens of school textbooks that left out the PKI's involvement in the 1948 coup d'etat, as well as the events of 1965.
"The books not only failed to state the facts but challenged some 'accepted truths', which could create public disorder," the Attorney General's Office announced on March 5.
Another history teacher at the debate, Warsono, said he believed that the PKI was the only group behind the 1965 bloodbath.
"It is written so in the official history book published by the State Secretary," he said. "Others can have different opinions and analyses, but we have to stand by what is officially said by the government."
Public discussion of the September 30 movement is still affected by the more than 30 years that dictator Soeharto held power, during which public discussion of sensitive topics such as the coup was frowned upon.
Several academic groups have said that the PKI was not the sole power behind the 1965 coup d'etat and that Soeharto might have been involved. Even after the fall of Soeharto, however, the government has continued to disagree, placing all blame on the PKI.
The 2004 junior and senior high school curriculum tried to explain more comprehensively the events surrounding the events of Sept. 30, 1965, by letting students discuss the different analyses.
The banned books were written based on the 2004 curriculum, which was later revised by the Education Ministry.
"We have to admit that there is a gap between historians and history teachers," said Ratna Hapsari, head of the Jakarta History Teachers Association.
"While scholars and college students have a wide access to different sources on Indonesian history, including those from abroad, teachers often rely on textbooks and their own experiences."
Ratna has established a close relationship with several historians, who provide her with a wide range of sources outside of the official textbooks.
"We are trying to bridge the gap now by working closely with the Indonesian History Society. Teachers must also be updated before they come into classrooms," Ratna said.